How about a non-Poke today?

I have a boring job, but it has its perks from time to time.  Not that I’m tooting my own tuba, but in the last 6 months I’ve received an award about 7 times (although twice it was 2 in one month).  I mostly care about this because I get to go to the awards lunch and eat vastly better food than the usual cafeteria goop.

This most recent time, however, was even better.  The person who gave me the award didn’t leave her name, but I figured who it likely was.  To verify, I went to the lady’s contact here, who agreed with me.  But then she said that the lady had also left envelopes for several people, and after shuffling through them a couple of times, pulled out one for me.

Every once in a while a group will leave me a small amount of cash, 5 or 10 bucks maybe.  Once I got a bottle of wine and a backpack.  I opened the envelope expecting another 10 bucks or so.  Well, I did see a ten.  But I also saw twenties.  It totaled $90.

Now, I know in the scheme of things 90 bucks isn’t much.  But considering I usually get nothing, and considering I’ve got birthdays and holidays coming up, and considering what it costs these days for marshmallows, I’ll take it.

Let’s see how long it takes for you to notice this is here

I know, you’re absolutely shocked that there’s a new entry.  Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

A couple of weekends ago, we decided to get some household tasks done.  Well, we got it done, but not without–you guessed it–a Poke or seven.

First, Saturday:  Rock Day.  We had to complete our side landscaping now that our neighbor’s house is finished and they’re moved in.  So we had 2 1/2 tons of rocks dumped in our driveway.  First, a small Poke:  our across-the-street neighbors had their rocks delivered the same day.  I personally don’t like doing sweaty dirty manual labor with people watching.  Actually, I don’t like doing sweaty dirty manual labor.  Then, within about 10 minutes of starting, it began to rain.  It wasn’t a huge downpour, but it lasted long enough to turn our side yard into a slick layer of mud, which we had to negotiate for the remainder of the back-cracking day.  Right as we’re nearing the end, we realize something:  we didn’t get enough rocks.  So, while appearing just fine from the road, up close, the middle of the side is definitely lacking in the Full of Rocks Department, which coincidentally is where I’m likely to transfer to once my term here is up, mainly for the cushier chair.

Then, Sunday:  Shopping Day.  We went to Costco for a BIG shopping trip, took our time, got tons of stuff, had some coupons, went to check out, had all our items swiped, then realized my bank card was expired and I hadn’t remembered to bring the new one.  Aha!  But the ever-resourceful wife had hers!  Hooray!  No, wait, apparently her resources were running out, because she didn’t remember the PIN.  Can I use my credit card instead?  No!  This is Costco, so it’s bank debit card or AmEx or cash or one of those 4-foot novelty checks that game shows and sweepstakes companies always use.  So, embarassed, we crept out and drove around for the next half-hour until we could find a bank.  We withdrew some cash and went back (they’d kept our cart–with all the stuff in it–in the cooler) and re-checked out.  Except the first cashier had tossed our coupons, so we had to go page-by-page through the coupon book the new cashier had and point out the coupons we used.  Meanwhile, for the second time, we had customers backed up behind us grumbling about the delay but admiring my hat.  At last, everything was done.  We sat down with some Costco hotdogs, and as a final insult, THERE WAS NO MAYO.