Tag: 1-4-365-4-40

Traditions, Restarted

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As a child, we had several weekly traditions. Wednesdays were the nights mom worked, so dad was in charge of dinner … and, also, dessert. Which was great because his office was across the street from the Hostess outlet in Natick, Mass.

Saturday morning also meant pancakes. Every. Single. Week.

Something really big had to be going on to miss them. In my home, we do them from time to time. Today, being the first Saturday of the year, we broke out the griddle and mixed up my wife’s gluten free batter, mixed in some bananas and dug down deep.

As we set off into another year, another adventure around the sun, here’s to traditions new and old.

Evidence of Their Return

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The children returned from a week with their father. Their two suitcases stuffed, and two other full-size suitcases with … who knows what … that we were told to “bring extra bags” for. I went the large plastic bin route, and filled two of them.

Their Christmas may have been all about The Stuff, but they’re home now where we lean towards pizza night, movies and sending them to bed before midnight … then listening to them whine for an hour about it.

Welcome home, kids. Just don’t leave your new stuff on the floor or it will be disposed of.

Night on the Town

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Even though Atlanta is only an hour and change away from us, we rarely go. If I had to guess, 85% of our trips to Atlanta revolve around the airport. So, with a little time on our hands and half-priced tickets on Thursday nights, we headed in to the High Museum for the Salvador Dali and Peter Sekaer exhibits.

Of course, any leisurely trip to the city must include a stop at the Georgia Diner.

Flashback

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I took the wife’s car in for a new set of sneakers this week. The original equipment Goodyear tires were … um … scary. She drives an econobox, designed for the sole purpose of getting you from point A to point B as cheaply and efficiently as possible. To accomplish this, the manufacturer mounts low rolling resistance tires which improve the mileage.

At the expense of traction.

So, even though they were 40,000 mile tires, they were done at 25,000. Oh, well–I guess I had to shop for tires.

(At this point, any who know me will nod and be happy that I had an excuse to research tires, to think deeply about tread patterns and UTQG ratings. These things bring me some level of joy.)

Once I’d made a decision (BF Goodrich Advantage TAs, in case you’re curious), I searched around and found a local shop with a good price. They didn’t have the size in stock on Monday, but by the next morning had them for me. I skedded an appointment, grabbed my iPad and headed downtown, expecting a long wait.

When I walked in, I had a flashback–a massive, mind-bending, memory-searing flashback to any of a dozen service stations we wandered into as a child when we’d had a blowout while on summer vacations. I swear, this place hadn’t changed since it opened in the 1960s. Sticky vinyl seats, vast open space, cracked linoleum tiles, worn paint … it was awesome.

And the service? Top-notch. The counter guy said about an hour, which I thought was nicely optimistic. Forty minutes later they called my name–done.

I can’t wait to buy tires again in a few months …

Recycled Bits

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Was asked if I had any mounting boards for a project the Mrs. is working on. I poked around and found some old grad school graphics assignments that were displayed on 15 x 20 matte boards. One of the projects came off easily enough, so she got the board and the project got the shaft.