The Final Adventure of the Staycation

The weekend was somewhat hectic. As I mentioned in Saturday’s post, I helped The Most Awesome Person I Know to move out of one home and into another. The bulk of that work was completed that day. Yesterday morning I received a call requesting my help in moving one last item. The refrigerator.

This was a beast of a refrigerator. However, I feel that it was nothing compared to the armoire that was taken from the second floor of the house to the first floor of the new place. I know it’s a bit off topic, but let me tell you a little about that armoire. There were three of us. Well, two and a half if you consider how ridiculously pitiful my strength was by that time of the evening. For a while it looked as if we weren’t going to be able to carry the thing down the stairs. So we got the idea to slide a rug underneath it, then allow it to have a controlled slide down the stairs. Once we got this little project started, I had flashes of two people being crushed under this thing as it lost control down the stairs while the third person, at the top, watched in horror. So in the end, we decided that lifting and moving one step at a time was the best bet. Two and a half men—1; Armoire—0.

Back to the fridge. So we got it moved out of the house and it really wasn’t that complicated. Turns out they wouldn’t need me to get it back out of the trailer at the new place, so I was released from my indentured servitude and went back home. However, I was promised a hot lunch if I was interested, which, of course, I was. That’s one of my rules: Never turn down free food.

But plans, they change. I got home, parked my car, and went upstairs to my apartment. I ate a bagel to hold me until lunch. I laid down on the couch watching a movie. This turned out to be the bad idea. I woke several hours later. I had missed two phone calls inviting me to lunch and missed a text from The Most Awesome Person I Know asking if I would be able to make it over for some television viewing. I slept for over three hours. I must have been tired.

I may have missed lunch, but I was certainly ready to sit down and watch The Amazing Race, a show which, until this weekend, I thought I might be tough enough to actually do someday. No, it’ll never happen. So I got ready to head over to TMAPIK’s new home. I went to my car. I got in. I turned the ignition and got nothing. Suddenly it registered that the dome light never came on when I opened the door. The battery was obviously dead.

So I called TMAPIK back and let her know that I wouldn’t be making it for the show and to enjoy it without me. She offered to come over this morning once the kids were safely at school to help me jump the car. Here’s where the adventure really begins.

She arrived here just before 10AM. We connected the jumper cables, making sure we were doing it just right. She started her car. I attempted to start mine. Again… nothing. So then we Googled “how to jump-start a car” just to make sure we were getting it right. I may be a guy, but that doesn’t mean I’m exactly knowledgeable when it comes to the automobile. I wish I knew more than I do. I really should’ve taken auto shop back in high school.

Oh well, we can’t live in the past. My ignorance is where we are today. The internet informed us that we were doing it right all along. So she took me to Advance where I purchased a new battery. Now, I’ve never installed a car battery before. But in buying the battery, I made it seem like I was very confident and knew what I was doing. The saleswoman didn’t ask if I knew what I was doing, she just rang me up and sent me on my way. But my thinking is: they do it for free at Advance, so it can’t be too difficult.

We got the battery back to my car and I began unhooking wires from the old, dead battery. I went to lift the battery out of the car and it wouldn’t budge. Two guys from the apartment complex came over and they tried. Nothing. So at least I know it’s not just my wussitude this time. Turns out, there was a bracket on the side that was holding the stupid thing in place. I got that moved and eventually got the batteries switched.

Praise the Lord, the car started right up. I went to put the dead husk of a battery into my trunk so I could return it to Advance and get a $12 refund on the new battery, and when I did, I noticed that the brake lights were on. There was no one in the car pressing the brake pedal. This was not a good sign.

One more thing.

So I went to Advance. I got my $12. And I asked the guy if he knew what that problem could be and if he knew of someone who could fix it for cheap. He sent me, as luck would have it, right across the street to a Merchant’s Tire & Auto. In about 45 minutes they had it fixed and it cost less than $50. Better than I thought it would be.

So that’s my last adventure of the staycation. I’m not saying I’m ready to go back to work. I’m just ready to not have my car fall apart anymore.

Another Staycation

As of this moment, I am officially on vacation. I have the next week off from both of my jobs and I plan on enjoying every second of it.

What will I be doing with this vacation? Nothing terribly exciting. Which is fine. I'm hoping that means a chance to spend a week relaxing in the comfort of my own home.

In one since, I'm letting the vacation come to me. Tomorrow, the Charlatan will be driving in for a visit. He will be the third person to come and visit me since I moved into this apartment two years ago.

And I'm leaving the invitation open to anyone else who wants to visit this week. I don't plan on going anywhere. So come on down to Wake Forest. There's not much to do and I don't have cable, but I'm sure we can find something to do. I'm pretty good at Uno.

Staycation: Day 4

The staycation is more than halfway over. It's kind of depressing when you think about it. Sure I still have a few days of no work, but most of that will be weekend, and that's just the norm.

Yesterday I went to my mailbox. This required me actually leaving the confines of my apartment and walking down the hall where I was faced with a choice. Do I take the elevator? Or do I take the stairs?

