Nilknarf News

A weird way to awaken... the jackass that had the room before us had left the alarm clock set on, and it was on Karen's side, so it was her problem. It was a pretty cool alarm clock, it started out buzzing softly, then became louder and more insistent as time went on. Yeah, then it became my problem... but each time, right before I was ready to get up and permanently take care of it, Karen would hit the snooze bar.

So, on about the tenth time, she turned the damned thing off, and we got up and got dressed and went down to enjoy the "free" breakfast. The coffee was great, and that's the best that I can say about it. Well, it *was* food, and that was good, too.

We checked out and went down to Crown Center and Union Station... we seem to gravitate to Union Station, it is such a neat place. Walked around a *lot* again, and it was again a beautiful day for being out.

In Union Station, we decided to go see one of their shows... they have a theater that isn't *quite* an IMAX, but close... and they can show 3D movies, so we saw BUGS, which was pretty great. After we bought the tickets, we sat down and ate at a sandwich shop there and then ambled around, waiting for the show. We went up to the museum that showed both how they originally built to station and then how they refurbished it... fascinating stuff there.

Anyway, speaking of bugs... yesterday when we were in CompUSA I went to the bathroom and I saw a single ant wandering around and I started thinking... do they breed some ants to be explorers, like they breed some to be workers? Do they hatch the explorers all of the time, or just when the hive needs more food? When the explorers bring home food, do they get the adulation due them? Do they have little religious services for the ones who *don't* come back? Like the one that I unknowingly stepped on while leaving the bathroom because I was concentrating on drying my hands and opening the door with the towel before I threw it away?

Anyhoo... we went back to Crown Center and saw a small dinosaur exhibit, then decided to come on home. I wanted to get on I-70, since it goes right through downtown, but we tried and couldn't do it, winding up instead on I-35 going south, so we essentially went home the same way we would've from the hotel, going an extra 20 miles or so.

And we saw a multi-fatality wreck on the way home... there were at least three cars involved, and one of them was covered with a tarp, they way they do when they can't get the bodies out. This was at the junction of US-40 and K-10, and I think that probably someone was going the wrong way at a high rate of speed.

Which leads to me being philosophical... here you are, happily going along, minding your own business, obeying all of the laws and being nice to people and then here comes some jackass doing a hundred the wrong way and you see him coming and then bang and you're dead. Or maybe you don't even see him. That the kind of thing that happens to *other* people, doncha know?

Yeah, life is so funny that I could just vomit.

So, we got home, and right on our tail is Andy... Karen had told him about the stool being broke yesterday, and he had thought that it was the wax ring at the base of the stool, and I'm glad that he didn't get that replaced before I told him what was really wrong. So we futzed around with the mower for a while, and then I futzed around with the stool, thinking that tightening some loose parts would fix it, but no, and then I went to get the right part for the stool, and dammit, I'd futzed around for just slightly too long, the hardware stores were both closed, and I think that the two others that are a long ways away were closed too. I didn't check to see if they were, but the stool isn't leaking when it isn't being flushed, and I've got a pan sitting under it, so tomorrow'll be just fine for fixing that.

And it's been a nice weekend and, for a change, I'm sorry to see it come to a close.