April 15, 1999
Dear Everyone:
“Jeannie’s”
VCR
died the day before Easter,
cause of death unknown. It
swallowed a Keanu
Reeves movie and subsequently expired.
This, of course, meant that “Jeannie” needed a new VCR.
I guess I’ve never gone shopping on Easter Sunday
before. I hadn’t realized
that nothing is open.
The mall was closed.
Circuit City was
closed. Even the restaurants
were closed, with the exception of one fast food place we found in
Pacheco.
Other than that, zip…zero…nada.
I heroically offered to tape part two of the
multi-part series on
Masterpiece Theatre that “Jeannie” had already started, which
would run that Sunday night.
It was the least I could do since my other two VCR’s would be busy with
regular Sunday-night tapings.
(Never let it be said that I wouldn’t do the least I could do.)
Last weekend, we went VCR-shopping.
Man, have those things gone down both in price and weight.
The first VCR I ever bought cost hundreds of dollars.
I remember filling out a form to put it on my credit card as a
special “low-interest” loan.
I also remember that it weighed at least 25 pounds.
These days, you can pick up a pretty good machine
for under $150. And you can
just about pick it up with one hand.
We found a nice one last Saturday, putting it on my credit card
as a kind of interest-free loan to “Jeannie”, whose next paycheck is
expected to be a bit low.
This way, she gets the VCR and I get the points on my credit account.
When I accumulate enough points, I get a “Rewards Certificate”
good for $25 at Macy’s.
Since I can always find something I need at Macy’s, this works
out well for both of us.
I did offer to give “Jeannie” one of my older VCR’s
as a hand-me-down. This
would have given me the opportunity to pick up a new one with more bells
and whistles than she was willing to pay for.
But she wanted a new one, figuring it would last longer.
Speaking of hand-me-downs, I’m still getting Oberon
ready to cart up to “Jeannie’s” place.
I’ve warned her that this weekend she should be ready for Oberon
to move in with her and the cats.
I’ve transferred most of the files that I need to keep over to
Phineas; my monthly budgets and the Weekly Letters being the most
important. I doubt that
“Jeannie” needs to have my 1996 and 1997 tax files.
And, as she doesn’t care for games like
Myst, I’ll uninstall
that, plus a number of work-related things.
When that’s all done, probably some time Saturday, I’ll
defrag her
hard drive.
Well, actually, Oberon’s hard drive.
Then it’ll be time to take everything apart, put all the pieces
in the car, and haul them all up to
Concord
for re-assembly.
The only part that won’t fit easily into the car is
the computer cart. It
measures 26X19X30. The trunk
has a maximum clearance of 16-½”, but we might be able to wrestle the
cart into the back seat. Or
maybe we find a volunteer who owns a small truck or van.
We’ll think of something.
Even a pickup truck would work as the weather forecast is for
clear skies this weekend.
As compared to last week when we had wind, rain,
hail and snow, for heaven’s
sake. This week has been
warm and bright. The guys in
the warehouse have officially started wearing shorts.
It’s Summer already.
As for Spring, I think most of us overslept on
Sunday and missed it.
Love, as always,
Pete
| Previous | Next |