Welcome to the year Two Thousand Three. The beginning of a new year. Time for new resolutions. Time for new furniture. Time for new hardware. There's something about January - I don't know what it is - that makes me want to start fresh. This year it was certainly no different.
January 1
Susan and I had big plans for this day, but we couldn't get ourselves out of bed early enough to pursue them. We had planned to drive to Washington D.C. and tour the Smithsonian Institute and other monuments. We have heard that there are no lines on New Year's Day. We wanted to take our young nephews, Gabriel and Caleb, but they wouldn't commit to getting up early. When the alarm went off, we decided at that moment that it wouldn't be the same without the kids, so we rolled over and went back to sleep.
We still wanted to do something with the kids, so Susan made plans with her sister, Noemi, for the evening. Noemi stopped by later and we drove to Hanover, Virginia and went bowling for two hours. My performance was below my standards, but considering I only bowl twice a decade, I guess I shouldn't have expected too much. As it turned out, I was beat by the girls every time; a sad day for mankind at the bowling alley.
After bowling, we took the kids and headed for the Science Museum in Richmond. The IMAX theater was playing Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. Susan's father, George, met us at the entrance. Just before show time, we filed into the theater and found seats in the center of the dome. I'm sad to say that I wasn't impressed with the quality of the film. The colors were too cool and the dome caused the image to stretch wildly around the edges. I much prefer IMAX films on flat surfaces.
January 4
Susan and I return home to Seattle.
January 12
A former co-worker called me and explained that he was trying to start a new business. He wanted to know if he could inspect our home, along with a professional inspector, as practice. We agreed, so he stopped by with all of his equipment and gadgets and got to work. We did not expect if to find any issues, since the house was inspected before we bought it a few years ago. To our surprise, he informed us that 1) we had roots running through our crawl space and 2) that our water heater was nearing its end.
The water heater was surprising, but it was still working so we ignored it for the time. The roots, on the other hand, were a big concern. We decided that the Maple tree in the back yard was the likely source of the roots. This tree, although very beautiful in the summer and fall, was just too close to the house for comfort and it was now potentially destroying our foundation. We decided that it had to go.
January 16
At a certain point in one's life, one must let go of their old, hand-me-down furniture that they've been lugging along from one apartment to the next for over a decade. Today, Susan and I reached that point. We drove to the Lazy-Boy Showcase store in Lynnwood to look for a love seat, possibly leather, with dual recliners. The salesperson started us in the "cheap" section, but gradually lured us towards the fancy stuff at the other side of the store. As we followed along, I saw a very nice set with a large price tag attached and told Susan to avoid sitting on it because she might like it and it was too expensive! We looked at several recliners, couches, love seats, and sets before we eventually were routed back to the showcase piece that I was trying to avoid. By this time, I was willing to give it a try. We sat down on the love seat and, well, fell in love with it. It was so soft and cushy, we had to have it. But we didn't want the entire set. During the walkthrough, I had found a recliner that I liked, so we combined the individual recliner with the matching sofa and love seat and an ottoman for the perfect set.
January 17
One of our favorite comedians came to the Paramount Theater and we went to see him. Sinbad is one of the rare comedians who is both hilariously funny, but "safe for the family" at the same time. You will never hear him go on a cursing tirade, like a lot of the younger comedians seem to do these days.
January 18
Continuing the theme of replacing old furniture, we decided to get rid of the old waterbed and move the guest bed with its nice new mattress into our bedroom.
January 19
Visited Todd & Danielle's new house under construction.
January 20
Reinstalled XP to get rid of bad modem drivers
January 21
After reinstall, Internet is back, but Money is dead! Scoped out new motherboard
January 22
Ordered motherboard
January 24
Motherboard arrives
January 25
Rebuild computer, Lazy-Boy delivery
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