New Year's Eve

I woke up in the middle of the night to a cold apartment. The gas heater had shut off (as it tends to do from time to time), so I got up and plugged in the electric. I got it up and running again after breakfast, but I wound up with a sore throat and stuffy head as a result.

Karley had messaged me last night (she got a sudden pang of missing me), so this morning we caught up for about a half hour. It's always nice to see how she is doing (very well lately!).

I spent the day online reading and playing games. I spent the evening watching old episodes of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and parts of two Harry Potter movies (5 and 6). I also had some night coffee and a giant slice of chocolate cake!

A quiet New Year's Eve to be certain... And then I went online and blasted "Kids" by OneRepublic into my ears on my iPod, on repeat for awhile. I LOVE ♥ that song.

Spectacles

Today around 1:30 pm I went and got fitted for a new pair of glasses...

Jean Marie let me use her due-to-expire health care flex-spending card, so I was able to knock a couple of bills off the price (in addition to the 20% off sale!), and finally replace my current pair, which is still in great shape after about a decade, but whose lens coating has cracked into a hard-to-see-through turtle shell pattern. Sweet!

Also, two more of my Amazon deliveries trickled in:

• A 5" x 8¼" unlined Moleskine sketch pad (240 pages).
• A small Sleestak magnet, which I am going to sneak onto my brother Kevin's fridge the next time I visit!

Side note: Winter Storm Fortin dropped about 7" of snow overnight. The plow guy took care of the bulk of it last night, and today the roads were fine.

My two front steps and driveway.

Deliveries

Today the mailman brought to me many things that I ordered over the last week or so, both  Christmas present gift card redeems, and just random "need/want" purchases.

From Amazon:

• Book: "Of Dice and Men" - David M. Ewalt.
• Book: "Empire of Imagination" - Michael Witmer.
• Graphic Novel: "Grayson: Volume 4" - Seely/King & Janin (DC).
• And last but not least, a super-high-quality brass pencil sharpener from M+R.

From Life is Good:

• Long sleeve grey "Winter Wanderland" shirt.
• Long sleeve green "Adirondack & Forest" shirt.
• Flip flops.
• "Get Lost * Get Found" motorcycle sticker.

From Amazon (Round Two):

• Orange "Surf Circle" orange tee from O'Neill.
• Brown "Woodstock 1969" tee.
• Book: "The Third Wife" - Lisa Jewell.

So much stuff arriving all at once! And just as Winter Storm Fortis is beginning...

Brass - so heavy!

Shirt images taken from the respective Amazon listings.

Tires & Things

At 1 pm I zipped over to Tire Warehouse to replace the two front tires on my car. An hour (and $150) later, and I am ready for tomorrow's blizzard (projected 4 to 8 inches of snow), and my upcoming car inspection (I still need emissions work).

At 6 pm I headed over to Mike's new house in Westminster to hang out with him, Pete and Keith. His girlfriend had made a huge pot roast, so we chowed down (so good). I brought some dark beers with me. The Opa Opa Milk Stout was very good, despite being rather flat out of the growler. and the 9.7% ABV Dark Truth Imperial Stout from Boulevard Brewing Company was fantastic. I only drank half of one because it was so potent!

Later Mike opened his prodigious liquor cabinet, and I got to try tequila for the first time (amazingly enough, it's been often smelled, yet never tasted). I was fortunate enough to taste the DonJulio 1942 first - WOW. Strong alcohol burn at first, but a great aftertaste. The other two I tried after both paled miserably in comparison. It was an interesting and illuminating experience, for sure.

We all hung out until around 10:30 (Keith left an hour earlier), with promises to do it again soon.

Another New Beginning

I was going to wait until January 1st to start a new blog, but I decided to get a jump on it, since over the last year I've had a lot of success with beginning things early, rather than awaiting a predetermined start-date.

So here is a recap of my mostly ordinary day:

• I got out of bed at 8:30 after an hour of pestering from my giant black cat, Chumble.
• Breakfast was Starbucks Sumatra coffee, cereal, and a banana, while I watched "Just Friends".
• I paid the next 2 months' rent ahead of time.
• Lunch was a roast beef sandwich on multi-grain bread, with Wachusett potato chips.
• I received in the mail (and then promptly read) "The Futurians", an old Marvel graphic novel by the much-missed Dave Cockrum.
• I did some online 'window shopping' on Amazon (headphones & books) and Apple (iPods and iTouches).
• I found out that Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia from the "Star Wars" film series) died this morning, at age 60...
• I had a salad for supper, and then later an apple.
• I shopped for a bed. I may have a good lead!