Mikey... Be Shoppin'!

Damn head cold.

Well, ok, I'm technically not sick, but my sinuses are clogged like the plumbing in the men's room at the Big Texan after the entire Longhorn football team stops by to take the 72-ounce challenge. Seriously, can anybody make an effective pill that will clear my sinuses? Tylenol's version doesn't work, neither does Comtrex, Equate, or even Sudafed. It all sucks. Afrin 12-hour spray works for about twelve minutes, and while it hasn't hurt me, the Zicam stuff has killed the sense of smell for hundreds of consumers. Short of sticking wasabi paste up my nose, I'm at a loss for what to do.

I should be out having fun tonight with one of my gals, but instead, I'm staying home and resting. I had another sleepless day, and I'm pretty tired, going back and forth between wishing I get called into work tonight and hoping that I don't. Originally, I was gonna help Andrea move a couch earlier this evening, but we're doing it on Saturday instead. And then my cell phone has been blowing up for the past couple of hours because Holly has the night off and wants to go out and drink play. I'm just not feeling up to it right now.

Anyhow, I got a lot done today, but I spent some money, too. First of all, I hit the bank and made a deposit. After that, it was over to Costco to fill up the tank. Then I hit a local smoke shop that has a huge sign out front saying that they had pipes. Well, they weren't exactly the kind of pipes that I was looking for--plenty of ceramic and glass pipes, but meerschaum and briar were nowhere to be found. If I didn't have to take drug tests and spent all my disposable income on the hippie lettuce, that place would've been right up my alley. But for legitimate pipe smokers, it was a total bust.

Also, I don't understand why, but quality pipes are ridiculously expensive. A decent entry-level model will cost thirty bucks minimum, and my online searches revealed some truly stratospheric prices for the good ones. I don't get it. But I guess it's like everything else--if you have a hobby, you're gonna have to pay...

Since then I discovered Mr. Bill's Smoke Shop over on west Flaming-O, and they seem to have a pretty big selection and extensive knowledge of real tobacco pipes, so I'll probably pay them a visit on Friday. Hopefully they'll be able to help me.

After my head-shop adventure, I made my way over to Aaron Brothers Art & Framing to try and figure out the best way to hang this puzzle on the wall. Well, I didn't think it was gonna be cheap, and now I have confirmation. In order to get it backed, matted, glassed and framed, it's gonna run a minimum of $160. We went through all of the scenarios, and actually, the guy at Aaron's was extremely helpful--not giving me the hard sell or anything, and explaining in detail why some of my ideas wouldn't quite work. So while I was there, I spent about twenty bucks on materials (a couple of huge foam boards--one of which I will use as a backer board to mount the puzzle on--a sponge brush, some good quality glue for the back of the puzzle, and a few other odds and ends), and then once I have the thing glued and mounted, I'll bring it back to them and they'll cut the foam board down, mat the puzzle, glass it, and then do a custom frame for it.

It'll probably take about a week to get it back, and although it's a bit pricey, it'll be professionally done and will look very nice. Besides, even getting a cheap poster that size done like that on Art.com still costs almost $200, so the price is actually kind of reasonable in comparison.

When I got home this afternoon, I got the puzzle up off the table and onto the foam mounting board (trickier than I expected). Now I have to go down to the casino and swipe a couple of pencils from the sports book because I don't have one anywhere in this house! I need it to make centering marks on the mounting board before I turn it over and glue it. (Yeah--It's turning out to be a much more complicated process than I first imagined).

Besides the art store, I hit Costco for a few things. I was out of granola bars, turkey jerky, and Mexican Coke. I got a few other groceries, and managed to get out of there for less than $125, but still, I think Costco does a better job of emptying the locals' wallets than any casino ever did. On the other hand, I probably won't have to buy laundry detergent again until sometime in 2012.

That's all for now...

Mikey