It's Not All About Me

I have great difficulty finding presents for other people. Birthdays, Christmas, weddings, whatever, I just find it hard to get things for others. (Well, maybe not so much weddings, those are fairly easy for some reason.) I've always had this problem. I remember when I was younger and my mom taking me to the store to find birthday presents for friends and getting really frustrated while I wandered aimlessly. Every time I go shopping for others, I tend to end up finding stuff for me and nothing for them. I guess it might mean I'm selfish, but I like to think otherwise. I mean, if I were truly selfish I'd just run out and grab the first thing that worked and not think any more about it, right? Instead, I usually can't find anything b/c I spend so much time trying to find something that fits their personality, without trying to force my tastes on them. Perhaps I should back up though and give you the whole story of my day to better illustrate my point...

I slept in a bit and then had to head up to the office to do a little stuff. I didn't really want to be there, but I wasn't there too long, so it wasn't bad. I then went home to change clothes and called my sister b/c today is her birthday. She didn't answer so I left a voicemail and sent a text--very personal! I also called a friend who I was supposed to help refinish some table she just got...I called to reschedule b/c I wasn't feeling up to it and had other errands to run. Then, I decided to run up to the mall to find Sis a birthday present (I'll be seeing her with the rest of the fam on Wednesday for Thanksgiving, so I'm not really late in shopping...I never mail it, just give it to her then). I drove all the way out to the mall, which is about 15 miles from my house, to go shopping. There are one or two malls closer, but I wanted to head out to that one to browse some specific stores (for me, not her--I know, back to the selfish thing).

I get all the way out to the mall, hop out of my car, and realize I left my wallet and everything else, other than cell phone and keys, sitting on my dresser when I changed pants earlier...yeah, I was thrilled! I thought about just walking around the mall and, if I saw anything, coming back tomorrow, but, decided I didn't have much else planned today and really just wanted to wander around shopping without having to come back tomorrow. So, I drove home, got my wallet, did a couple other things, then drove back across town and hit the mall (Please note, we're already at 45 miles for the day just driving to the mall, not to mention the 20+ miles earlier driving to and from work. Good thing gas is so cheap right now! Ugh!).

I wandered through several stores with the hopes of coming up with a good idea of what to get my sister. Okay, so I didn't actually expect to find anything for her in the men's department of Belk, Banana Republic, Express, Abercrombie, Gap or American Eagle...but I didn't get anything for me there either, so that's good right? In fairness I did go into Williams-Sonoma also (not that I think she's a big cooker, but then again, I don't cook at all and still go into that store pretty much every time I'm at the mall...I don't know why) and whatever bookstore they have in our mall and I could have conceivably found something in one of those. To be honest, I pretty much wouldn't ever buy her clothes anyway b/c, not only do I not know her size, but I think clothes are a very personal expression that are best picked by the wearer. The most I would've gotten there was a gift card, but that's usually a last resort. I really just went for inspiration and to get me in the mood to shop...and if I happened to find a great deal for myself, so be it! I also went into the store I used to work at to say hello to some people I used to work with and see if anything had changed. Other than the Christmas decorations being out, no, it hadn't.

After leaving the mall, I ran up to the tire place b/c I have slow leaks in two of my tires (although one is significantly less slow than the other), both just bad valve stems, I believe, but needed to get them fixed before I head out of town next week. Unfortunately I got there at like 5:58 and they close at 6, so I'll head back Sunday or Monday. I then ran up to Best Buy to continue birthday shopping. I don't really know why I went here, but I thought I might find something. I wandered around looking at things for her IPod, random computer games, DVD's and whatever else. Didn't see anything that worked for her, but I suppose this is when my selfishness comes out. While perusing the DVD section, I noticed that they had a few different TV series deeply discounted...no good reason it seemed, as they were all current a popular shows, but they still had a temporary markdown. I kept walking, looking for a few shows I know my sister likes, when what did I stumble across? The Nip/Tuck DVD's! Lo and behold...they were some of the ones on sale!! Well, only seasons 1, 2 & 3; season 4 was at regular price, but still, I didn't have any, so I checked them out. Ummm, yeah...each season is normally $45 for the set, but today, they were marked down to $14.99 each! You read that right! So, considering buying the seasons was cheaper than renting them if I ever wanted to catch them, I had to buy all 3. I got all 3 seasons for less than the price of 1 normally! That's not selfish, is it? I mean, how could I pass that up? I stayed in that store clutching my DVD's before checking out, never finding anything for her, but I did see a lot of other cool stuff. Not being a big techie, I don't usually go into electronics stores often, but I think I'm going to have to start!

