304.March 3

Nottingham, UK

CJ and I took the bus to Victoria Center and walked to San Remos restaurant, because the cab was late. We had to eat there again because it cost 4 pounds to be there otherwise. It wasn't much fun, only a little. All were civil. CJ and I walked home, which was the highlight of the evening. We had a good talk and walk.

1994

Board Game and Pizza night at my house. Sarah asked me to host, as she is feeling sick and Laurel is coming from Lake City. I know the house needs a little touching up to be ready, but I believe I can do it, and I'm all excited from my wedding planning. I am catching a ride home from Abrian, and have already purchased the pizza stuff and 3 liters of cabernet-sauvignon. We've got a new Middle Earth Monopoly that I'm longing to open up.

(I was hacked by someone in my house, masquerading as my kitty, who wrote a conclusion to my evening. I've erased it now.) Our guests were Sara, Jacob, Jill, Rachel, Laurel and myself, perfect for a board game.

Middle Earth Monopoly was brilliant. So was the pizza and everything the guests brought along, especially Laurel's sangria, which always hits the spot. The best thing about this version of monopoly was the ring of power. It travel's around the board and each time someone roles the EYE OF SAURON, the ring moves to the next property. When it reaches what would be Boardwalk, the game is over. Laurel stayed over, because she had a job in La Crosse tomorrow. It was a great night.

2010

I stopped in Waukon at an auction that included some of the furniture that has been in the house we are purchasing, and decided not to stay because after inspecting them, I found I could do without the things we'd had our eyes on. Also, I hate auctions, and this one was so big and loud and unintelligible that I decided it wasn't worth stay no matter what kind of deal I could get. I would like to encourage people who bring things to auctions not to do that, because they are simply degrading to all involved.

I went to breakfast at S&D Cafe, and sat at the bar, which has the most worn counter I've ever seen. I took advantage of being there by drinking more coffee than I needed, and read a book on my kindle while I ate the Mess Omelet. I wasn't very impressed with the whole thing, mostly because of the cheese slices they used that made it taste cheap and velveety. I headed off for Decorah to spend a few hours at work installing another processor and more ram (72 gig) into our main terminal server and restarting all the machines. I stopped at my parents house for lunch, which was at about 15:00, and helped carry Chris's old water heater downstairs to the basement. I dropped John, who'd driven the 3 wheeler out to the farm to help us with the project, to his car so he could jump Patty's Honda, which was again dead. I spent the rest of the day inside, mostly cleaning and watching movies with Rachel, who was done now with her projects, playing at church, and planning out the menu for "Noises Off". We watched Transformers (Dark of the Moon) for the spectacle alone, it was truly not very good.

2013