The Zoo over Ambuscade Street

I learned two things this weekend that will probably end up being very bad for me in the long run - how to get my car from 0 to 60 in...a very short period of time (answer: be really pissed off), and where my car is most fuel efficient (answer: an unspecified number > 70). But...things have worked out.

We have insurance with a wonderfully helpful agent, who Erik liked as much as I did. He's really quite helpful, even if he did take ~$1300 off our hands today. Rachel's bridal shower went off without a hitch - my cake and veggie trays came out quite nice, Christy put far more work into the shower than I did and provided the rest of the food, favors, and beverages. And her house, of course, which is populated with the freaking nicest wood furniture I've ever seen. Ever. All handmade by her husband.

I spent far too much time gaping in awe at the sheer gorgeousness of his work. The nicest wood furniture I've ever seen, hands down. He's going to be getting some commissions from me, that's for damn sure! And possibly a website as well, because it's something fairly easy for me to do, and he deserves wider exposure. It's a pity I left my camera in my car, because I would have taken a few (hundred...) pictures. He was working on a side table while we were there, with an inlaid star. Gorgeous. Cradles are next on the agenda, apparently...

The crazy sister is still crazy, and now has more stuff that she doesn't yet know that she needs. She still hasn't registered for things like dishes, but they did register for things like poker tables and shot-glass checkers. I forsee problems in the future with her passing all decision-making onto Nick, but...it's not my life, there's really nothing I can do at this point. She'll learn. Or not, as the case may be.

We're still on schedule to close on Wednesday. I need to get the electric switched over to us, probably Monday, and...that's it, other than getting in touch with the lawyer to find out the exact amount I need to bring in the form of a cashier's check (answer: more money than I've ever seen in one place. A decent car. A few months vacation overseas. Enough to give me a minor heart attack to ge giving to someone all at once.)

I also spent an hour completely stopped on my way back today. 64W was shut down. Completely. For over an hour. Luckily (or not, as the case may be), I was fairly close to the stoppage, so I was able to witness first-hand the huge black plume of smoke appear in the sky (although I wasn't quite close enough to see the fire). Those of us in the right lane relocated ourselves into the shoulder to allow the passage of (over the course of the hour) two fire trucks, two ambulances, a tow truck, and no fewer than nine police cars.

The most amazing part about this was how remarkably polite everyone was about it. Nobody tried zipping past all of us pulled onto the shoulder, nobody ranted, raved, or laid on the horn while we were stopped, when we finally got moving (on the shoulder only), everyone was quite polite about alternating with the other lane...and people in the other lane didn't try driving up to cut past everyone else waiting. Of course, as I said, I was close to the front of the pack, so that might have changed later, but it was still nice to witness. I regretted not having a book along, though...