Monday, July 26, 2010

Busy Busy Busy

We retired early last night and got up at oh-dark-thirty this morning for the second consecutive day.  I'm thinkin' this isn't such a bad thing and am associating this phenomenon with the recently-completed vacation, which appears to have really rejuvenated me.  

Our normal routine... which has been in effect for the last several years... is to stay up to all hours of the night and roll out sometime before noon, often just barely before noon.  Now that's all well and good and I do it because I can.  But here it is not quite noon (as I write) and the coffee's long since been put away; we've made the blog-rounds; three weeks worth of mail has been retrieved from the post office, opened, and processed; we ran a few errands over in The Big(ger) City™; and finally whipped by the Class Six store on Cannon Airplane Patch to restock the beer supply.  

About which...

The Well-Stocked Bachelor's Fridge

Happy Hour will be MOST pleasing today -- note the ample supply of Chimay Blue in the fridge.  There's a story there, too.  I happen to run into the beer distributor out at Cannon on my last beer run before we left for points east.  I was wearing my New Belgium Trippel tee shirt and the guy looked up from stocking the shelves to say "Nice shirt!"  We got to talkin' and he identifies himself as the local distributor, after which I complimented him on the wide variety of beers he puts on our shelves, following that up with "I have a request.  You stock Chimay gift packs (three bottles of beer and a glass) but don't put any of their beer on the shelf.  What's up with that?  Coz I'd REALLY like to see bottles of Chimay Blue for sale."  He replies "You're the second guy today who made that request.  The next time you come in there'll be Blue on the shelf."  And so there was.  And we are most grateful. 

So... the other errands.  The Green Hornet is showing her age.  Case in point:

Car Dermatitus

The clear coat is peeling off her bumper cap, which doesn't surprise me seeing as how she's nearly ten years old and has NEVER been garaged; the New Mexico sun is fierce indeed and is HARD on paint jobs.  So we cruised over to Clovis this morning and made an appointment with Rembrandt's body shop to get the bumper cap resprayed on the 17th of next month... coz we cannot stand seeing our baby suffer.  And there's more...

Her Hat is Coming Undone

The stitching was coming unglued on TGH's top when we left for points east and it got progressively worse as the trip went on, winding up looking like this when we got home.  We held our breath (metaphorically speaking) for the last 500 miles or so, as a constant 80 mph wind in conjunction with incredible amounts of rain certainly wasn't being kind to what remained of the stitching.  All that will be fixed this coming Thursday when the kind folks at Craftmasters Upholstery Shop in Clovis will stitch her up like new for the reasonable sum of 275 Yankee Dollars.  Which is reasonable when you consider a new top costs about 2,500 of those same Yankee Dollars plus installation, tax, title, Baksheesh, and all that happy stuff.  I'm getting off easy.

So.  We're pretty much done for the day.  The hardest part of the rest of the day will be delaying Happy Hour until the Chimay is chilled.  Hmmm.  There IS the freezer...

8 comments:

  1. MissBirdlegs in AL26 July, 2010 16:07

    Maybe there's something to that saying about "early birds get...". I'm impressed!

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  2. Pal, I love the "Top Shops." I've gotten so much extremely expensive to replace "fix 'er up" upholstery stuff done in the past that it ain't even funny. Obviously it's not funny. But, there is a joint here in BC that has been here since before I was born that does such work. I have hauled many of my sons, and my own vehicles there for such work.

    Clovis...

    Sigh...

    Glad you're resting up, and I really got a big giggle out of this post. Really. Brought back many gozillions of memories of some such things.

    Actually, the plastic bumper on the ass end of my '96 Mercury Sable looks just about like that one on TGH. But, I don't love it so much to get it fixed.

    HA! If I told you my WV, you would not believe it.

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  3. I made a beer run with my big brother (hippie, liberal, lawyer from Ausitn) who was in WF this weekend. When we walked into the convenience store, he said something about they probably would not have beer he would drink. Does he think WF is the arm pit of the world and that anyone who does not live in Austin does not know or drink good beer? Actually, yes; he thinks we are all a bunch of hicks. They did not stock Chimay, but we were able to buy some Dos Equis and some Shinar Bock - it was just a corner gas station for Pete's sake! He would be so shocked in Clovis!

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  4. Sounds like it was a day to be well-satisifed with. I like days that go that way.

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  5. He would be so shocked in Clovis!

    I dunno about that. Clovis MIGHT have a store that sells a wide variety of beer, but I haven't found it. That isn't to say there's NO good beer, just a limited selection. I thank The Deity At Hand for the Class VI store every time I go out there. So what DOES your hippie liberal lawyer Bro drink, anyway?

    Kris: Yesterday WAS quite good. Don't ask about today... ;-)

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  6. "The Bachelor Fridge" -- beer, bacon and eggs. You and my husband could be quite convivial roommates. If you have some pistachios on the counter, it's for certain.

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  7. Heh, heh. That's a good lookin' fridge. Just finished up a selection of Belgian Trappist Ales myself. Yum. In fact, I may head over to Ye Olde Beer Store later.

    Maybe not. 5-6 bucks for an 11.2 oz. brew adds up fast. They're worth it, but still.

    Thought of you last night as I enjoyed a fine Cohiba (whisper it quietly). A gift I'd been saving. Y'know how some are just better than others even of the same brand/type? This was one of those.

    Of course, I came across a box of some kind of Cubans online recently, a box of 40 for $4300! Yikes. Those must be some cigars. At $100/each, I'll never know.

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  8. If you have some pistachios on the counter, it's for certain.

    Not at this very moment, but I usually have a healthy supply.

    Cricket: I only WISH we had a beer store here! That's one area where living in a major metro area has it over us country bumpkins. And I hear ya on the cost... we ration these babies out.

    Y'know how some are just better than others even of the same brand/type?

    I certainly DO. Every so often ya get a clunker that's wrapped too tight or doesn't burn correctly, yadda, yadda. I've taken to throwing those sticks away as soon as I notice there's an issue and lighting another. Some things can't be saved and a bad cigar is one such. OTOH, once in a while you get something special and unexpected, as you mention. That is such a joy!

    And I'll never know a hundred-buck cigar, either!

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