It's a good day in Austin. No particular reason, honestly. I'm just lovin' where I live today, running around doing errands and enjoying my existence.
I got up this morning about 7:45 and was out the door by 8:30 to go get my oil changed. I then got my car washed at Genie, which is a lot more expensive than doing it myself, but it's also a lot faster and easier. I felt bad about not tipping the guy who did the detail work until I discovered he'd missed some important spots. I never even knew that those guys get tips until a guy I used to know who worked there as a salesman told me. Truth of the matter is I still rarely do it, though. I tip generously to waitstaff since they're getting less than minimum wage, meaning their income really is their tips, and a tip is a reflection of the service they give you. But why am I expected to tip people for doing jobs they're already paid to do? Like the sandwich guys at Thundercloud. They have a tip jar. Um...dude...you're making my sandwich and handing it to me as I stand at the counter. Isn't that what your paycheck is for? No one tips me for writing a particularly compelling story or not going postal when yet another story in my issue gets killed. I'm not sure where we got to the point where ever person in a service industry thinks they're entitled to a tip on top of their salary/wage. When did that happen?
After leaving Genie, I saw that an Albertson's down the road is going out of business and they advertised "90% off everything" in the store. So, I pulled in. Why not? Maybe they have something I want. The advertisement was what we word professionals call a "lie." The savings were in fact 30% off groceries and 70% off general merchandise. Even I, the math-challenged, can calculate that's 20-60% less than the advertisement. I have no idea how they get away with just plain-out false advertising. But I found some great deals nonetheless, so okay.
I made a few more stops and finally headed home - had some cantaloupe, watched a taped episode of Black Books. All in all, it's a good weekend. Friday night was not as exciting as last week, but I did manage to get out among the folks. I met my friends for happy hour margaritas at Baby A's, which is always a good way to kick off the weekend. Laurie made a special effort to keep things spicy.
You work it, girl. Get down with your bad self. Her husband Tony was appreciative of her efforts.
Everyone say, "Awwwww!" Just for the record, love really is grand.
After happy hour, we split up. Some of the crew went to a movie, but Angela, Travis and I decided to do some karaoke. We picked a spot inside the Austin city limits, Common Interest, so there wouldn't be any smoking. Common Interest used to be a nice place with good singers and a big crowd, but it's...uh...not so much anymore. It could reasonably be called a dive now. The singers were awful (but as Ang says, give 'em a break - this is their moment on stage), and Ang and I only sang one song each because they had the songs set several keys too high and took forever to get too us. The other singers mostly favored 70s slow songs, too, like "Lady" by The Commodores. That puts kind of a hit on the party vibe - I almost nodded off once. The beer was cheap, though, and we know how to entertain ourselves. Or, at least, Travis knows how to entertain us:
An evening with a good belly laugh is an evening well spent. (And aren't all my friends SOOOO happy I have a digital camera now.)
2 comments:
Oh, boy. I'm so relieved that only your friends read your blog, most likely. And most of your friends are my friends, too, so they know I'm a dork and probably know Travis is one, too. :)
Anyway, Friday was... I'd say fun... but maybe "interesting" is the better word for it!
Aw, see? I miss this kind of stuff! I love Karaoke - I am a pro at "Big Spender" - I used to sing it at the Karaoke bar about twice a month and they'd make a cassette copy of it, then I'd mail it to Scott. Then I'd make him burn it.
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