We had a pretty busy day so far.

Our shower has a glass door that swings on a hinge (as opposed to sliding). To keep it shut there is a little spring loaded plastic ball a little bigger than a BB on the edge of the door. When you close the door the little ball clicks on the other side of a metal frame mounted on wall. Over the years the little plastic ball has worn away the spot were it rides over the metal frame. As a result it just barely stays closed. If you bump it just a little while you are in the shower it will open up. This morning the first thing I did was mix up some JB Weld and used a popsicle stick to build the worn-away spot back to its original shape. I have never used JB Weld before, but after it is cured it is just like steel. Literally. It can stand temperatures up to 600º. You can grind it. Tap holes into it. Fix engine blocks. It takes 15 hours to cure so around midnight tonight I will give it a try and see if the door stays locked in place better. I think I got the profile of the repair almost perfect, but I will still take a file to it just to smooth out and rough edges.

After I finished the shower repair we both got dressed and went to the Starbucks that Sheri went to every morning while she wasn't working. She wanted to tell her coffee-clatch that she got a job. Only two of the guys were there. I had a maple nut oatmeal scone and my usual tall decaf triple Americano, and Sheri had their low fat blueberry coffee cake (her favorite) and he usual iced coffee.

We didn't stay too long. For one thing they don't have a vestibule and every time someone came or left raw cold air filled the room. I am not usually a cold person but my feet and legs were cold. Sheri finished the saduko and crossword puzzle in the paper and I skimmed through the rest of the paper.

Sheri's friend Emily just opened up a store/yoga studio across the street from the Starbucks so we stopped up there (it's on the second floor) to see how things looked. Her husband was there so we talked with him and checked things out for a bit. As we were leaving Emily arrived with her son.

We walked across the street and split a large slice of pizza at a new pizzeria that recently opened up. The guy that is running it is pretty young, early 30's and maybe even late 20's, and really nice. He was born in Italy but grew up in New Jersey and Brooklyn. He has a pretty thick Brooklyn accent and a goodfella air about him. He was wearing a very Brooklyn matching workout outfit; matching blue pants and jacket with a tennis shoe logo on it. Another goodfella friend came it. He was driving a Hummer that had the words "Teamster Strike Organizing Unit" on the side. He had the same Brooklyn accent. They hugged and said "Howyadoin?" when he came in. I also liked the young Hispanic kid he hired to work behind the counter. He has these razor-shaped thin sideburns that come down the side of his face and curve towards the front of his jaw. It makes him look like a bad ass and therefore not someone you want to talk to, but when he handed my my soda he flashed this really big sweet innocent smile. He can't be more than 16 or 17 years old. As we were leaving I went up to the counter and asked how much the cannolis and tiramisu cost. He obviously didn't know and kind of said "um, ah, um" a few times and then flashed that smile and said "For you, $2!" with a very heavy Spanish accent. I thought that was hilarious. He was learning how to schmooze Brooklyn-style from his goodfella boss. They earned my loyalty today. They were cool and fun. Oh, another customer came and after he placed his order asked for a cannoli. With his Brooklyn goodfella accent said "You got it." I liked that too.

We rounded the block and stopped in William Sonoma's to look at their espresso equipment. Sheri made a single-serve coffee from a Keurig coffee machine for me. The machine is there so they can demonstrate it to prospective buyers and had a little sign that basically said don't touch it and ask for assistance, but she didn't see it until after. A clerk came up as she was finishing brewing it but she was cool with it. The coffee was pretty darned good. Excellent taste but with a slightly lighter body than what I normally get with my triple Americanos. I would love one of the fully automated espresso machines that grinds your fresh beans on demand, tamps the coffee, brews, and empties the grounds into a container automatically. They range in price from $1,000 to over $3,000 so I don't see one in my future anytime soon.

Last night when we were making our white chili I was horrified to realize I didn't have chili powder OR oregano on hand. Horrified! So our next stop was Penzy's. While waiting in line to check out I realized how lucky I am to have one of the few Penzy's retail stores in existence. The spices you get at the grocery store are no match for what you can get at Penzy's. I added the oregano and chili powder to the white chili when I got home and made it even better.

We stopped and got gas.

We have been meaning to stop at a computer parts outlet store that someone at work just told me about. The place is called Tiger Direct and I think they are mainly a mail order company with just a few retail stores, kind of like Penzy's. A guy at work got a $200 flat panel LCD monitor a couple weeks ago.

Around the corner from Tiger Direct is the Crate & Barrel outlet store. We have never been there in the five years we have been here so we (I) thought we should check it out. They had some really really good prices but we didn't buy anything.

My hands get cold when I am driving in the winter but all the gloves I have are too bulky and don't give me a firm enough grip on the wheel, and Sheri needed a winter hat to cover her ears, so our next stop was T.J. Maxx. The parking lot was a zoo. People were being idiots. A car was waiting to turn left into a spot that a car was in the process of leaving. A car behind the waiting car decided he couldn't wait so went around the waiting car, but I don't know why because the car pulling out was blocking the way. So there were two cars side-by-side blocking the way and a car trying to leave that was blocked in because he was going in the opposite direction as the two side-by-side cars. Multiply that kind of stupidity by about 20 and that is what the whole parking lot was like. Anyway, we did better inside the store. Sheri found the perfect gloves for me by Timberland. They are suede with a very very thin layer of insulation, so it is almost like a second skin. I also found a hat I had to get. It is all wool and crush proof. What do you think?



As you can see our next stop was Menard's for a couple bags of wood pellets for the fireplace.

We stopped at a drugstore on the way home for a couple things including a little tin of Burt's Bees lip balm. I saw a show on the Travel Channel the other night were they spent some time inside the Burt's Bees factory showing how everything is made, so I had to try some. It smells good and has a nice tingly fee on my lips from the peppermint oil. I like the ingredient list:

coconut oil
beeswax
sweet almond oil
peppermint oil
vitamin E
lanolin
comfrey root extract
rosemary extract

Nice.

We are home now. Fire in the fireplace. Pot of soup heating up on the stove. I am going to finish this and we are going to watch either Madagascar or Happy Endings. I am in the mood to watch either one but I think Sheri is leaning towards Happy Endings.

I am going to get a hot bowl of soup now.