5/13/13

 I didn’t really get a whole lot done over the weekend… well, I say that.  Saturday morning, knowing John was not going to be at the shop, I slept in.  When I did get up, I decided I'd take The Seven to the shop and change the oil.  I moved Fifi and Fiona and rolled The Seven out of the garage.  The gas gauge was a tad low so I went to the Exxon station on Chapel Creek and I-20 to fill up.  As I arrived, I was swarmed by little kids.  “We’re washing windows for donations,” I was told.  I looked at the multitude of tiny dead bugs on the windshield and said, “Gopher it!”  They scrubbed the glass while I pumped the gas.  When they were done I could see through the windshield again so I gave them my last $10.00 bill.  Meh, it’s only money.  From there I headed towards the shop via an auto parts store.  As I was hooning down 377 I remembered that the inspection was about to be up on the car.  “Hmm,” thought I, “I wonder if they’d change the oil as well as inspect it.”  I use an Iffy Lube on Hwy 80 for inspection and oil changes when I don’t feel like crawling under a particular car… like the last few on Fifi and Fiona f’rinstance.  I turned around and hooned back to the Iffy Lube.  Yes Microsoft, I know it is supposed to be “Jiffy Lube.”  Stop trying to correct me.  Anyhoo, I pull up to the inspection bay and point at the sticker.  The dude nods and I hand him the insurance paper.  He does his inspection thing and puts a new sticker on.  I ask if they can change the oil.  He gets an odd look on his face and asks what filter it uses.  Now, Juan would think, being the A-series guy I am, I would know the part number off the top of my head.  This I did not know.  I told him “1981 Datsun 210.”  He looked but his computer didn’t go back that far.  He sent me to Orally’s where I bought the right Wix filter.  I intended to keep the box top in the car for future reference.  This I did not do.  They wouldn’t let me try to pull in the normal way and had me come in from the exit side.  I nosed the car over the pit and they changed the oil.  When all was said and done, and after a $10.00 discount because the car and I are so friggin’ cool, I was out of there for $70.00 or so.  Yes, it was worth it to not have to crawl under the car.  Yes, it was worth it to not have to deal with the dirty filter and oil.  No, I do not have any regrets about being a lazy-ass.  While I was waiting, I got a text from my sister which I read to say that she and mom would be home around 1500 h.  I went for a hoon… an extended hoon at that.  I got home around 1430 h and parked The Seven and Fifi but left Fiona in the street fingering I'd go back out to get mom a Mother’s Day card before settling in for the evening.  Since I thought they were going to be home soon, I waited.  At about 1800 h I re-read the text.  No, they were planning to leave Houston at 1500 h, not be home then.  Oops.  I hopped in Fiona and went to the bank and Wal-Mart.  I got mom a card from the cat and flowers from me then went home.  As I walked in I got a call from my sister saying mom had just left Granbury and was hungry.  I was assigned the task of taking her to dinner.  “Ok,” I thought, “it will be easier to get in somewhere tonight than tomorrow.”  Well, when mom got home she was having none of that.  We went to Burger Street instead and ate at the house.  Sunday morning I hung out and waited for mom to get home from church.  At about 1235 h I called Papadeaux’s to see how long the wait would be for a table.  When she said thirty minutes I figured and hour and asked if they had “call ahead seating” or anything.  “If you call thirty minutes before you arrive,” she said, “we’ll put you on the list.”  “Put me on the list!” I said.  Mom pulled up as I was hanging up the phone.  “Damn,” I thought, “I should have called ten minutes ago!”  I hopped in mom’s car and we took off.  Yeah, it was a good thing we were early because you can't get to Papadeaux’s from the west side of town right now due to (tee hee, I said "doo doo!") construction.  We did eventually arrive about five minutes early.  We were seated within ten and eating within… well, the hour at least.  The place was a friggin’ zoo!  I mean it was nut-to-butt crowded in there.  When we finished and started for home, I noticed I-30 was a parking lot.  Now I realize it was traffic going to the Botanical Gardens as Larry said that was where he was forced to take the women in his life.  I fingered I'd take Forest Park back to 7^th street and go home that way.  Yeah, they had Forest Park closed at the credit onion turnoff.  Did they have signs posted anywhere on Forest Park saying “No Outlet”?  Hells no!  We were turned back and had to retrace our steps.  I turned through a neighborhood and discovered that it did not connect with Summit Avenue like I'd hoped.  We wound up cutting through the parking lot of that giant Baptist church on the corner of Summit and I-30 to get there.  Then we took Vickery home.  It took almost an hour to get out of and home from Papadeaux’s!  So 1530 h or so and I'm taking a nap.  I'd wanted to take the Sandman (the Ruger Mk III .22 pistol I bought at the last gun show) to the range so I packed it up to go.  Then I realized it was crowding 1800 h!  I'd napped longer than I thought.  I went anyway.  Turns out the range is open until 2000 h on Sunday.  I shot 95 rounds and really like the thing.  It jammed a few times not going into battery, and a few rounds didn’t fire on the first strike, but all in all it is a really cool little gun.  I'm attributing any “failure” to it being a brand new gun… and any “inaccuracy” to my blind ass and shaky hands.  I took it home and cleaned it then put it away for the future.  So, that’s what I did over the Mother’s Day weekend.  Hopefully John and I will get something done at the shop this Saturday.  We’ll see.