Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2006 12:00 pm
Good Start to Valentine's Day
First, yesterday, I had Darrell Scott on my show again. What a nice man. I really enjoy him being there and he's had a lot happen in the last couple of years with cuts from McGraw, Hill, Paisley. We played some of those on the air and a couple of classics and talked a lot. I didn't know his girlfriend was Suzi Ragsdale, the inspiration of my accordion playing.
Last night I met the record guys at Manuel's on Congress. I forget what nice restaurants are like. I mean, I love Macaroni Grill and it is "fancy" for us, but it still isn't this kind of class. We had a great meal and I was happy to meet Al face-to-face for the first time. We've talked for years now. He was very nice. He didn't go with us to the club, but Brad went with me and danced and had a good time. We only stayed until the break and then I took him back to his hotel so he could sleep before his very early flight this morning.
I enjoy being at the club without companions more, I think. Especially more than a visitor that I am worried about their reaction. He had a great time, but I was nervous wondering if he was.
I got home and thought I would very easily install the new toilet seat I got Mark for Valentine's. I've done seats before, no big deal. You unscrew a couple of bolts, pull the old one off, put the new one one and tighten bolts. Big deal. HUGE DEAL it turns out. I spent an hour and a half working myself to death on that toilet seat. The bolts were on so tight I had to experiment with every tool in the cabinet to find one to loosen them. Finally got off one bolt and moved to the other. The other forced me to lay down between the toilet and the bathtub... and I got stuck. Seriously. My breast made the trip DOWN with help from gravity, but there was nothing to help get them back out. I could just imagine Mark coming home and finding me stuck behind the toilet. I managed to squeeze myself back out, fortunately. But that bolt was a bitch. FINALLY got it off and then couldn't figure out what kind of plastic washer/bolt was under it. I whacked at it and pried at it and worked and worked (I even tried to melt it). Finally got it off and then realized that the same thing was on the first side, too. Crap! It was a tiny bit easier since I had figured out that it did have to unscrew, not just pull off. Finally got it off too. By this time I am a sweating, filthy, cussing shrew. I cleaned the toilet good and put the new seat in place. But then, get this!, the nuts they included with it were too big for the bolt! How strange is that? Fortunately, we have a garage full of nuts and bolts and I found two that fit. I worked and worked on tightening them and I'm still not sure that the seat is "in place" and tight enough. At least it is installed. I had little time to decorate it properly with hearts and flowers, but I did.
Mark only discovered the decorated toilet this morning and he was very happy with my kindness. We sat in his office talking, having just gotten up, and then he remarked, "Was the coffee supposed to start itself or do I need to make coffee?" I said that it should have made automatically and I hopped up to see. It had and I got cups from the cabinet and started to pour when I realized there were roses in front of me. A nice surprise for me! A beautiful dozen of pink roses. And a little package beside it, too. A new camera! I'm so happy to be back in the digital picture world again. I've missed having a camera a lot.
I gave Mark his card with its coupon for an Ipod and he was very shocked! He will probably go get it today. I didn't get it ahead of time because I wanted him to pick the color.
Later, he brought me a card from the cats and a bookmark with a kitty was their gift to me. Even my cats are thoughtful.
So, a good start to Valentine's. I don't expect anything more since we'll both be working late and I may run by the Spoke this evening.
Oh, and on the work front. My Virginia station may be asking more of me than I would like. He wrote today asking about me doing a story behind the song feature. I don't want to get into required features, frankly. I told him that I didn't have time. We'll see if what he is asking is a hassle. I think it is, really. We'll see. I want easy money. I don't want to have to WORK for it.