Eventually Clever

Weekend Roundup

Quite the eventful weekend! And the first of many busy weekends, until the holidays are over and the move next door is finished.

Dina and Ben picked me up from the office on Friday. We dropped by the grocery store for a couple of small items, but ended up doing most of our shopping. Once home, we ate a quick dinner, and then Dina left Ben on my chest and headed out for her book club.

While Ben fussed and screamed before eventually succumbing to his obvious drowsiness, I played a couple of frustrating hours of Ratchet and Clank. So much so that I went looking for an FAQ/Cheat List. I found one thing that was very usable: a bug/glitch/hidden feature of earning unlimited money. Others had alluded to this method before, but I didn't understand the details, but I knew that it involved pressing the circle button for an extended period of time.

I stacked one leg of a piggy bank on the controller, and left it there on the floor over night so that on Saturday, I was able to buy up all the missing items and weapons, and have money to spare when I decided to reload. After that, finishing the game took about an hour. It was quite satisfying, and much better than the available Saturday morning cartoons.

But that wasn't the focus of the day. No, the big development was the trip to the Townships to put Dina's snow tires on. And for me to pick up the car that the in-laws are loaning me for the winter. We changed the tires, we played with Ben, and then I took the station wagon home instead of the Ford, because the Ford needed newer tires than they had available.

Finally, we left as soon as it turned dark. Dina took the lead, and I got into the wagon, with its half-tank of gas, and followed. When I took the wagon, Dina's dad warned me "when the needle drops below a quarter, sometimes it makes like its going to stall. But we've made it to Montreal and back on a half-tank, so you should be fine."

I was very excited, nervous, intimidated and excited about my first solo drive. Sure, it was two hours long over a long stretch of highway, but it wasn't a complicated route: follow the roads as they wind, merge onto the autoroute, drive over the bridge, and then wheedle my way home.

Dina took off ahead, and then waited for me at the highway turnoff to make sure that I didn't get lost. Which I appreciated, because that turnoff wasn't very clearly indicated!

Let me tell you, the road looks very different from behind the wheel. But most of you know that already.

The ride was enjoyable. Right up to the approach to the bridge, when the needle touched the orange portion of the gauge. I was down to my quarter-tank, with nary a gas station in sight.

No problem, I thought. I'm only about 20 minutes from home anyway.

The car started slowing down as I approached my exit. I didn't know where the emergency flashers were, so I tapped my brakes, pumped the gas pedal, and tried to aim for the shoulder or, better yet, an exit to the service road.

At the last moment, the gas pedal responded, and the car surged forward.

I took the exit, drove to the nearby gas station, and filled up the tank until the car seats floated.

And then I drove the rest of the way home, feeling quite pleased with myself. I was only 15-20 minutes behind Dina. Not too bad for my first time.

The evening was pretty quiet.

Sunday was very busy, and I'm surprised that we got everything done. I woke up early and started did some work that I had brought home. Then, I started laundry and process of tidying before we received two sets of guests.

The first set were the gentlefolk who cancelled their first visit due to illness. Talya and Erik had yet to meet Ben, and we finally got our schedules to coincide.. Talya held the bouncing baby boy, while Erik used his shiny digital camera to great effect. Good thing Ben is used to being photographed!

It was a good afternoon visit. They gave Ben some very cute things, including a soft pink bearskin rug. The photos, when posted, are sure to be hilarious.

As they were about to leave, I uttered words that Dina never expected me to say: "Can I give you a lift?"

After all, I had a set of car keys in my pocket. So that's what I did!

In the evening, Rhett and Debbie came by for a visit, a delicious Indian meal, and a viewing of Finding Nemo. Let me tell you, watching the movie as a father-plus-nearly-four-months is actually more difficult that as a father-to-be-in-two-weeks. I kept sneaking out of the living room to see the sleeping boy and touch his little cheeks.

But I always made it back for the turtles. Man, those turtles are sweeet!

Posted by Stephen