Oops, where did the day go?

[altivo]

Got up, did animal chores, went shopping, came home, did animal chores, and it's bedtime. This doesn't compute. We didn't do THAT much today. Or did we? Well, a fair amount of travel was involved. Got to have lunch at Colonial Cafe in Crystal Lake, which is always nice. Seated next to a couple of elderly women who were very hard of hearing and busy shouting their complaints about their families and health at each other, which isn't so nice. We were yarn hunting. Gary is making me a hat and he ran out of yarn (or is about to.) Fortunately it's a no dye lot inexpensive yarn, but he couldn't remember where he bought it. There aren't a lot of choices, and we hit it on the second try, so now he has enough yarn to finish the project and I'll have warm ears when it gets really cold sometime in the next month, as it always does.

Tried out the GPS a bit while driving around and it works fine for the purpose I had in mind. It's much quicker at recalculating a route than Gary's more expensive model is. His is two years old, now I'm going to have to consider getting him a new one sometime.

Lots of empty storefronts along US 14 in Crystal Lake. I think they were starting to disappear last year around this time.That overdeveloped stretch from Virginia St. all the way to Route 31 is losing restaurants at an incredible rate.

Gasoline prices are all over the map here. I think they've been changing so fast (both up and down) that sellers are having trouble keeping up. Yesterday I heard a radio station out of Chicago announce that the Clark Station on Lake St. in Woodstock was selling unleaded for $1.49. Considering that all three stations in Marengo are at $1.77, this seemed incredible. The three stations in Harvard that I pass daily are all at $1.61 to $1.63. The Clark station there in Harvard tried to break ranks and go to $1.69 on Tuesday, but by Friday they were back down to $1.63. I'm guessing the other stations didn't budge. We went by the Woodstock Clark station today. The price there is $1.69, not $1.49. In Crystal Lake, prices ranged from $1.85 to $1.98. (That last was at a Citgo station that is always higher than the rest. It's hard to understand why anyone would buy gas there when there's A Shell across the street that is consistently ten cents lower.

Comments

[silver-kiden.livejournal.com]

well, you should look into cell phones, if you need one. a lot of the newer phones come with gps. if not, well, just thought i would mention it. :p

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I'm not much of a phone fan. In fact, I didn't have a cell phone until about 18 months ago, and I still rarely use mine. I'm inclined to agree with (I think it was) H. L. Mencken, who long ago described the telephone as being like a rude person who bursts into your office and jumps up and down on your desk shouting at you until you agree to speak with him. I'm old fashioned enough to prefer less instantaneous means of communication that don't interrupt whatever one is doing and can be dealt with at one's leisure.

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

the telephone as being like a rude person who bursts into your office and jumps up and down on your desk shouting at you until you agree to speak with him.

That is SO true. That's exactly how *I* feel. Coupled with the fact that my job actually involves people bursting into the office and demanding the same, because their problem is so much more urgent than everyone else's.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

And so many of those problems aren't even problems, let alone urgent. Yah, I get you. All too well...

[duskwuff.livejournal.com]

Anyways, standalone GPSes tend to have much better maps and routing than cell phones do.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Not to mention bigger screens. ;p

[duskwuff.livejournal.com]

That too!

[cozycabbage.livejournal.com]

I've always hated the "shrink them down!" movement. I'd love an 800x600 screen on a cellphone. I'm sure they could fit that down to 3 inches or less, today.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

They could, for a price. But it wouldn't be legible in most cases because web displays size themselves to fit the screen now, and the type size would be minuscule.

[cozycabbage.livejournal.com]

On a nice, crisp LCD (or OLED, even) screen, you can see some pretty fine detail. I'm about two feet away from my 22" monitor, and I can make out individual pixels.

22" <-> 1920 pixels
1920/800=2.4
22"/2.4=~9.1"
So it would be a third this size, but my eyes (personally) become at least twice as good when I'm a foot away, so I'd still be able to read 6pt fonts on a three-inch screen.

More people should carry around garish reading-glasses, anyway.

[goldenstallion.livejournal.com]

Whinnyhi.

I'm the same way about phones and Bear is too. I cannot understand so many people who are constantly on the cell phone (driving, walking, riding bicycle, at store, at gas station, at restaurant even at movies)

This constant need to be talking to somebody. Uh, not for me at all.

Steed

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't get that either. I thought it was bad enough that people drive with one held to their ear continuously, but now they do it in the supermarket too. Cart jams, collisions, knocking over displays... *shakes head*

[soanos.livejournal.com]

Hi there! *hugs*

Sorry to hear the hatmaking is progressing slowly, I hope you get it ready before it gets really cold. I certainly wish you warm ears for the rest of the winter. *wraps you in a blanket*

Glad to hear you are enjoying your GPS, sounds like it will come in handy around where you live. I have a feeling my GPS will see a lot of use because I am a total n00b what it comes driving around and navigating in cities. And my confidence is low, as you probably know so I tend to postpone things until it is almost too late. :P

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The hat project is progressing quickly, in fact. He gave me a scarf for Christmas and said he bought too much yarn and had leftovers. I asked it he could make a hat to match. That's what started it. Only he decided to use some different yarn, and he didn't have enough.

The reason I say it's going quickly, though: About seven years ago we saw a jacket made of fleece material with horse faces printed all over it. I wanted it, so we asked the wearer where the fabric was from. She told us, and we went hunting. Had to go to two different shops to get enough, as they each had only a yard or two. Gary was going to make me the jacket, because he likes sewing that fleece stuff and I don't. Seven years later I still don't have it. He did cut the pieces out but has never sewn them together. At least twice he has misplaced them and couldn't find them when he thought he might finally do it. I've started nagging him to give me the stuff so I can finish it, but no luck so far.

[saythename.livejournal.com]

This caught my eye:

"Lots of empty storefronts along US 14 in Crystal Lake. I think they were starting to disappear last year around this time.That overdeveloped stretch from Virginia St. all the way to Route 31 is losing restaurants at an incredible rate."

Developers have an inordinate influence in any local. Theres always
a surplus of empty structures, but we seem to get more of them
anyway.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

These were all filled two years ago. They're closing down and emptying out now. Everything from car dealers to restaurants to retail stores.