I hopped across the street to Wal-Mart to wander their electronics section for goodies, then looked for a couple things I wanted (didn't find any) and went down to Circuit City. Headed to Barnes & Noble next, which was purely for her b/c I wasn't in the market for books and she reads like all the time, then went to about 5 or 6 other stores. In all the other stores, I was mainly looking for something for me...a ficus or other large plant to stick in a naked corner of my newly rearranged living room, which I never did end up finding. I think I'm just going to stick a Christmas tree there for now and deal with it in January. While in the parking lot of one of the stores, I realized it was getting really late and I was getting quite hungry (no doubt aided by the women reading out loud from a cookbook in Barnes & Noble). I was kinda tired and new I didn't want to go home to make anything when I was done and thought it a good night to treat myself. I remembered I had a gift card to Outback from waaaay long ago, and that it was time I cashed it in. I gave up on the ficus, hit up BAM in a last effort for sister, then went back across the street to eat.

Of course, it was just me eating, which was kinda sad. I mean, ideally I would've wanted to go somewhere like that with a date/girlfriend or at least some friends, but, with no girlfriend or dates (*sigh*) and figuring most of my friends had already eaten/weren't on that side of town, I figured, "Who cares...I deserve, I'm treating." There was an open booth at the bar so I plopped myself down and was watching some football on TV. I decided to order a big steak (12oz.) and got a salad and loaded baked potato, with the intent of eating half and having some leftover for Sunday lunch. I thought I could fill up on the free bread too. Oh yeah, I also ordered a Sangria with my meal, since it was the closest thing I've had to a date in months anyway. I don't care if it was 50 degrees and dropping outside, I figured a Sangria was a good way to go since I somehow managed to make it through the entire summer w/o making a pitcher of it at home once! (How'd that happen?) FYI - The Sangria at Outback is not so good. I'm not sure if it was because they used an Australian Cabernet as a base (I don't normally like Aussie wines) or if it was just the way they mixed it, but I'm quite confident that the Sangria I make is much better. I should've gone with my first instinct and gotten the margarita. Anyway, while I was eating my salad course a group of three people decided to sit in the bar area for some reason, but the only table available was this tiny little table with 2 chairs (and frankly, it was small for 2!). They pulled up a third chair but they just looked so pathetic sitting there next to me with their legs all touching and crammed in. I felt a little bad sitting right next to them alone in a spacious 4-person booth (see...I'm not completely selfish!) and considered telling them or a server that they could switch with me if they wanted. But then, I realized that I didn't feel that bad about it and that it really wasn't my place to meddle. I didn't really want to sit at the little table and why should I be inconvenienced? I got there first! (ok, back to the selfish thing.) I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes:

"I'm not an unfeeling man, I'm just an uncaring man. What's the difference, you ask? Well, you see, I do feel bad, the problem is, I just don't care!"

I think I stole that from a sitcom years ago (Grace Under Fire, maybe?) but I thought it was particularly appropriate and is often accurate to my view. Anyway, another booth opened up shortly there after and they moved to it, so problem solved. The food came with the sub-par Sangria and I guess I was hungrier than I thought. Remember that plan to eat half and save the rest? Yeah...new plan...how about eat it all and go home stuffed! Somehow I managed to down the whole salad, a 12oz steak, a loaded baked potato, a Sangria, about 3 or 4 glasses of sweet tea and half a loaf of the free bread! Literally the only thing left was about a bite and a half of potato (they over cooked it -- the skin was dried out). I swear, I'm a fat man trapped in a skinny boy's body! Where does it go??

Anyway after all that beef, I was quite exhausted so I ambled out to the car and started the trek back home. Pretty much hung out on the couch since then. It really was a great lazy Saturday...one I hadn't had in a looong time, but my to do list is no shorter than it was this morning. Let's recap, comparing the list of things I was supposed to do to the list of things I actually did accomplish:

Supposed to do:

• Get up early to do laundry
• Go to work
• Help a friend sand her table
• Call my sister
• Find my sister a birthday present
• Wash my car

Actually Accomplished:

• Slept in
• Went to work
• Rescheduled friend
• Left sister a voicemail and text message
• Bought myself 3 seasons of Nip/Tuck
• Took myself out to dinner

Okay, 1 out of 5 isn't bad, right? You be the judge...does that sound selfish to you? Okay, nevermind...don't judge...I like me and my life and I'm not ready to change it. Besides, I think I know what I'm going to get my sister now, so that's like half a point! Anyway, leave me alone...I have a steak to digest!