By this point, it felt like a great deal of my muscles had atrophied from a lack of movement for the past 48 hours. I decided that the stairs would be a good idea. As I stood at the top of the stairs, I realized that it was also a treacherous idea. But I forced my legs to do the work. After all, going down a flight of stairs isn't nearly as difficult as going up. That's something I would soon find out.

I got the mail and found nothing special about the event. Then I headed back up the stairs. I could have easily pushed the button for the elevator. But since this was the only real exercise I had received since the weekend, I decided the stairs would, once again, be a good idea. I sure felt like an old man while I was making that climb.

When I got back to my apartment I noticed a note on my door. It was something I hadn't seen when I left just a few minutes prior. It was a note from the property manager.

Remember that leak I had in my kitchen a few weeks back? Well, when I paid my rent at the beginning of this month, I included a thank you note. I wanted to let her know that I appreciated that they had been able to fix the problem and even apologized a little for being a sarcastic jerk while I was irritated with the whole issue. Pretty sure the sarcasm and angry remarks are not what Jesus would do. The way I saw it, her job has to be a thankless one. She probably only hears from tenants when they have something to complain about. Actually, I know that for a fact, 'cause I'm one of them.

The note from the property manager was also a thank you note. She was thanking me for my thank you note. I had to laugh at this. I mean, I get that she was grateful that I took the time to say thanks, but where does the cycle end? Am I now required by etiquette to send another thank you? I thought one would surely be enough, but maybe I'm wrong.

Staycation: Day 3

So I decided not to go to the zoo. I figured that the tank of gas it would cost me to get there and back again would be better spent driving to work and back several times once the vacation ends. Also I would have had to pay ten bucks to get in and would have likely needed to buy two meals while away from the apartment today. Instead I was here and ate for free. Twice.

And instead of going to see the animals live and up close, I assume that I can see the same creatures in pictures found on Wikipedia. So here are some of the animals that I would have seen, had I gone to the NC Zoo.

Staycation: Day 2

Here's what a day of vacation looks like for me this week.

6:30am - Woke up; realized that I'm on vacation, so I really didn't need to get up.

9:00am - Woke up again.

9:30am - Went to shower and looked in the mirror and realized I needed a shave. But then I figured, screw that, I don't have to go to work, why should I shave?

10:00am - Had a bowl of cereal.

10:30am - Considered the suggestion in Erynn's comment on yesterday's blog. In case you missed it, it was suggested that I take a day trip somewhere. Day trip in consideration: the North Carolina Zoological Park in Asheboro. Possible trip would take place tomorrow.

11:00am - Texted some friends for a while. Decided that I need to get some writing done, but I think I'll wait 'til after lunch.

12:00pm - Played a little PS3. Just because I could.

1:00pm - Thanks to a sale at the store yesterday, I find myself stupid with bologna, so I had a couple of bologna sandwiches.

1:30pm - Sat down to write. And then I actually wrote. Mostly outlining some ideas, but progress was made.

2:00pm - Meanwhile I watched the coverage of Michael Jackson's memorial service.

3:00pm - Turned off the computer so I could take a break from the writing for a while.

Oh, and near the end of the memorial service, I had to talk myself out of crying at MJ's daughter's remarks. Pretty heartbreaking. Seriously.

4:00pm - Read some of Nicholas Sparks' memoir, Three Weeks With My Brother. It's a pretty good book.

5:00pm - Fixed dinner. Steak-Umms. That's right my friends.

5:30pm - Got back to writing. This time it was some actual writing, not just outlining. Stuck with that for a while.

7:30pm - Did some actual research on how to get to the zoo and how much such a trip would cost me.

9:00pm - Talked myself out of going to the zoo. The way I see it, I don't get paid again 'til next Wednesday. With the rent check already coming out, money's gonna be tight until then. Kind of stinks 'cause I was actually looking forward to going to the zoo. I haven't been to a zoo in over a decade. Maybe I'll talk myself back into going on Thursday.

9:53pm - Wrote a blog post.

Staycation: Day 1

A few months ago I scheduled a week of vacation, unsure of what I'd be doing or what I could even afford to do.

That week of vacation has arrived and I can afford to do pretty much nothing. And thus, the week of the staycation has begun.

It's hard to tell what this week will bring. It will either be filled with days of adventures that can be had for free, or it will be filled with lazy days that involve absolutely no strenuous activity whatsoever.

Since I'm not going anywhere, I'd really like to spend some time writing. Not for the blog, but for those novel ideas I've had rattling around in my head for the last few years.

I always make excuses for not writing. I don't spend my days doing any kind of hard physical labor, but by the end of a day at the bank, I am still exhausted. By the time I get home, I just don't feel like exercising my brain. And then when the weekend hits, I feel like I've only got a day to myself to really relax, so that's what I do. I spend time vegging out and refraining from forcing my mind to do any work.

So yeah, that's the plan. Unless something better comes up. It's conceivable that some free or extremely cheap activity could come up and I'll spend one of my vacation days outside of my apartment. It could happen.