Halloween, 2010

Halloween went well. I dressed up as Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and my wife dressed up as a gothic schoolgirl. We got a fair amount of trick-or-treaters, not enough to make it though the whole bowl of candy, which consisted of two variety packs, one chocolate-based and the other void of chocolate. It's hard to get a huge variety of costumes when there weren't a whole lot of kids, but there were some really cool costumes, some extremely adorable ones, and as always a few who didn't even try.

Yesterday we went to see RED, which we both liked. Nice mix of comedy and action. I enjoyed it a lot more than Scott Pilgram Vs. The World, which we saw later that evening.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

My wife and I played Marvel: Ultimate Alliancefor the Xbox 360 tonight. The last time we had played it was November of 2009! We definitely need to find some more fun 2-player co-op games.

Sprinkler Fix, Redo

I awoke to an email from my wife saying that some very forceful water in the face woke her up this morning, and that I needed to check the sprinkler. Upon inspection, I found that the groves in the base of the sprinkler which hold it in place as it rotates were worn down near the top. So I had no choice but to find someway to unscrew the old sprinkler base and put in the new one. A tip for anyone else out there facing the same problem: use two wrenches to grip the top of sprinkler on opposite sides, crisscrossing in the middle, then twist.

Also found that the irrigation line was seriously leaking in one spot as I could see pools forming in a section of river rock, so I raked out all the rock onto the patio, peeled back the plastic, and pulled up the line. There was about a foot and a half section that was brittle and cracked with holes in several spots. A quick trip to Lowe's and I was able to patch it right up with no problem.

Tree Trimming

Did some tree trimming today, the kind that involves standing on the roof and wielding a chainsaw attached to the end of a long pole. It was exhausting!

Sprinkler Fix

A couple weeks ago I noticed that one of the sprinklers in the backyard would stay up after the cycle was over instead of going back into the ground. Then a few days ago I noticed that it had actually come completely out of it's housing. So I dug around it all the way down to where it screws in so that I could remove it and put in a new one, but I was unable to unscrew it. I figured my hands were probably too tired from all the digging, and I could probably get it the next day. But when the next day came, I was still unable to remove it, and I didn't have a wrench big enough to fit around the two inch diameter.

So today I went to Harbor Freight to pick up a wrench. I saw this weird looking rubber strap wrench set, so thought I'd give that a try, but once back at home I quickly found that it wasn't going to do the job. So I returned it and picked up a 12" Professional Groove Joint Pliers. And both trips I took coupons with me which snagged me free flashlights, free scissors, and 20% off of my purchase. Anyway, these pliers enabled me to get the top screw-on cap removed, but I still couldn't get the base loose.

Not knowing what else to do, I took the internal components of the sprinkler to Lowe's and found a replacement sprinkler that would fit them, because if the old components fit in this new sprinkler then the components of the new sprinkler should fit in the housing of the old sprinkler. And thankfully, it worked. I got home and slid the new sprinkler components in with no problem.

New Mask, New Hoodie, Halloween Decorating, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIS!

Picked up a cool-looking silver skull Halloween mask from Grocery Outlet yesterday. I also got a new navy blue zip-up hoodie, because I lost mine somewhere. Usually when I lose it, I actually just end up leaving it in my wife's car, but this time we actually cleaned out her car, and after looking in my car and everywhere else in the house I just couldn't locate the thing. But it's okay, because the great thing about Grocery Outlet is their amazingly cheap prices, and plus I like the way this new one feels.

Today we put up our Halloween decorations. Some cheesy flat plastic skeletons, and light-up bat outline in the window, a little light-up plastic spider web in another windo, a bunch of skulls and rats and spiders scattered around front, and a couple other things. I think this is probably the most we've decorated for Halloween since we moved here.

And today is my sister's birthday, so Happy Birthday!

A Stitch In My Pocket

A little while back my wife and I went shopping for some new jeans and shorts for me. A couple days ago, I wore a pair of the black jean shorts for the first time, and discovered that the inside of the right-hand pocket was accidentally stitched folded over, preventing much of anything from fitting inside. So today I carefully cut the stitches out so it could be unfolded. I don't think I could have done it without the seam ripper I just happened to have, as scissors definitely weren't working. I've had that thing for years, and it was even still unopened in its package.

The Shakespeare Festival

Had a little adventure this past weekend. My parents came up Friday afternoon, then on Saturday we drove up to Ashland, Oregon for the Shakespeare Festival. The play we saw on Saturday night was Henry IV, and man was that thing long. Like three hours, they even had an intermission. We all had a hard time hearing and understanding most of the performers, only the guys who played Prince Henry and Sir John Falstaff were easy to follow. I really liked their scenes together.

On Sunday we went to see Throne of Blood, which I think we all agreed was also pretty dull. It's not that it was bad or anything, just not a whole lot happening on stage to keep me engaged. A little action, very little humor, and the rest was just talking, or even not talking, where absolutely nothing was happening.

Still, I haven't given up on plays yet. I think a comedy one would be fun, or something with a lot of action.

Goodbye Queen Mattress, Hello Headphones

Today I gave away the queen mattress that we had leaning up against the piano. Feels good to have that gone. Also, the headphones that I recently ordered for my wife arrived today. She tried them out and she loves them, so hopefully these will be the ones to stick with!

New Cell

My wife went out with her friend after work and got one of them fancy touchscreen phones with the slideout keyboard. And apparently it was super cheap after all the discounts and rebates. In the little time that she had it, it already seems to receive text messages better than her Tracfone.