An afternoon of minor annoyances

I took a very long time to get my butt in gear today. I didn't really accomplish anything significant (other than the one thing that I'm not going to mention, because it was horrible and disgusting and would have been less horrible and disgusting if I had dealt with it a week or so ago) until 2:00 in the afternoon, which is when I went outside and trimmed some hedges flanking our front steps into lovely conical Christmas Tree shapes - which took five, maybe ten minutes, tops. Thoroughly exhausted from this exertion, I retired to the computer and the Internet for a while and then took a shower and got ready to go out.

I had three major goals today:

• Get my tires rotated.
• Get my oil changed.
• Get gas.

When I got in my car I discovered that my tire rotation was not due for another 1500 to 2000 miles. which was some good news, since this takes an hour or more. Then I found my $3 off coupon for Jiffy Lube, which was also good.

I pulled up at Jiffy Lube at 4:53 and they looked closed. But this was not so. They got my car in and changed the oil in pretty much record time.

From there I went to a Dollar Store (Dollar Tree) where I bought napkins, and then to Country Junction, where I bought nothing. Target, a copy of Elf for $10; Circuit City, nothing; Party City, nothing, though I did make a note to stop there for candy alternatives next Halloween.

It was while pulling up to Circuit City that I resolved to make a purchase. I was going in there because I was looking for a copy of David Gilmour's new DVD, Remember That Night - my brother and nephew had seen bits it when they were in a big-box electronics store, and they decided they wanted it. A quick phone call as I was walking into the store revealed that this had been at Best Buy, not Circuit City.

But the thing that made me decide to make a purchase was hearing The Flight of the Conchords on the NPR interview show Fresh Air.

A little background. Up until about twenty-four hours ago I hadn't really heard of The Flight of the Conchords. Well, maybe a little, here and there. But they hadn't really registered until I saw the videos Tiffany had included in yesterday's post on If I Were Queen of the World. And then I was hooked.

Today I went through the Best Buy ad and saw that the season 1 DVD of The Flight of the Conchords was on sale for $19.99. I hemmed and hawed. Did I really want to buy another DVD I might never watch? I wasn't sure.

So when I got into the car after leaving Target I was musing on this very issue. Should I , or shouldn't I? If only I had some sort of sign. I switched on the radio...and there they were. They were singing "You're So Beautiful", and I came in right on the line that I had quoted back to Tiffany last night:

You're so beautiful
like a tree
or a high-class prostitute...

OK, that did it. I was going to buy this DVD. Particularly because I have it on good authority that knowing some of these songs could very well be the key to getting laid.

I decided I would buy the disc at Best Buy rather than Circuit City, because I have a membership card at Best Buy but not in Circuit City. Also, I had seen the disc in the Best Buy ad, and didn't even see it in the store in Circuit City.

Best Buy had other ideas.

In a nutshell, my Best Buy adventure:
- Couldn't find FotC disc on my own.
- Asked a clerk, who helpfully offered to find a clerk who could help me.
- Waited. And waited. And waited.
- Found another clerk, who told me that a lot of people were in back looking for this disc. Also determined at this time that they did not have the David Gilmour DVD in stock, either.
- Got a raincheck.

Then it was off to Long John Silver's to pick up greasy, foul-tasting fish and chips for dinner. Then to Wegman's for cheap Turkey Hill Ice Cream and my free turkey, courtesy of work.

The checkout computer wouldn't let me have the turkey.

After much experimenting and rescanning, we worked out that the coupon would not work if you were using your membership card. So I finally had them ring up the rest of the order first, and the turkey separately. It worked out.

Finally, at a few minutes of eight, three hours since I had arrived at my first step on this journey, I pulled up to the gas pumps at Sam's Club, where I filled up with gasoline at $3.079/gallon - the highest price since the Katrina price spike.

Now I'm going to check all the NaBloPoMo updates today, and then I'm off to spend the night at my house - and put my 19.44 lb. turkey in the freezer there. Goodnight!