Boys in the Hood

Today I met my friend at the library near her house to go over progress on a video game we are writing. She wanted to play some billiards afterwards. I tracked down a pool hall close to the library. Before I got to the library, I went to scope out the place.

My GPS took me the long way to the pool hall. When I got there, I saw a lot of people on the tables. It was a bit sketchy since I had to head towards the city. The neighborhoods are not too good the closer you get to the city from my side of town.

I asked my friend if she felt comfortable going into such an environment. Normally she said she tries to stay away from the city. But I guess she was game and hungry to shoot some pool. We brought her little sister along. I guess that was for moral support.

We got a table near the front of the place. There was a least one nice chair to sit in by that table. We pretty much all sucked at pool. My friend's little sister hit quite a few balls into the pockets. There were three of us playing the same table at the same time. It was informal fun.

I was surprised at how low a price we got charged for playing. We were there less than an hour. I think the manager gave us a nice discount. My friend's sister was happy with this arrangement, and bought an ice cream at the billiards hall.

Hedge Trimming

We have some short hedge bushes in the front of the house. They seem to grow quickly. I trim them about two times a year. It is always a tough chore. The hedges are surrounded by mulch. When I trim the hedges, the clippings fall in the mulch and make it look bad.

This year I decided to remove the mulch first. That was a painfully long process. Then I trimmed the hedges. Picked up as much of the clippings as I could gather. It is a tough task as the clippings mix in with the mulch. Finally I replaced the mulch over top of the clippings.

The end result looks good. Everything is nicely trimmed. There are no clippings to be seen. I am just very sore from working on this project. I got to think up a better way for next time.

Billiards Search

A friend of mine wanted to go shoot some billiards. We set up a date next week to try it out. I used to head over to the other side of town to play. But I figured why not try some local spots? I was meeting up with another friend to go out Friday night. I decided to do some leg work on finding a good billiards hall.

I had the address of a place in a good section of town. I asked my friend if we should GPS the location. He decided we could play it by ear. We drove down the road the pool hall was on. I kept an eye on the street addresses. We turned around when we went past the address. We were close.

My friend pulled into a parking lot that had to house the pool hall. We kept looking at the store address signs. We just could not find this pool hall. My friend drove around back of the shopping center. He almost hit two cars looking for the place.

Then we passed a Gold's Gym. Some fit hottie was walking outside. My friend ogled her as he drove. Luckily I saw that there was another hottie texting walking in the middle of the road. My friend stopped in time. The girl kept texting! Finally she saw that we were going to plough her over. She waved and we moved on.

Finally I spotted the address in the back of the shopping center. My friend drove around to get to the front of the building. Unfortunately another store bought out the billiards hall and converted into a dollar store. So sad. Got to find another place. Might have to go to less desirable neighborhoods.

Surprise Return

I had previously bought a chair from Office Depot. It was half off. The chair was really nice. I brought it to my dad's house. However I have two computers in my dad's basement. I got tired wheeling the chair between the two computers. So I ordered another one.

The second chair was a disaster. The thing was totally uncomfortable. I figured I had better warn other customers. I wrote a scalding review on Office Depot's site. Someone from the store emailed me to see if I wanted to return the chair.

I had a bunch of questions. I emailed Office Depot's support staff. Instead of answering my questions, they scheduled a return of my chair. WTF? I called them up and said I needed questions answered, not a return. The customer support rep answered my questions. Look like I can return the chair with little hassle.

Passports Please

The day finally came for us to apply for our passports. The night before I found out the old forms we filled out had expired. We filled in the current ones. Then today Kit Kat found out they require us to submit a copy of our licenses. We scrambled to get that done. Luckily one of our printers at home doubles as a copier.

Kit Kat drove us to the local municipal center. It is very close to our house. I had actually did a drive by the last time I went near it. There were a quite a few groups in front of us. Eventually we got called in. Someone verified our documents. Then they took possession of my birth certificate. They promised to return it in a month.

I have never been without my birth certificate. Now I am sorry I did not get and turn in a copy. It will be worth it though. You never know when you need to flee and get past the border. The passports should do the trick when they arrive in the mail.

At first I was pleased because the cost did not seem as high as I had extimated. Turns out you pay in two phases. Yep. It costs a lot to get passports for the whole family. Once we do get the passports, our first border run will probably be to visit Canada. Got to set up a vaction up there.

More Tire Trouble

I have been living with a flat tire on my wheelbarrow for a long time. This is the wheelbarrow that Momoko bought me. So I am hesitant to through it out and buy a new one. I figured I could get a new wheel. Easier said than done.

Last week I got a catalog with a cheap wheel for sale. Too bad it was too small for the wheelbarrow. I did some research on my tire. Seems there are a lot of things to measure. Tire outer and inner diameter. Tire width. Rim diameter. Axle diameter and width. And so on.

I worried that I would buy the wrong tire. So many choices online. They do not always specify all these dimenions. Finally I found a "universal tire". This was still not a slam dunk. Many people complained that it did not fit all wheelbarrows. I gave it a shot and ordered one online.

The tire can today in a large box. Luckily it had a bunch of spacers to ensure it could fit on many sized wheelbarrels. There were not too many instructions with the thing. I got my old wheel off easily enough. Put some gloves on and thread the old axle with the new tire. Good fit. The spacers helped place the wheel in the center. I am good to go.

Now if only I could get my truck tire replaced, I will be a happy driver.

Tire Success

Kit Kat had a lead on a local used tire store. We drove around but could not find it. The guys are the store would not pick up their phone. We were in trouble. Kit Kay finally got in touch with the guy from the store. She got detailed directions with landmarks to get us there.

I thought Momoko should go along with Kit Kat. This is Momoko's car that Kit Kat was trying to fix. Momoko asked me to go. I had to be bribed. I have been running around trying to get Kit Kat's tire patched for some time now.

When Kit Kat and I arrived at the tire store, I knew why we could not find it. It was tiny. And there were cars taking up every inch of their postage stamp sized parking lot. Kit Kat and I parked next door. We went in and told them what we needed. I took Kit Kat home in my car.

The guy called back. He felt bad replacing a tire that seemed so new. He attempted to patch the tire but filed. Instead he sold Kit Kat a used tire that did not have much tread on it. Kit Kat was happy. The tire pressure sensor warning light on her car was gone. She no longer needs to fill up the tire with air every couple days.

I might have a source to replace my blown out truck tire. But I am not sure how I can get my truck towed to that small busy parking lot.