A Day Off of Chores

I took today off hoping to chill. But it never happens. Whenever I take off, my day ends up to be more tiring and stressful than a typical work day, like today. Since there were a number of things that needed to be done, today was a good time to do them, instead of doing them on the weekend.

First on the list, both James and I needed to have our bloods drawn for testing. He just had his annual physical a few days prior, while I had mine a few backs back, so mine was long overdue. We planned to start at 8, but we got to the clinic about 45 minutes after, so the lab was quite full. But we managed to get things done in about an hour or so. Then, it was breakfast at McDonald's at a little past 10am. We had to fast for the blood-drawing, which meant no food after 12 midnight the day prior. Thus, the late breakfast.

By 11, we were at the Uhaul depot to pick up the cargo van I rented. You see, I ordered a gas grill online, and I had to pick it up. I knew the box was big and heavy, and wouldn't fit in my car. And I don't want to pay $80 for a delivery either. So, I rented the van. In all, I spent under $50 for the van, which gave me a decent $30 savings. The box was huge. Bigger than what I envisioned. And HEAVY. When we picked it up, the merchandising clerk helping us was unusually tiny. He even asked me to help him load it in the van. Huh???

Off-loading it at the house was interesting. Between James and me, we didn't know if we could even lift the darn thing. Somehow, we managed. We then dragged it a few more feet inside the garage. Trying to bring the box inside the house was out of the question. The only way we could clear the garage (for parking) was to remove the contents of the box, piece by piece. And that's what we did when we got back from all our errands. After the drop-off, we went back to Uhaul and returned the van.

After lunch, we headed to Milpitas for our date with Wendy, our haircutter, who we see each month. James
wanted to try a new do, with a buzz cut, but not as close as mine. He wanted to try this cut for the summer because it would be easy to manage and keep him cool at the same time. I suggested that he keep it when school starts, but he wasn't to keen on the idea.

From Wendy, we made a quick trip to the pharmacy to pick up the wife's medication, before heading home. It was past 5pm.

Barely rested, James and I took off again just past 6 for a quick bite at an old favorite -- the taco truck at Irvington (near the Post Office), for some tacos and quesadilla. From there, we got coffee at Starbuck's, then drove across the street where James joined me at the my monthly SBARA ham radio club meeting. It was 7:30pm. James was a familiar fixture, having brought him to some of my meetings over the past couple of years.

The meeting ended past 9, and we wanted something to give us a little fill. So we went to AutoMall Parkway and got snow bubble (with tapioca) drinks -- green apple for him and lichi for me. Very refreshing and quite filling. By the time we got home, it was past 10pm.

Certainly, a very long, tiring day off.

Author would like to acknowledge UHaul, Tapioca Express, and Yelp for the use of the logos photograph in this post.