Archive for the year 2009
Our Close Call
Posted on September 20, 2009 by Ching under Travel.
In our rush to return home to Wichita yesterday, Brian forgot to fill up Bebot’s gas tank. We completely spaced it out until Brian noticed that the gas light had come on. We had just passed the last service area and were in the middle of nowhere when this happened so we both got really worried. We had faith in Bebot, but we didn’t want to get stranded along the turnpike either.
We didn’t know when the next service area would come up so Brian and I decided that we should take the next exit. Brian and I were both relieved to have made it to Casey’s, the nearest gas station according to Wilma. Wilma had gotten into a habit of taking us to closed streets and defunct businesses lately that we were worried she would take us to gas station that would no longer be there. Brian was looking for a Phillips 66 because that’s where Wilma was supposed to be taking us. Casey’s is no longer a Phillips 66, but at least it’s still a working gas station.
[ Wilma’s maps desperately need to be updated. We just can’t fork out the $100+ needed to do it right now. ]
After our emergency fuel stop, we were back on the turnpike and headed home. On the way, we realized that we were less than eight miles away from the next service area so we didn’t have to leave the turnpike after all. I wish we would have known of it its existence because Bebot could have easily gotten us there. Bebot is such a good car, but we should have never put him in that position. It really scared the crap out of Brian and me.
We learned an important lesson that day. We should never abuse Bebot and take him for granted. To reward him for delivering us from a potentially terrible situation, we gave him a well-deserved bath today. He needed a bath anyway, but Brian and I are bad owners. =P
We’ll try to do better by Bebot from now on, though. He really saved our butts!
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The Director’s Suite
Posted on September 20, 2009 by Brian under Life.
Last night my wife and I went to the Director’s Suite at the Old Town Warren Theater. It was quaint, small, only 22 seats total and looked a lot like the movie room I would have in my own house. When the movie started we saw the picture size and realized that it’s about as big as a home theater projector that you could pick up at any electronics store. The picture quality was a little better and the sound quality was THX perfection but other than that it was not very impressive.
I do recommend that everyone visit the Director’s Suite at least once, just to get the experience. However, that’s about all I would recommend. As for the movie “The Informant”, it was funny but I could have waited for it to come out on video.
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A Trip to the Nifty Nuthouse
Posted on September 19, 2009 by Ching under Food and Drink, Poker, Wishlist.
Brian’s coworkers Lance and Alicia joined us for lunch at My Tho the other day. Guess what is just around the corner from My Tho? Yup. You guessed it! The Nifty Nuthouse!
Since we got done with lunch pretty quickly and had fifteen minutes to spare, the four of us decided to stop by the Nifty Nuthouse on the way back to work. Alicia had never been there before.
SIDE NOTE: Kudos to My Tho for their promptness. Lunch was super quick. It seemed like within a couple of minutes of ordering, our server was back with our meals. Brian was surprised at how quickly our food was ready. I wasn’t surprised, though. I swear. I think they have vats of soups already pre-made and ready to go in the kitchen. =P
I’m actually glad that lunch was quick because we wouldn’t have had time to stop in at the Nifty Nuthouse otherwise. It is one of my favorite places to get chocolates. My other favorite place is Cocoa Dolce, but we only go when we feel like splurging (which we haven’t done lately). Cocoa Dolce artisan chocolates are pretty expensive. Your money goes a longer ways at the Nifty Nuthouse. Not to say I don’t love Cocoa Dolce because I do. They have fantastic truffles! But the Nifty Nuthouse is a good place to satisfy those chocolatey cravings on the cheap.
Brian loves their double-dipped chocolate-covered peanuts. I like their chocolate covered-pretzels. I got some to bring to poker and share with everyone. Brian got a pound of his double-dipped chocolate-covered peanuts, but he doesn’t like to share so he kept his at home.
Incidentally, I cashed in the home game at Uncle Roy’s on Thursday night. I think it was because I shared my yummy chocolate-covered pretzels with everyone and wasn’t being greedy. Further proof of my theory that the more you give, the more you get. It’s all about cultivating good karma. LOL. So much for poker skills, huh? =P
They were all still playing poker when we left (a cash game had started after enough people were knocked out of the tournament) so I just left the chocolate-covered pretzels with them. Rod seemed to really like it.
Anyway, it’s a shame that I didn’t have enough good karma to carry me through to today’s poker tourney at Harrah’s. Brian and I totally sucked. Well, we didn’t really suck but the cards sure did. The cards were just rotten. I have some theories about doing well at Harrah’s, too. More on that later.
For now, head over to the Nifty Nuthouse and satisfy those chocolate cravings!
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Twilight Saga: New Moon Trailer
Posted on September 18, 2009 by Ching under Movies, Videos.
Advanced tickets for New Moon will go on sale on Monday, September 21, at all Warren Theater locations. You can purchase tickets at the box office or at MovieTickets.com.
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Mission Accomplished
Posted on September 18, 2009 by Ching under Travel.
Brian and I drove all over the East side of town tonight looking for aqua socks or water shoes. Our first stop was Wal-Mart (on North Rock Road and 29th Street). We weren’t lucky enough to run into any notable Wal-Creatures, but we did find some water shoes no thanks to the Wal-Mart store employee I asked. She told us that they didn’t have any water shoes. Guess what we found not five feet away from us. Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! You got it! Water shoes!
