|
navigation
current
archives
links page
profile
|
|
train trip
June 25, 2018, 6:59 P.M.
I left off at last Monday, I think. Well, Auntie had a bad Tuesday. I spoke with my dad and he, senior citizen that he is, had her all but buried. My poor Cuzz had her hands more than full that day; in addition to her mom having a rough time, her son got sick and her aunt had some medical complications of her own--good thing they were at the hospital, I guess. But per Cuzz, Auntie had a much better Wednesday. Personally, it sounds like she's up and down in turns; she pushes too hard on her good days and suffers a bad day as payback for that. And if anyone is going to die from all this, it is probably going to be my poor cousin!
Speaking of Wednesday--for a change, we had halfway decent weather. I took a vacation day went to the funeral of Nice & Nephew's grandma. Took one for the team by taking on my shit bro-in-law and keeping him occupied till he was ready to GTFO. Better me than the grieving family having to deal with it. I think Niece and I were the only ones who said more than a couple of words to him. I didn't want to, but I did it for Nephew, who hates his dad with a passion.
It was a short, simple funeral--they aren't religious, but they had a minister. I hate that, because you naturally always end up with a clergy-person who never met the deceased. (My brother & mom were inactive in church, but at least my folks were friends with a pastor!) Nephew spoke; he wrote a lovely piece from all the grand-kids but he got so choked up, he almost couldn't read it. I didn't go to the luncheon; it was quite a drive to the venue and I just wanted to go home. Made spaghetti marinara, garlic bread, and a salad for dinner.
Not much to say about Thursday, other than it rained again, and it was a massively shitty day at work--due to phone issues at an office in another state, my department had to take phone calls for an area we usually have nothing to do with, take data, and email it back to the people who usually handle it. THAT was fun for my phone-hating, introverted anxiety brain, I assure you. Thankfully, the phones were back up on Friday morning. Apparently they went down again on Friday afternoon, but I was long gone by then!
Friday was more rain. Took my car for an oil change after work, then went home and had a bowl of soup and relaxed while the weather cleared. Took the dog to his vet appointment--looking good, another laser treatment, see you next week, yada yada. Spouse picked up pizza for dinner.
On Saturday, we got up and set out on an adventure day. The weather was all set to be gorgeous for a change, so after stopping at CJ's in Zion for some fantastic coffee & donuts, we took the train in from Waukegan and had a nice walk from the station to the Palmer House, so I could visit the new Anderson Pens Chicago store.
I wasn't even planning on buying a pen; just loading up on inks and good paper, and maybe treat myself to a Nock pen roll. And if I DID happen to splash out on a pen, it was going to be maybe another Conklin. Or maybe a Faber-Castel LOOM.
But after talking with their marvelous sales associate, and with John Lane, General Manager of Pilot USA who was there for an event, and with Brian Anderson, who was also there along with Lisa...and after being honored with the opportunity to write with several Mont Blancs, and Brian's personal David Oscarson, and to hold and examine and write with a freaking maki-e Namiki Emperor...I was lucky to get out of there with nothing more than a $148.00 VP. I don't want to imply that I was pressured in any way. Everyone was perfectly lovely--it's just that I am a weak, weak woman when it comes to the seductive charms of a fine writing instrument! (And this one is quite fine, indeed. I am absolutely smitten with the silky nib of this thing--I wish I had more things to write, so I could write them with this pen!)
I only got one (inexpensive) bottle of ink (Private Reserve Copper Burst), and one pad of paper (Rhodia lined steno), by way of belated budgetary damage control.
And truthfully, A VP is not going to break the bank. A Platinum Century 3776 wouldn't have broken the bank, either. But I have a really hard time spending that much money on something that is A) non-essential, and B) for me. Thank goodness Spouse and I are able to support and encourage each other when we get like that.
Anyway--after I got done there (Spouse was comfortable ensconced in the hotel lobby, waiting for me), we walked over to The Berghoff for lunch. Our usual lunch fare there; the fantastic corned beef sandwich with homemade chips and a dill pickle. And we had another pleasant walk back to the station, where we did some shopping at Garrett's Popcorn and The Chicago French Market before catching our train. We got off at Central St. in Evanston and picked up a few goodies at The Spice House, then caught the next train back. Some confusion there--it turned out to be a Ravinia Park Special and it was only going as far as the Roger Daltry concert. We had to get off there, and wait for the next train to get back to Waukegan.
By the time we got back to Waukegan, then drove home, it had been a really long day with lots of walking, and we were about bushed. We just had casual snacks instead of a meal, and dealt with the aftermath of leaving the B alone for so long--he had been licking his bad paw and had it all messed up again. DAMN. The time and money we've spent trying to get him healed up, and then he tries to undo it all in one day. So that had to be cleaned and medicated.
I was also trying to catch up on laundry, since that doesn't stop just because you have plans for your Saturday. I'd been hacking away at it here and there all weekend, setting up timer loads to wash while I was out of the house or asleep. So of course I had that to tend to. But I hit the wall hard, come bedtime, and would have slept wonderfully if it hadn't been for the idiotic fucking neighbors and their incessant weekly fireworks. Between the noise itself and the effect it was having on the dog, I didn't get much sleep at all, and what I did get wasn't quality.
On Sunday, we got up and I finished the laundry, Spouse made a nice breakfast, and he gave Auntie a short call while I cleared up the dishes.Then we ran our errands. After we got home, Spouse did some dinner prep and when he was done in the kitchen, I went in and baked peanut butter cookies. A double batch, because I was making them for a work birthday, but one does not simply bake cookies in my house without baking them for Spouse, as well. After the cookies were set to cooling on the racks, I lay down for a while; really, neither one of us had any oomph at all. He made a nice dinner of cutlets, mashed potatoes and gravy, and peas, and I cleaned up and got ready for the week, but that was it. A couple of deadsters. He had to get up early this morning because he was covering an early shift for vacations, so he was definitely early to bed, and I was too tired to keep my head up. Besides, I knew full well that if he was going to be up at 4:00, I would be too. (Point of fact: I woke up at three. My brain f*cked me again.)
Reading: Still on "The Rise of Roscoe Paine" (1912), but I got sidetracked by finding the 1922 issues of "The Progressive Grocer", a grocery store trade journal, at Google Books. I'm a sucker for those old retail trade journals.
Listening: Tears for Fears, Echo & the Bunnymen, Smashing Pumpkins, Peter Murphy, Radiohead.
Inked Up: Pilot Vanishing Point with Iroshizuku Kon Peki, the Bexley 10th with Binder Burgundy, Knox Galilleo with Birmingham's Fred Rogers Cardigan Red, Conklin Duragraph fine nib with--wait for it--HA! Fooled you! It's actually loaded with the Private reserve Copper Burst I bought at the pen store. A very nice, servicable and affordable brown ink. The Duragraph loves it just as much as the 4001, but I find it a little dull, and not really as coppery as I was led to hope by the name. I don't hate it, I actually like it quite a lot. Just not as much as I like Brilliant Brown!
|
|