Pilot's Log

My sister gave me a Birthday Gift Card for Amazon.com today so I went and placed an order. I'm not going to talk about what I ordered before it arrives, but I wonder about how to muster the energy to keep on with the sweepstakes. Only have a few more days to go, tho'.

Lessee...

* Mum had a good Mother's Day weekend. Lynn, Livingston and Egan were over on Saturday and we did Spaghetti Feast. I got Mum a pair of garden gloves and two bags of Russell Stover chocolates. Livingston returned our VHS player after repairs; we haven't had the opportunity to try it out yet. We sent Ollie's old toaster oven back with them for Geneva, as we heard she needs a better one than the one she has.

* A game store in Knoxville had a sale so I bought three Wings of War planes (an SE5A, a Wildcat and a ZeroSen). There are a lot of downloadable resources on the WWI game but not on the WW2 game, so I'll probably need to get the WW2 deluxe sets in the future.

I'm already planning out larger architectures for mainstream scale models. A double-size set would work for 1/72nd scale WWI and 1/100th scale WW2 planes; a triple-size is right for 1/48th WWI and 1/72nd WW2 models; a quad-size set would be needed to play using 1/32nd~1/28th WWI or 1/48th WW2 planes. A quad-size card would be roughly the size of a board of the kind used to stiffen packs of comic books.

I'm also adapting my ex-clicky Crimson Skies planes to the Wings of War system, but I'll need more info about the WW2 game before I can complete the porting.

* Mum's garden is beginning to recover.

* We got a box of goodies from the Winterization program, in addition to the work that will eventually be done upgrading Rather Manor's infrastructure. Basically, we got a supply of flourescent squiggle lights (which we've been already using for about ten years), thermometers, aerator faucet and shower heads, a duct cleaning brush, and a smoke detector (the source for yesterday's DRAMA TAG).

* Model meeting is tonight. Oh boy.

Q: Did your Mom have a nice birthday?

A: She had a very nice birthday. And you know a holiday that involves gift-giving isn't over until all the gifts have been opened and enjoyed...so it's still ongoing for her. Today my sister and brother-in-law visited and treated her to a lunch of exotic foods guaranteed to help her through her health issues. Sis also gave Mum three new shirts.

A family/church friend gave Mum a Key Lime Pie for her dessert tonight, which excused me to finish off Mum's birthday cake. Oh, the duties I have in this family.

This afternoon was spent at Paul Francis' shop, with a side trip to that little BBQ shop in town for everybody else's lunch. Working on the Skoda car, trying to meet new buddies and reconnect with older ones, still attempting to decide on brown or blue, catching up on gossip.

Did a little research (from a Public Library hardcopy) on pre-war American cars for my Billy Joe's Boys army fluff text.

Finally got some non-depressing weather to gawk at.

Got my check from Jury Duty. Was a tad more than I expected (thank goodness) but waiting for Monday to cash it is is going to drive me crazy.

Got gifts for a couple of my real-life friends--one of them an LJ friend.

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Buying early never works for me because if I do that, I wind up having to give the gifts before TEH BIG DAYE. One year I bought two gifts for my Dad, an emergency lantern and a pair of slipper socks. Circumstances forced my hand, and necessity had me give him both of them well prior to Dec. 25th. It's the thought that counts, of course.

My Amazon Wishlist! So there.

Hey.

I doubt anybody reading this LJ is in any position to be obliged to give me anything this Holiday season...but as I'm trying to point my relatives here, and because one of them asked, I'm presenting a wishlist of sorts.

First off, I'm laying off the high-ticket stuff. Yes, our main TV set is obsolete but we intend to handle that issue ourselves. Yes, my monitor is getting too dark, but I figure I can replace it in six months or so. I'll need a new bed in the coming year, but it isn't an urgent thing.

And so, practical things that are kinda cheap:
1) A pair of fleece running pants. I have five pair but they're all falling apart.
2) Coffee Mugs. I use three in rotation and could always use another.
3) Dental picks. I use them in my model building hobby.
4) Belts. Right now I'm wearing one of Dad's old Marine Corps web belts.
5) A non-electric shaver, preferably one that isn't too gimmicky--but I'm not picky.
6) A box of 3.5" floppy diskettes. Mom and Dad got me a 50-pack of CD-Rs and thin cases for half of them, but CD-Rs are kinda overkill for the data management I have to do. I suppose I can archive what I've already got on floppy and re-use, but many of my diskettes are old anyway.

Not-as-practical-but-still-cheapish:
1) Military surplus insignia patches. I want a bunch of them to doll up my new duffel bags.
2) Music CDs. I have 10 slots left in my travel case. Elsewhere on this blog I have gone over my musical tastes in detail.
3) Heretics of Dune (Frank Herbert) in paperback. I've had Chapterhouse for years but never read it because I probably need Heretics first. I don't care if the copy is second-hand.

I could probably think of more, but time is running out...have to get off the web at 7PM in case somebody calls here. You understand.

FP