I am not happy. I usually purchase Hallmark cards, despite the higher prices, because I've always been happy with their quality. This time around, however, has me questioning the wisdom of that policy. Since I forgot to buy cards after Christmas last year, I had to pay full price this year, but I got a box of cards anyway. Spent a night writing them up (See Wed Dec 24th blog entry), and dutifully mailing them out. And then I get a nice email from Kirk that he got my envelope but not my card. Stupid glue on the envelope must have come off. I had noticed that the envelopes were having trouble staying closed when I was licking and mailing at the post office (I do a last minute check to make sure the right cards are in the right envelopes). At work we are having a late holiday grab-bag (ie: Secret Santa). We were supposed to have it before Christmas, but being the crizaziness before year end, we had to delay it until tomorrow. Of course, I thought it was yesterday. So on Sunday I dropped everything, including laundering my colors, and ran off to midtown before the stores closed, no idea in my head of what to get. The Swatch Store seemed like a good place to go, so off I went. Despite the mad crush of people in Times Square, and the mad crush of people inside (Where were all those teenage Asian girls when I was in high school?), I managed to select a nice watch for my co-worker. I bought it, had it gift wrapped, and asked for a gift receipt, because ladies are very fickle with their style, and she might not like the one I selected (this was a big selling point, btw, when I was deciding with the store clerk).

register girl: "I'm sorry, we don't have gift receipts."
me: "...."
register girl: "You know, a lot of people ask for that. But we don't have any."
me: "But this is a gift! What if they want to exchange it?"
register girl: "They can always use the receipt."
me: "But I paid with a credit card!"
register girl: "Oh ... I guess you'll have to come with her."
voice in my head: "You're gonna be late for bowling ..."
me: "grrrrr"

Are these people still in the stone age? (Actually, they might be, the salesgirl used the card roll thing to swipe my card, carbonless copy and all, apparently they've never seen an electronic card swipe device.) Do they not want you to give away their watches as gifts? Because I certainly am not going to be doing that again. . . . . . . . . . . I wasted an hour yesterday trying to find addresses of the presidents of both companies (I found it for Hallmark, not yet for Swatch Group US). Will probably waste another hour writing letters of complaint

 
I really miss the good old days when you could simply take for granted that Christmas and New Years would be one giant holiday. I'm not up to speed at all at work, and being year end it's a really tight time of the year, we have to get all the sales counted in for this year. And there are budget and tax issues where we have to make sure we spent all the money we set aside or we'll lose it. So I really should be working instead of typing in my blog, but it's that kind of a day. . . . . . . . . . . Bowling Update: Week 12 Game 1: 138 Game 2: 99

 
It's been a crazy few days. Despite massive back pain, I had to wrap the 44 gift boxes the boss wanted to give to all our associates. So, I had to suck up the pain and go to work. And wrap wrap wrap. It was actually not that bad. That is, until I got home and then my back decided to let me know all night long that it was not very happy. I was prepared to ignore the lessons learned the day before, because I'm honestly not that bright, but at the last second I stayed at home. Which was nice, as I just napped all day long. To loosen up the back, I took a few short walks, actually getting some minor Christmas shopping done. But by 10pm, it was becoming horribly apparent that I had gotten no cards or wrapping done. Two hours later, I'm sprawled out all over the floor, because I simply can't sit, cards and paper and tape all around me, at the center of some twisted Christmas tornado. I'm stamping cards with my special name seal (it's a very nice square one with my Chinese character name, it only comes out for special occasions), setting them aside to let the red bean ink dry, half wrapping a gift, writing a draft of a card, writing a real card, stamping said card, and then repeating the cycle of Christmas hell. But at last the gifts were all given out, even the ones I had to buy at the grocery store on the way to work because I remembered people at the last minute. My back was nice and loose thanks to the heating pads I had put on it. And I actually got some gifts this time around, which was a shock. Unlike, apparently, all my co-workers, I wait until Christmas Day to open everything. So if you sent me a card, thank you very much, but it still sits sealed until tomorrow. Sits by my bed. Just waiting for me to wake up and tear them all open. . . . . . . . . . . I called Arizona, and to my shock, Churl was there! That punk never tells me anything. At least they got the too expensive flowers I sent.