I'm Baaaaaaack!!!!

Yes...after my longer-than-expected hiatus, I have returned to the world of blogging. If only that hiatus had been spent sunning my self on the shores of some tropical island. Alas, it was just spent here, doing my usual boring life. Oh well.

Taking two weeks off from the blog almost got me out of the habit of things, but I wouldn't let it go that easily. I know my waiting public would be crushed without me. I couldn't let you all down like that! This post has been a couple days in the making since I do have 2 weeks worth of life to catch up on. Feel free to read it in sections.

THE MOUNTAINS

So I did spend the weekend in the mountains with my parents. Looking back, I guess I never really told you why I was going to the mountains. My aunt & uncle have had a house in the mountains for about 20 years now and we've always gone there for Thanksgiving and occasionally other times in the year. Recently my aunt & uncle bought some property across the road from their cabin and subdivided it into several smaller lots. My parents bought one of those lots and had their own cabin built on it since we've enjoyed going there so much. Their plan is to keep it as a second house for now and then when they retire in 5 years or so, split their time between there and a house in FL (where they currently live, although they'd probably sell their current house and get a smaller one). The house was just about done, so I was going up to help my parents move in furniture that they'd been collecting.

Nothing too terribly exciting happened there. I arrived late Friday night, sometime around 12:30ish or so, as I came directly from my last day of job #2. We were staying at my aunt & uncle's, since we don't have the CO on our house yet. Woke up Saturday and started assembling beds, moving dressers and what not with mom, while dad took the rental truck off to pick up some sofas they had bought from a store up there. The builder and his wife (who happen to be neighbors on the mountain) had told my parents they wanted to take us to dinner to celebrate the new house.

We were a little nervous as to where we might be going, as, after nearly 20 years of visiting the mountains, we hadn't really found any amazing restaurants up there. We also were unsure because we were assured that while this restaurant was good, we would blend right in wearing jeans there (that's not a combination I generally have much confidence in). Well, we ended up eating here. You can read the story on their website if you want, but basically, it's a little mountain lodge that hikers on the Appalachain Trail visit frequently for a good meal and nice place to stay while hiking. They had a little hiking store and some rooms to rent in addition to the restaurant. It actually was a good restaurant and we all had really good food. I ordered some ribs (which the server told me they referred to as "pork lolipops" haha! very down home!) What also made this trip interesting was that the restaurant was located in a dry county (yeah, those still exist, apparently). When they made the reservation, we were told that if we brought our own wine they'd give us glasses (it seems you're allowed to have it, just not buy it there). But when we got there, we found out that this place got a winery license last year or so and now makes their own wine...and, in this county when you are a winery, you're allowed to sell your own wine. So, in a rare treat in these mountains, we actually got to order a couple bottles of wine with our dinner. Of course, my mom doesn't drink wine, but fortunately she had a Jack & Sprite in the car (don't worry, she didn't drink alone...the builder, who was driving, had some wine on the way too). Anyway, everyone (myself excluded) got rather tipsy, but we all had more than plenty of food, lots of wine and good company. (Side note- I don't really know why everyone else was so drunk and I wasn't. I had at least two good size glasses of wine, just like everyone else, and the wine was apparently fairly strong. Guess I just have a better tolerance than the rest.) Although my parents had obviously met them, this was the first time I'd met the builder and his wife and they are really nice and very entertaining. They'll make good neighbors! All-in-all a great evening.

Then we went home, I watched Auburn almost beat LSU and went to bed while dad fell asleep on the couch. The next day we woke up, did a little more cleaning at the new house, then packed up and hit the road. Dad had to return the rental truck at some place down the interstate and then I took them to the airport so they could fly home. Of course, once he was in the car, it only took dad about 10 minutes to complain about my driving, but oh well. I quickly put an end to that! haha. After dropping them off at the airport, I went up to the South Park Mall and wandered around (I love that place). Then I hit the road back home. Nice weekend.

**FYI - The pictures are, in order: My Aunt & Uncle's Cabin; Our Cabin (the one in the back); and the view from our front porch.

