Vacation 2009 #1 (maybe there will be a #2, money willing) was off to a rough start 10 minutes into the Spoon concert, the digital camera we bought last year broke. At first I thought it was a power issue. Swapping the lithium-ion battery made difference. After fiddling with it, I was partially relieved to see it wasn’t its display or the lens. My conclusion is that sometime between then and delivering Ayako’s cake, communication between the lens and display ceased. Mark was generous to give me a copy of his Spoon pictures (the photographer I met at Guster wasn’t present). At least I found out before we were on the plane to DC.
Meanwhile, my car’s front tire developed a slow leak and I discovered the source Friday night, a screw going right through the tread. When it rains it pours as the cliche goes. We weren’t anywhere near the plane and the vacation fund was already trickling away.
Toughing it out by refilling the tire to keep it around 40 psi (no idea of the Metric equivalent), Somara and I continued to proceed with our planned errands on Sunday, namely having brunch with our friend Charles at his new home in a semi-assisted retirement home (we took her truck on this one). What a meal we had too! I could see why he needed to tell the staff in advance. It was on par with eating at Bellagio or Paris in Vegas. We definitely need to do it again with Charles because his family is pretty far away. I was more relieved to see he was in a place where the staff would see to his needs should he lose some of his independence.
Then came trying to see what the damage would be with my tire and a new camera. Both were pleasant surprises! I had no idea I paid for flat/puncture coverage with NTB on the new tires. I was ready to take it on the chin but the clerk said it was covered and the technician could repair my tire in 30 minutes. He did it in less which was a relief because the lobby’s TV was stuck on E! (yet another Michael Jackson bio followed by a reality show of another former Hugh Hefner bimbo). Somara was dropped off earlier at Best Buy to see what our camera choices were. Armed with the good news on the tire I told her we had a little more money to influence the decision.
Somara chose the Canon Powershot SX 1015 which has a 20x optical zoom. This will be her camera and I will get the Elph (the one we were sharing) when it returns from the Geek Squad’s vendor who does repairs. It set us back over 500 clams yet this vacation to DC is important and I wanted something solid when the AHL comes to Austin in 80 days. She did a series of tests at Best Buy first to be safe. Fortunately it works with our SD memory but not the better lithium-ion battery. It uses four AAs which I found mind boggling. Not to worry, we have a slug of rechargeable NiMHs and additional lithium (non-rechargeable) from the Rock Band promotional offer. Somara assures me the pictures and movies she then took around the housesitting site are much better than what the Elph did. This prompted her to fix her iPhoto via a recent update too. It’s always great when there’s a software modification which actually addresses your problem.
Sunday faded into today (Monday) as I fell asleep watching [Adult Swim]. I don’t miss cable too much yet I can hope The Drinky Crow Show will be on DVD in the near future. Plus the remaining season of King of the Hill.
I made my appointment to see Dr. Custer on time despite the lack of caffeine which is something I never want to do again. His administrator Crystal dug the baby towel/blanket (a common gift from the Maggi Republic for new parents) and the good doctor thought the autographed St. Vincent poster was sweet. Much like me, he has a small gallery of Rock women to post; I gave him a framed Neko Case in April too. My anxiety is going swimmingly so he clued me in on his favorite destinations in DC. Years back, Dr. Custer had to go to the capital every quarter to report to a committee on his specialty, kids with ADD and behavioral disorders. He also gave me a mix CD of his favorite songs of 1969. I’m putting it on my iPod for the trip.
Other errands followed and then this day came to a dead stop courtesy of DPS because I needed to renew my driver’s license. It remained a positive experience. How? I ran into a really nice Waterloo Records employee to kill the two-plus hours of waiting. Time passes quickly and enjoyably with a friend. Angie gave me her recommendations of what she likes for 2009 so far. They’re on my list especially when she made a reference to the Primitives getting their sound cribbed from The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. If she knows about the semi-obscure, UK-based Jangle-Pop band, then her suggestions are on par with Chip’s.
That’s it for now. I didn’t make it home until 4 PM and thanks to no lunch, I fell asleep playing Lego Batman which is my current obsession on the PS3. Somara is in the middle of her pre-travel cleaning frenzy. I normally can’t sleep due to my fear of flying so I will be up all evening packing, finishing my chores (cat boxes, ugh!) and updating the stream for the week: sweet new tracks from Vienna Teng, Bats for Lashes, A Camp, Prince with MPL Sound, Ratatat and the Easy Star All Stars. Seriously, my tastes aren’t elitist, there’s great new music all around us. It’s impossible to find it through America’s, weak conventional sources.
I may update once or twice at Bergstrom to pass the time, hopefully I can still nail the free hotspot through Amy’s Ice Cream. Before I close I just want to vent on how lame I think it is that Austin’s airport lacks free Wi-Fi while Orlando and Las Vegas have it in spades. How can Austin claim to be this technology mecca while something relatively inexpensive (compared to subsidizing crappy TV shows to be taped here) and vital is charged to visitors and locals? It’s sad really. Then again, I shouldn’t be too surprised. Austin claims to be the Live Music Capital of the World with a plethora of radio stations demonstrating the complete opposite.
Keep watching for pictures and other updates from DC starting Wednesday!