Returning to the Ocean

Momoko and I headed from the theater to another beach location. We traveled on back country roads. Got stuck behind a car carrier driving very slow. 18-wheeler trucks were illegally passing the slow truck across the double yellow line. Mokoko eventually passed it on the right shoulder. We stopped at a welcome center that had a machine that made you part of a comic.

I had to take the wheel after that. We checked into our beach front hotel right on time. I ordered a cheese steak at our favorite ice cream diner. It turned out to be the special of the day. The next morning, I got a lot of work done for my company. So I joined Momoko and her friend from work for lunch. When I got back, I lost WiFi and could not work.

We took advantage of the down time to go shopping. It was raining. Momoko drove us to some beach shop. I found a T-shirt for $4. Momoko could not find a gift spoon to give to Kit Kat. We went to the edge of the board walk. Initially we could not find this souvenir shop we recalled. I charged ahead and found the shop. Momoko bought a spoon. We also went into another shop that closed its boardwalk front. We asked a girl to help us purchase popcorn like Cracker Jack.

On the ride back to the hotel, we scoped out the first floor parking of Momoko's friend's hotel room. I found the perfect parking spot. We went back to our hotel to rest. Then we went back to the friend's hotel for happy hour. I did not get my spot. There was an elevator close to the parking spot I found. The elevator door would not open without a key card.

Eventually we searched for an elevator open to the public. Momoko's friend there was one that took you to the third floor for the bar. We found our friend there pre-gaming. Appetizers were $10. I got shrimp cocktail. Momoko got a beef au jus special that was not on the menu.  Momoko could not get comfortable on the bar stool. So we left after an hour. We had another late night snack at DQ. Their 6 piece chicken strip dinner came with white gravy that Momoko loved. I opted for ranch dressing.

Addams Family Musical

Momoko and Kit Kat were on spring break this week. Initially Momoko thought she would stay at home for spring break. Then she started thinking about going places. This was all last minute. I could not get any time off work. We decided to first head to the Addams Family musical.

Kit Kat had wanted to attend. I bought 4 tickets. Kit Kat invited her friend from high school. Me and Momoko drove up early to secure out king size bed hotel room. We arrived early. But it took an hour to get to a Sonic for a snack. The room had a pocket door to the bathroom, low toilet, and a shower door that swung two ways.

I called Kit Kat to check on her progress. She had left her apartment and was on her way. I took a nap in the hotel room. Woke up 15 minutes to the show's pre-dinner. I had to get dressed. We probably arrived right when dinner was supposed to be served. Kit Kat and her friend had been there for over 30 minutes. They waited for us before going to the buffet.

I asked Kit Kat's friend a lot of questions. Momoko and I only see here around once a year. A weird waitress kept trying to get the friend to stop talking. I told the waitress that since we only see this girl once a year, we need to let her talk and tell us her stories.

The musical itself was lacking in story line. It could have been a 10 minutes Tiktok video. Wednesday's fiance's mother stole the show were her solo routine. Pugsly started out weak trying to sing an octave too high. Then he shined with the right song for him. Gomez was a consistently good singer. Costumes were strong, especially the Addams Family ancestral ghosts. Choreography was also very strong at points.

Kit Kat left her program on the table. I scooped it up. Her friend drove them back home in her family's new Subaru. Momoko and I hurried back to Sonic for a midnight snack. We were only staying one night at the hotel. There were maybe 10 cars in the parking lot. No need to worry about not getting our room.

Mini Split A/C

We had previously installed a portable air conditioning unit in Little Kat's room. The exhaust went vented to the outside via a long thick duct. Little Kat said the unit just could not cool his room. He has a ton of large electronic devices running 24x7.

So we thought about installing a different type of A/C unit in his room. We could not do a wall unit .He is below ground and has no windows. Instead we chose a mini split A/C. The instruction said you should hire an A/C tech to install it.

I asked out handyman if he could handle it. He recommended we use an A/C guy he knew. I showed the A/C guy where we would want to put the indoor blower and outdoor compressor. He quoted me $1400 for labor. Later we changed the location to better suit Little Kat's needs, and also to make it easier to vent. The new price jumped up to $1800+.

This A/C guy would not give me a written quote beforehand. I had to hound him on the price at all times. They came and spent all day working on it as Little Kat sat in the living room. When they were done, I wanted to test the cooling. Both A/C guys said the unit did not work if the outside was cold. That was bollocks. They also said they gave me a 15 foot free copper cooling hardware. More bollocks.

After they left, I found a lot of trash inside and outside. My dryer was bent on top. There was goop ruining our carpet. Moral of the story is that our handyman is awesome. But the guys he recommends are not.