COMPUTER WOES

As you well know, when I came back from the mountains I found that the power cord on my laptop was no longer working. I think the AC adapter was shot for some reason. After I convinced Dell they needed to send me a new power cord, I waited for it to arrive. Sure enough, a few days later a package arrived. Unfortunately, though it was only part of a power cord...and not the part with the AC adapter in it. I called them back and made them send me the correct part instead. Problem is...they sent it to the wrong address. Yeah...they sent the second power cord to my old work, since that was the address I had the computer shipped to originally like 2 years ago. I don't know how many times I have to tell Dell that's not my shipping address anymore. I get a call from the receptionist at my old job saying they have a package there for me. I had to go by that afternoon and pick it up. I didn't really want to go there b/c pretty much everyone around there I want to see any more I will meet outside of work, but oh well. I actually showed up just before the annual Halloween Party began (everyone brings their kids and hops them up on sugar and lets them run around like crazy around the building) so everyone was a little distracted and I didn't have to see too many people. Oh well, computer's up and running again and I didn't have to pay for it...yay!!

MORE WARRANTY FUN

Last week I took my car into the shop to get a general inspection done and I also mention that one of the wheels was making some strange noise. As you'll recall...the car's been making certain noises for a while and I don't know if this was the same noise or completely unrelated, but it got worse while I was in the mountains, so I thought I'd have it looked at. Turns out it had something to do with my CV joints and was going to cost about $1100 to fix. Thankfully, I bought a very comprehensive extended warranty on my car so it covered it. No cost to me. So here's the running tally of what that warranty has gotten me since I got the car about 2 and a half years ago:

• 3 new radios
• 1 new power window motor
• 2 adjustments to another power window motor
• air conditioner repairs
• new CV joints
  

Needless to say, without my warranty, this would be a rather expensive car for me to be keeping. I have about 25,000 miles left on my warranty, so, in about a year or so when those 25,000 miles are up, I think it will be time to be getting a new one. You all know what I want...

TV UPDATES

So, busy week in my TV world. I know I still owe you all so many editions of "What's in Mark's DVR?" but I do need to take a moment to comment on my shows. First off, Nip/Tuck debuted this week! Yay!!! I'll give the full dish on Nip/Tuck later, but I will say it is definitely my favorite show on TV currently. It's a bit of a guilty pleasure for me! The verdict is still out on this season...it's a bit campy so far, which is a welcome departure from the previous seasons which were a bit heavy, but I just hope they have crossed the line. We'll see.

In more important news...DWTS was a complete and utter shock! Sabrina got eliminated??!! That's disgusting and appalling and everything horrible. I know I said I hadn't particularly fallen in love with any of the celebrities this season, but Sabrina was far and away the most accomplished and superior dancer this season. The fact that the judges were completely shocked, with Carrie Ann having tears in her eyes, is a testament to the fact that this was uncalled for. I'm not necessarily accusing anyone of anything, but I will say if a hanging chad was involved, I wouldn't be entirely surprised. What's the protocol for a recount? By the end of last season, I was getting ready for a "They Were Robbed" season, where celebrities who got eliminated far too early would be invited back for another shot. Now I think it's almost necessary. Among others, Laila Ali, Mario Lopez, Vivica A. Fox, and now Sabrina, should all be invited for one all out dance war! (No, not like Carrie Ann & Bruno's new reality show, which will probably be lame.) I seriously was stunned for a couple of days and almost don't care how this thing turns out now. I'm disgusted.

***UPDATE*** While looking for a picture for this post, I just ran across this juicy little bit of gossip. At least she got something out of the show! It may not be the coveted shiny mirrored ball trophy, but I guess it's not a bad runner's up prize.

EXERCISING

Still running. Yeah, who would've guessed! It actually hasn't been as bad as it was when I first started. I decided I needed to run a little more frequently than I had originally planned if I actually wanted to get anywhere, but so far it hasn't been near as painful. After 1/2 mile nearly killed me, I pushed myself to running 3/4 miles. Yeah... thought I was going to throw up for a good 15 minutes after that one. I made it though. I've kept pushing myself and now I can do a mile and a half without feeling too bad. I guess this whole exercising thing has its benefits. I mentioned on the phone to my parents the other night that I went running. My dad's response was "What happened, is your car broken?" My mom said "You did what?" Apparently the thought of me exercising is surprising to more people than just me!

THE CAT'S MEOW

I was cat-sitting for some neighbors over the weekend. I don't think I've shared with you my sordid past with felines, but for now, lets suffice to say that the roommate & roommate's wife got an evil sick little cat when we were living together that I didn't get along with so well. Anyway, the neighbors' cats weren't so bad...I did only have to see them twice. The neighbors' house was a complete sty though! Literally, the kitchen floor was covered in laundry and there was a bowl of PJ sitting on the kitchen table which was leftover from a Halloween party I attended there a week before! And it's girls that live in this house!! Wow. Oh well, on the upside, they got a Wii not that long ago, so I stayed there for a couple hours on Saturday playing that while the cats ran around.