 
Sitting down to put on my socks, when all of a sudden a sharp jabbing pain from my back stops me in my tracks. 10 minutes later, I 'm finally able to lie down on the floor. And then, for reasons that completely escape me, I leave the house to try and go bowling. After the second frame, it becomes painfully obvious that this is a mistake. And yet I manage to bowl a 95. . . . . . . . . . . Bowling Update: Week 10 Game 1: 113 Game 2: 151 Bowling Update: Week 11 Game 1: 95 Game 2: 106 (they used my average of 113 minus 7 pins) . . . . . . . . . . There is a reason I go 25 minutes (1 hour 23 minutes if I'm at home) one way out of my way to rent DVD's. People make fun of me, and rightly so, for using the Tower DVD rental up by Cooper Union, in MANHATTEN of all places, when I could just go to the Blockbuster's on 18th Ave in Brooklyn. But there is a reason. I don't know if it is a feature of that particular Blockbuster, or of the chain as a whole, but they never have anything I'm ever looking for. Star Wars, Attack of the Clones? Nope The Matrix or The Matrix: Reloaded? Nope So why would I think that they would have a copy of Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers is beyond me. Perhaps my back pain was too much, and the beer had me a little too woozy. At first I grabbed a previously-used for sale box by accident. Waited in line for 15 minutes to be informed of that mistake. Then I grabbed the empty box by accident. Waited in line for only 3 minutes to find that out. And then they checked if anybody returned one of their only two copies available for rent. 30 copies for sale, only 2 copies for rent. And it's not like anybody will want to see that movie, I mean with the final installment in the trilogy having openned in theatres yesterday and all. Dumbasses. So, next year I'll be getting a Netflix account. In the meantime, I'll be tossing all my Blockbuster cards, as from this moment forth, I shall never ever ever again even attempt to spend my hard earned money there. Never.

 
As usual, I had written up a nice big blog about my day. About the ups, the downs, the boring middle sections I love to tell and everybody hates to read. And then I hit Post and Publish.

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Oh, and your post has been lost.

Noooooooo!!!!!!!!!! . . . . . . . . . . Mid afternoon onward, I pretty much lost all opportunity to work. The boss kept me busy making the last minute arrangements for the holiday party. Moving tables, moving chairs, setting up the bar. Then the food arrived, and of course it was all wrong (too few trays). And the help we hired couldn't work the bar on time, so I had to fill in. And somebody (me) had to set aside food for the missing coworkers. But the dinner was a hit. The vodka was flowing. We, oddly, ran out of white wine. The usual drunken inappropriate commenting. And there was even singing ... ... Followed by the obligatory fight between coworkers. Your typical office holiday party.

 
Second night in a row, at the office at 8pm. I was planning on buying some stew meat and making some beef stew. The store closes around 8:30pm. I figured I'd make it, easy. Not to be so. So it was leftover soup for me again, for the third night in a row. Doh.

 
I slept in late, cancelled all my appointments, and had time to finally go grocery shopping. I wish every day we had 12 inchs of snow. . . . . . . . . . . I checked out the premier internet gaming cafe around here, Ohiyoi Internet Cafe on Bay Parkway. Nice setup, clean and new machines, software that isn't obviously a bootleg, not so many roudy 14 yr. olds, and reasonable prices ($3/hr. non memebers. , $2/hr members). But, as I've come to discover, if it doesn't have America's Army, I'm not interested. So, I guess that is $3 wasted. Doh.

 
Today the snow came to town. I got off an hour early. So me and Liz went to eat out at a restaurant. I got the lasagne. She got the Calamari. We ate too much. Ugh. I'm too stuffed.

 
I'm just tired to blog. But my second day back at work was OK. I was unproductive as all get out as I wanted to take a nap every 10 seconds, but I got a few things accomplished. Just a few tho.

 
Be forewarned, tomorrow I post all the backlogged blogger entries that I couldn't make due to my being away on "vacation". (I wrote them up on my laptop, I just have to cut and paste them into blogger.) Every day since Nov 21. It did not go well at all.