They were ugly mary jane looking ones (slip on with a strap that goes across one side of the shoe to the other) so they wouldn’t work for Brian. They only came in size 11/12 so they wouldn’t work for me either.
Our next stop was the Shoe Carnival across the street. The only thing they had were water aerobic shoes. These were full-fledged sneakers, except they had a couple of holes in the sole for water drainage. They were $40 and far exceeded my budget. Again, they had women’s shoes only. Nothing for Brian.
While we were thinking about where to go next, I decided that I would call Target. After being on hold for a while, I got transferred to someone in the sporting goods section. I asked if they had water shoes and he said he would have to check if they had any more left. I was on hold again and when he came back he gave us the bad news: only one style left and they only boys’ size 4. That’s not going to work. On the bright side, at least we didn’t have to drive all the way over there to find out.
Next stop, the Payless across the street. We were pretty much just zigzagging on Rock Road hitting the stores that we thought might carry water shoes. Payless was a no go either, but we did get a lead. The salesperson suggested that we go to a sporting goods store like Dick’s.
Brian was hungry and ready to give up. I wasn’t quite there yet. I managed to persuade him to hit the Dick’s next to Best Buy on 21st and Rock. It’s on the way home anyway. On the way there I thought I’d call another Target location. The rep I got told me that they had water shoes earlier in the year, but she thinks they’re completely out. Either they had some but she’s being lazy and didn’t want to check their inventory or she’s telling the truth and they’re really sold out. The way things were going, I was leaning more toward the latter. I was beginning to think that Brian and I had waited too late to buy our water shoes.
We had some water shoes from when we went on our honeymoon seven years ago, but we couldn’t find them anymore. Brian says he thinks his are in the garage somewhere. I think that we either donated them to Goodwill or threw them away. I wish we had kept them.
Speaking of hindsight, I wished that I’d just bought water shoes online a couple of months back. However, I was being too cheap. The water shoes were really cheap and shipping would have cost more than the shoes themselves so I decided against ordering. I was thinking that we’d be able to find them at Wal-Mart or something. I wish that I would have ordered them because now it’s too late.
So we got to Dick’s Sporting Goods. We searched the shoe department in vain. When we asked the sales guy, he told us that if they had any they’d be in outdoor sports section with the canoes and stuff. We looked everywhere in that area with no luck. Brian said what really happened is that the guys thought to himself, “What is the best way for me to get you two as far away from me as possible so you don’t ask any more questions? A-ha! I’m going to send you to the other end of the store!” I’m sure that wasn’t the case. Brian is just a pessimist who thinks the world is out to get him.
I, on the other hand, am an optimist and was pretty thrilled that we were over that way because the swimming stuff was nearby. I had half a mind to buy some fins for swimming instead. Brian just laughed at me and said no. Though unsuccessful at getting the fins, I did manage to talk Brian into buying us some swimming goggles. After driving to four different stores, I didn’t really want to come home empty handed. LOL. The swimming goggles are going to come in handy actually because I can never open my eyes in the ocean. The salt water stings too much. We didn’t get expensive goggles or anything. We got the cheapie ones so we would leave Dick’s having spent only $25.
I guess we were looking forlorn and completely defeated because one of the sales guys we passed on the way out asked, “Didn’t find what you were looking for?” We told him we didn’t and, after explaining to him what we needed, he suggested Sports Authority. Great! Another lead.
Brian was tired and ready to go home, but Sports Authority is also on the way home so it’s not much of a detour. We stopped by one of the cashiers on the way in and asked if they had aqua socks or water shoes. The girl said they didn’t have any aqua socks, but they had water shoes. She directed us to the outdoor sports area.
While we were walking over there Brian made the comment, “Aren’t water shoes and aqua socks the same thing?”
“I guess not,” I replied. Always one to make sense of things, even though most of the time I’m just pulling explanations out of thin air, “I think the ones that cover your entire feet are aqua socks and the ones that are slip-ons like at Wal-Mart are called water shoes.”
We were excited that they had them, but the anticipation quickly turned to disappointment when we couldn’t find the water shoes after looking all over the outdoor sports section. Then I found some cheaper swimming goggles and got even more disappointed. We saw a few shoes lined up on the wall and I was thinking, “Wow. They don’t have much of a shoe selection at all.”
After wandering around the rest of the store, we found the real shoe section. I guess the ones we saw were specialty shoes just for outdoor sports or something like that. The real shoe section had plenty of shoes to choose from, and that’s where we actually found the water shoes which happened to be more like my definition of aqua socks because you pull them on like socks and they cover your entire feet. I’m not sure of the cashier’s definition of aqua socks. Hmmmm?
At any rate, I was just glad that we found them. I decided to get boys ones (size 4) because the women’s ones they had were pink. Blech. Brian found some men’s ones in size 10 that fit him great. Mine are all black in color, while Brian’s are black with a single blue stripe running along each side. Total was about $17. Not bad considering I was tempted to buy the $40 water aerobics shoes out of desperation. LOL. I’m so glad my frugal, pragmatic side won out.
Now that we’ve got our his-n-hers water shoes, we’re pretty much ready to go. Just 13 days and counting. Tanjay City, Philippines here we come!
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