Finding Low Cost Magazines

I had to do some shopping. I wanted to buy some single issue magazines. The problem is that they have become so expensive. So I turned to Half Price Books. They sell most used magazines for 99 cents. That allows me to check out a bunch of new magazines for a low price.

I found some magazines that had a cover price of almost $30. Also found some magazines that almost seemed like books. They also cost me 99 cents. In the end I picked up around seven magazines. They may take me a while to read. I would have bought more. But I was on vacation and could not carry them home.

Even the seven magazines were heavy. I ended up stashing them in the back of my new GMC Terrain, which will be transported to my house. I only carried home a single book I bought at $3. It came in handy when I finished reading the last book I packed on the plane.

Taking Possession of the GMC Terrain

I got up extra early. Went to McDonald's. Spied on my brother-in-law waiting a long time in the drive through. I went to his house and picked him up. We needed to return to McDonald's to correct his order. Then we headed South. I was going to the closest branch of my bank. We arrived before open. To kill time, we stopped by Buc-ees mega gas station.

I noticed the car I was driving had low tire pressure. At first, I went to my bank. Got a certified check to pay for my car. Then we went to Discount Tire to get the tire filled with air. Then I headed back to Momoko's dad's house. Brother-in-law forgot his license. I dropped him off at his house to get the license and his car. He took me to my dealer.

The dealership was busy. No receptionist. Could not find my sales guy. Went to find the finance guy. Gave him my certified check. My sales guy had to finish helping another customer. Then he set up my OnStar and explained some settings in my new car. I drove it back to Momoko's dad's house, where I had to take pictures to show Momoko.

I tried to set up transport of my new GMC Terrain back home. Found the company I used last time. Their web site kept erroring out before I could set up a transport. Their phone system did not seem to be working either. I might need to go with another provider.

Moving on up to the GMC Terrain

My current car is a bare bones Chevy Spark. No power windows. No power locks. The back seat has little head room. I really want power locks, because when I drive people, I have to hound them to manually lock the doors. I also drive with my brother in the back seat of my car. He is tall. So he does not fit in the back seat.

I am on a trip to visit Momoko's dad. For grins I looked up used cars in the area. The prices were too damn high. I stumbled upon a great deal on the GMC Terrain. One dealership was offering $7k off a bottom of the line model for the Terrain. I was interested, even if it was far away from home.

So I called up the dealership. Spoke to a customer care rep. She had a sales guy call me back. Turns out they would sell the car at a $7k discount from MSRP. But they wanted to charge an extra $1500 for some resistant protection. No thank you. The sales guy countered on a return phone call. Instead, he would just charge me a $300 out of state fee. Still not great. But I went to the dealership.

The car drove fine. The sales guy asked if he could waive the $300 fee, did we have a deal? Heck yeah. I needed to pay cash if I did not want to have to pay the taxes and registration directly to the dealership. I called my bank. They wanted me to come in person to write funds. The nearest office is 2.5 hours away. I decided to visit the bank the next day.

The finance guy asked me why I was not just getting a certified check. I told him the sales guy said they don't take out of state checks. He checked with his boss. He had me call the bank and verify I had the funds to buy the car in cash. We agreed I could bring a certified check and take away the car. Momoko's brother-in-law said he would come with me on the 2.5 hours trip to my bank. That works find because I need somebody to drove me off at the dealership afterwards to pick up my new car.

Attending a Birthday Party

A friend of the family was having a belated birthday party. Momomo wanted to go. I was invited. Little Kat had a lot of school work to do. We decided to drop by for an hour. I have driven the three of us to happy hour the last time. So Little Kat drove us to this party. We were the first ones there. The host was still preparing the food.

I saw a new carrot scratching post for the cats. But the cats were nowhere in sight. We did not park in the driveway as a pregnant woman was scheduled to park there. Kit Kat showed up later with ice. I put an Amazon package we brought in her car. I mistook the car in front of us from her car. She was parked across the street.

I started eating some tortilla chips and dip. Then I had some salami. When the Chinese food was put out, I had a couple spring rolls with hot mustard. The kids had teriyaki beef on a stick. A woman from another school in the county came with her boyfriend. Our band teacher friend did not bring his newborn son.

Eventually Little Kat came by and pointed to his watch. Our hour was up. Momoko was supposed to drive home. It was dark. So I took the wheel. We dropped by McDonald's which was not too crowded. Little Kat got a 2 cheeseburger meal. Momoko got 2 McDoubles for $4. I got 2 McChickens for $4. Momoko forgot her jacket at the party. She called Kit Kat to bring it home.