 
I lost $2 to the nickel slots, which I shouldn't have, as I was ahead by $1. But then I got greedy, and didn't cash out when I should have. Breakfast was overpriced at the casino, I am so not going back there again unless the other casinos are much higher in price. And the airport was completely uneventful. I made poor dressing decisions, as I packed up all my clothes in my luggage. A polo shirt was fine for Vegas, but when you can see your breath on the skyway in Minnesota, that's a clue you should have at least worn the sweater. It was my first time to the Minneapolis/St. Paul hub. And it was certainly better then the old Detroit Metro and Memphis, but not as nice as Vegas or the new Detroit Metro. A LOT of walking was involved, but since my flight was delayed an hour, I had time to get ripped off at the airport chinese food vendor. Wok & Roll blows, FYI, if you are ever in Minneapolis/St. Paul airport (MPS airport I think they call it). . . . . . . . . . . The flight was half full, and my row was empty, so I grabbed the window seat. Looking out the window, and checking the map, I try and figure out where I'm at. There were a bunch of towns which looked too populated for Canada or Wisconsin. But we couldn't possibly be over Pennsylvania yet. So I gave up and typed up my blog, when lo and behold, I looked next out my window, and I saw a familier configuration. Detroit! I've flown past too many times to not know the land, we must have been flying right above 12 mile road, or possibly 8, because it was only the downtown I saw. Now, a gingerale and pretzles later, I can't tell if we're nearing Cleavland or Buffalo, but it is a pretty sight to behold.

 
We had planned for a Monday funeral, no wake. But we couldn't get the death certificate (or "DC" in funeral home lingo) in time. So my timing was all messed up. I had to go home today. . . . . . . . . . . Uncle Myron got up bright and early and headed on out to run the morning errends: dropping off clothes at the funeral home, dropping off the pallbearer and other facts at the funeral home, picking up some oil for the baking, and seeing the tribal office about getting them to pay for the funeral costs. Turns out the tribe is picking up the costs, so that was a relief. He came home and selected more music. Umma baked the bannana nut bread. And I packed. Despite my predictions, it was a slow morning. They both took a nap, and I helped the hospice fellow load up all the equipment we had been using for Yimo into his truck. Corey, who never chases after cars, chased the guy's truck down the road. I figure he must have smelt Yimo's scent on the equipment. I think he knows she's gone, as he's been acting all funny yesterday and today. And then Cindy and crew came down the road again. Lisa stopped by as well, doing the little Lisa things that drive me crazy. And so we had to delay lunch until they left, lest they think we were going to feed them all. Which of course impinged on my schedule, as I had to prepare and wolf down lunch for the three of us, because my ride had already arrived. . . . . . . . . . . Maxine's girls, it turns out, are good people. I already knew that, but it doesn't change the fact that they are, which is a rare find in that kind of a town. Wilma and Maxine offerred to drive me up to Lake havasu to catch my shuttle to Las vegas. Which was really nice, considering that Maxine was running the show for the wake, and probably had to be there at 6pm. So she was really pushing it, as far as time went, since I was supposed to be at Havasu at 5pm. Goodbyes to Mom and Uncle Myron, and then it was off to the funeral home, to say my goodbyes in private since I was going to miss the wake and funeral. It turns out I needn't have worried. The funeral home had Yimo all set up, with some of the flowers as well, in their chapel for visitors to see. Considering we didn't pay for that service, it was really nice (Or, maybe they'll add it to the bill. Nothing comes free at the funeral home.). And since the wake was going to be closed casket, I actually got to see and say goodbye to Yimo up close and personal. Of course, I had to first console a weepy Maxine, before pushing her out of the way to get at the coffin. I should have done a lot of things. I should have called more often I should have taken a picture of Yimo that first day I was there. I should have spoekn to her more the week I was there. I should have said goodbye to Yimo that night. I should have said a better goodbye that morning. Because, as pretty as they make a person, enbalming essentially turns one to wax. Plastic actually. And so the touch, the feel, the essence of a person is gone. That morning, she still felt like Yimo, she still was Yimo two hours before. When I caressed her cheek goodbye, it felt like it was already too late. . . . . . . . . . . The drive to Lake Havasu was nice. Spoke at length with Wilma. Found out some interesting things about Mimi and Wilma. They've certainly had a lot of adventures. They're also a lot older then they look or act (that's a good thing). The shuttle ride to Las vegas was nice and short, we got there by 8:30pm local time (I forgot to account for the time zone change). The taxi ride from the airport to the casino was a bit pricy for the trip, but I think most people take the shuttle bus.The Tropicana was not as nice as I was expecting. The hotel halls and elevator were a bit dirty, the room was a bit dingy, and the TV far too small in selection and size. The casino was ho hum, the prices a bit high for a casino, and the food undersized (although it did fill me up nice and good). I was planning on seeing a show, but besides the fact that time was really short, I didn't feel like spending more cash on my already expensive trip. So instead, after dinner I took a walk over to the Excaliber and the Luxor. Now those were casinos. Next time I'll try either the New York, NY, Excaliber, or the MGM Grand, as they are all right there along with the Tropicana.