Up early; continued my new tradition of walking to Dunkin’ Donuts for a bagel on Friday. I hope the walking offsets the bagel like I think it does.
After work Emily and I hopped in the car and headed off to Michigan. Our destination is Houghton Lake but that’s an eight-hour drive which is not how we roll after work. We stopped in Ann Arbor for the night, to make the last three hours of the journey tomorrow (after visiting Arbor Brewing, of course).
Emily made a really nice dinner of shrimp korma over basmati rice with summer squash. Delicious.
We finally reinstated our Farscape/Buffy the Vampire Slayer exchange, wherein I show her one episode of Farscape (my favorite show) in exchange for one of Buffy (hers). We left off in the middle of the second season of both several months ago but it was pretty easy to pick up again.
Getting some weird I/O errors from my hard drive. Sat at the computer to find everything mounted read-only. Not good. Looks like it’s time to go shopping.
Took an early/long lunch break to bring Hunter to the V-E-T to check on some stomach troubles he’s been having. All appears to be well; the only thing we might need to do is change his food.
Emily brought home some take-out from S&D Polish Deli in the Strip. The kielbasa was tasty and the potato dumplings were delicious. I believe there was a Groupon involved in the transaction somewhere…
Finally got around to washing bottles and putting my beer in them. I don’t have high hopes for this one, but it’s my first so it’s not the end of the world if it sucks. I took a swig of some of the unfinished stuff and it was drinkable, if a bit sweet.
Finished the evening with some Mass Effect (almost done!) and a bottle of Mother Earth Endless River which one of Emily’s coworkers sent over. I have to admit I wasn’t crazy about this one. Maybe it’s the fruit, or perhaps it’s because it was paired with Goldfish crackers.
Moved the router and modem up to the new office since the wireless signal wasn’t quite reaching there.
Made vegetable stir-fry for dinner. Emily made the rice and tofu last week but we didn’t have any vegetables. Now we have some and the meal is complete.
Stopped at Best Buy to pick up a wireless extender. Now there is no place in this house without a good signal.
Took my mother out for dinner since her birthday is tomorrow. She decided on Stonepepper’s Grill, which is becoming our family’s new Olive Garden. The waiter made fun of me for ordering an Atwater Vanilla Java Porter, but it was no less delicious for it and my father even said he liked it (quite a departure from Michelob Ultra).
Stopped at my parents’ house after dinner to check out their recent furniture purchase. They got a huge white corner couch which takes up most of the “TV” half of the basement. Very comfortable, and I think they should ignore my sister’s inevitable complaints about the color.
Checked out the WYEP Summer Music Festival at Schenley Plaza. Simona and Russell brought some delicious homemade pizza and sandwiches and we got caught up while the music played in the background. We checked out the homemade crafts market where I picked up some cufflinks made from old mechanical watch parts. Now I’ll have something to rotate out my LEGO cufflinks with.
Next up was Brillobox in Lawrenceville where my good friend Andy’s band Chet Vincent and the Big Bend had their CD release party. The music was great and we got a free copy of the CD (with the cover charge…) but after about four hours of standing (not including the earlier concert!) I was ready for bed. I believe I may be getting old.
After work Emily and I made our way out to Plum to visit a friend who recently had a baby boy. The kid was really cute and took a liking to Emily right away.
Stopped at D’s in Monroeville for a late dinner. I broke with tradition and actually had what turned out to be a very tasty portabella salad. Well, the mushrooms and the dressing were tasty but the rest of the salad wasn’t that exciting.
Headed out to The BeerHive in the Strip with the Beer Meetup. Had some East End Pedal Pale Ale, which I don’t believe I’d had yet this year. It was good, but not as good as I remember from previous years. Maybe it’s designed to be tasted after chasing it through the streets of Pittsburgh on your bike. Also, Jeff talked Greg and me into joining the Ultimate Frisbee Meetup. It will be nice to get some regular exercise for a change.
