League of Melbotis

Tuesday Goings On

We had dinner this evening with a former elementary/middle school/ high school classmate of mine, Hilary, and her husband. I'd had coffee with Hilary shortly after arriving in town, and we finally found a day when we could meet up and grab some chow.

Hilary and Stuart are musicians and play a lot locally and around the state.

You can see their band's website here.

It's funny. I don't think I've been in contact with Hilary much more than a few sporadic e-mails since May of 1993 or so, but it's fun seeing her. And also, it's nice that her husband seems like a genuinely good guy (but what dark secret does he hold..?). I imagine she will get looped in to the Friends of The League, whether she likes it or not.

Aside from that, today we brought the dogs in to the vet (so far everyone has a clean bill of health, but Mel's lab work is being processed). Lucy has fought ear inections her entire life, but I think I have newfound faith in our newfound vet to get the fun in Lucy's ear canal under control.
Here's the big news: Melbotis is down to a svelte 94 pounds. He is even lighter than he was when we first showed up to join our family. He's been eating less and exercising. Mel weighed 117 at his last weigh-in, so we're all very proud of the work Mel has done to become a tinier dog. There's a moral in there, somewhere.

The only sad part is that I can no longer tell people "My dog is over 100 pounds".

I also got some shelving material which I want to hang, but I need a "stud finder". I am 98% positive The Admiral or Dr. McB got me a very expensive electronic stud finder circa 2002, but I can't find it in my boxes in the garage. The problem is this: If I DON'T have one (that 2%), I need an electronic stud finder. If I have one, then I need to find it. If I have one, I COULD go buy a cheap, old-fashioned magnetic stud finder, but those don't usually work terribly well.

What to do? I certainly don't want to drop $45 on an electronic stud finder if I own one.

Oh, and I took a large poster in to get it framed.

a) Michael's doesn't carry glass big enough to handle the job, and won't frame anything that large with glass, anyway. I had to go buy my own plexiglass.

b)I bought the plexiglass at a local shop and dropped it off yesterday

c)Today I was in the neighborhood of Michael's and popped in to see how they were coming along. We need to "drymount" the poster to foam core (if you don't, eventually teh poster will sag in the frame).
Now I learn Michael's doesn't carry foamcore large enough to match my poster. They were planning to seam two pieces together, leaving a crease in the picture. Apparently, some Michael's employees would rather jack up your poster than get the right materials.
Luckily, the girl working there took me aside and said "do not let this happen". Unluckily, she just moved here from Detroit and doesn't know were to get foam core. Luckily, I do.

d)I made one call to a local establishment with whom I had once done business, and I now have to go buy my own foam core.
I am grateful for the Detroit girl at Michaels who thinks they run their own shop like a monkey show

e) Nonetheless, I'm irritated that I am STILL paying Michael's ANYTHING for this job. I shall have a long conversation with the framing manager before all is said and done if I do not get a significant refund.