Doing the housework

First day of my trip is dedicated to housework kind of stuff.  That means an oil change for my car at Beach Boyz Auto Repair in Surfside - the car was 300 miles overdue but I think it survived.  While it was being done I headed for the ginormous market half a mile away.  The place has a distinct GOP feel about it - you can even buy huge "I love Trump" (only more violent) flags for $5 and a number of firearms: almost tempting.  However, I did lash out on a sloganless t-shirt and an amazingly tasteless gift for Sam.


$43 later my car had 6.3 quarts of fresh oil on board.  I should have taken a walk on the beach but it was hosing down so I didn't - I watched it rain instead.  I also called the rental company as the combination lock on the apaertment's entry door is still reluctant to open and tells me at all manner of stages that I've entered the wrong number and have to start again.  Haven't had to check into the local motel yet and I'm staying calm about it but whover thought a 10 digit code to get into an apartment was a good idea needs stuffing.  And I will avoid this company in future.

Don't get me wrong - I'm having a great time, kicking back, walking too much and getting to love the stairs. The door and the kids-only cutlery are minor problems: I solved the cutlery problem at the flea market with $9 worth of good solid stainless steel tableware. 

And tomorrow?  I expect to be up with the sun (which shines in my eyes as I don't close the curtains), choke down some ham and eggs.  And coffee.  Then on me bike at the fishing village in Murrells Inlet - not a long ride and inevitably level: I'm just glad that the operation hasn't left me unable to sit on a saddle.

Final triumph today is that the family I am tutoring is taking to high speed math like ducks to water.  It quite brings a lump to my throat to have a young girl who used to count on her fingers doing 30 5 digit subtraction problems in five minutes.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I have gone down to the seas again

Image
 I have gone down to the seas again As has become fairly traditional, I have wandered off to the coast again, leaving Susan to handle tax returns for her clients without worrying what wreckage I have wrought upon the house (or myself - I'm under a strict "no ladder / chainsaw" rule, imposed by me, when she's not home.  She rescued me from an unscheduled sky dive last year).  My destination again is Surfside Beach - half a day's drive from home in a south easterly direction.  I usually get here in January and even got snowed upon last year.  The air is definitely warmer in Feb than in Jan though the sea isn't (or maybe my loss of 7kg of fat has messed up my insulation). I stopped by at the grocery store on the way in last night for a quick shop with a bonus senior moment thrown in for good measure.  I'd chucked a gallon of proper milk (not Lewis Road Creamery, just silver top) in the bottom of my shopping cart yesterday and forgot to take it out when I chec...
Read more

If it's this cold here....

 ... how cold is it in Asheville?  And other deep thoughts. Yesterday was also jolly cold so I hopped in the car to brother-in-law Bryce's house (as I had no work to do and was not going to kid anyone to the contrary).  It's quite a long boring slog to Topsail Island from here and I spent most of the drive trying to decide whether I'd feel better if I got 30 mpg out of my tank or if I got there a few minutes sooner.  The few minutes sooner and the 70 mph speed limit in NC really kicked the arse of my mileage so my final average for the day was 26.7.  Still not bad for the heap of metal I drive around.  I'm waiting for a Tesla with the cargo capacity of an Outback. Had a goodly few hours with Bryce including lunch at the Sushi Gem Asian Bistro.  Susan very kindly verified for me that they served more than raw fish (which Bryce had) and I had a brilliant Shrimp Massuman curry.  It was such an enormous serving that I planned to save half of it for lu...
Read more

Bit of excitement

Image
You'd think I'd know that going to the supermarket on an empty stomach is a bad idea.  But I was lacking a number of basics so I wrote a list of 8 vital items and off I trotted  $120 later I staggered out and only then realised that I am staying on the top floor of a building with no lift.   As one reason for staying here was to get more exercise after lying around feeling sorry for myself for the last couple of weeks, that counts as today's heart lung workout. We used to stay at a lovely cottage called Floyd Cottage so today's pilgrimage was to see how far south of here it is.  The answer is "about 1000 yards / meters / paces" as I zigzagged and backtracked across the beach to get there.  I enjoyed the gentle stroll back and then faced my arch-nemesis - the 10 digit code to get back into the apartment ( apparently Vacasa use 10 digits for all their apartments and I don't recommend it.)  It's easy enough to remember - the first 6 digits are two prime n...
Read more