(no subject)

Kevin Nealon's on assignment, so I'm filling in for this Weekend Update.

First off, since i just happened to notice this, happy birthday to both mediavore and retcon.

First week back at real work went pretty well. And, just to make things better, since they're expecting that a lot of the regular people will be taking paid days off while they can before the end of the year, payroll (which was due Wednesday, but will generally be on/about the 15th and 30th) came on Friday. Score! Work one week, get paid for two.

After work helped hottoastermama, our new neighbour in the little house behind ours (herein after referred to as the Hobbit Hole, or possibly Bag End) unload her truck and ran to various places around metro Seattle to pick up a few other items which were being given to her or sold at really reasonable prices.

Saturday: Got up early for soccer practice- caught a ride over with Megan, since the van is *still* in the shop. It was so cold when we got there that there was still ice in the puddles all over the (sand- all the grass fields are being resurfaced or haing other maintenance on them) pitch. By about 11:30, if you listened closely, you could hear the ice melting.

Finally, word about the vehicle— damashita heard from the mechanic. The transmission in the van is dead, although there is no sign of any mechanical failure, metal shavings and the like, just cooked fluid. *grumble*

Post practice, unloaded the stuff acquired the previous evening. mistressgaelan came to hang out with damashita in the evening while i watched the first NHL game played outdoors (Montreal at Edmonton), which was a novelty, but not exceptional hockey by any means.

Today: Disassembled darkmuffin's bed for transport to Bag End- since his was a twin/full combination which we didn't have the bottom part in so his stuff fit below, just the loft, and one of the items acquired was a loft bed- this made sense as the residents of the Hobbit Hole will make good use of both parts of it. Minor catastrophe during the process- two of the tubes were connected by a third, conveniently nested inside. Unfortunately, with the bolts out, this part slid down into one of the two, resulting in several unprintable things being said in a few languages (for whatever reason, it's just not possible to swear colourfully enough in English). Eventually, with the subtle application of a long screwdriver, a pair of vice-grips and a four-pound mallet, the offending insert was coaxed back where it belonged. Reassembled this bed in the little house, got both mattresses set up on it.

Did a bit of digging around online since our auto insurance is coming due, and found a new carrier- Geico- which quoted a six-month price less than half of what we have been paying. SCORE! Found a second vehicle which we may well be buying (an '88 Honda Civic- damashita's had really good luck with Hondas)- it's being sold for $600 OBO and is just a handful of blocks away. Apparently it needs brakes soon and CV joints, and has a few minor cosmetic flaws, but is otherwise acceptable running condition, and, we figure that in the worst case scenario, we could get that much out of it or trade it to the mechanic for the van repairs. I'm thinking that having two running vehicles in the household might not be a bad idea, especially since the new job is a half-mile from the nearest bus stop, which is going to make that less than completely satisfactory at least on the worst days during rainy season.

Got the new loft bed acquired on Friday set up in darkmuffin's room just about in time for him to head to bed. I'm exhausted, and think i'm following course.