[US Trip] Two and a half days in California

[kniteracy]

Got here. Were jetlagged. Slept and woke too early.

Cleaned Kathy's kitchen. Got Char from airport. Went to Wal-Mart. Waited an hour to buy two cheap mobile phones. Waited even longer at checkout when cashier trainee didn't know which code to push in to make phones activate. Found out Wal-Mart can make glasses in four days. Was talked into visiting Lenscrafters instead. Forgot to buy all other stuff because of long time spent in various lines within Wal-Mart. Remembered the other reasons I hate Wal-Mart. Came home via Taco Bell, where suspicious foreign credit cards are not worth the plastic they are printed on. At home, discovered phones were not in fact activated and had to spend an hour on the phone with provider to get them activated. Received gift of peanut butter cups, three muskateers bars, crunchy cheetos, and a half gallon of Breyer's butter pecan ice cream. Slept and woke too early.

Went out with Char for breakfast, still not finding a pharmacy. Got back, got taken to thrift store and dropped at mall to visit Lenscrafters, where no appointments were available for two hours. Got lunch. Window-shopped. Bummed that Bath and Body Works no longer carries Rose and Sandalwood scent. Bum Bum Bum. Went to Catherines, where there was nice blouse to be had for $9.99, then to Lenscrafters, where we had optometry exams, got our eyes dilated, and went to talk to customer service while waiting for drops to kick in. Were appalled to find that while filceolaire's very weird varifocals would cost about $400, my very simple nearsightly glasses would cost nearly $400. Not making this up. Optional sunglasses and reading glasses for me and J charged at around $300. Rang Kathy and determined this price was too high. Had lighty light test with eyes dilated -- fun. Still no pharmacy. Zoomed home to change blouses and wash hair while Kathy went out to grab pizza for kids. Attended GOH-concom dinner at Black Angus Steakhouse, which was nice. Got to hug many people including Daaaaaaave. Made nefarious plans. Had bodacious steak, only one since Ireland. Got back home, packed bag for Consonance, left at door for Dean. Discovered, through various online searches, that it is fucking impossible to unlock a cheap Nokia phone via "foolproof website" route. Longer tirade on how stupid US mobile phone service is coming soon, maybe. Finally awake past midnight. Time for bed.

Comments

[stacis-leak.livejournal.com]

Is there anything you CAN'T buy at WalMart?

[trinsf.livejournal.com]

Self respect. *nod*

[trinsf.livejournal.com]

BTW, I am available to drive you around to things (like LYS's or Fry's) Sunday or Monday before 6 PM. I can also tell you how to get just about anywhere on public transit. Oh, and I have coupons for good deals most places. It's What I Do.

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

Check another Bath and Body Works. My older daughter uses the Rose and Sandalwood, and they had phased it out for a while. Our ones in the Midwest are carrying it again.

[weirdsister.livejournal.com]

Wish I was there!!!! Please give my love to everybody. I hate that I am going to miss Consonance, but since I just learned that quadrivium is their Toastmaster for next year, I am going to shoot for 2008.

Oh, and please ask Char to call me sometime, cause I have lost her number.

Love you!

[roaming.livejournal.com]

Are we having fun yet?

So, when are you gonna be in MY neck o' the woods? (Or even in my armpit of the woods. . . )

[filkergem.livejournal.com]

A quick note - there are places online where you can get quite decent eyeglasses way less expensively than I had ever thought possible. We ordered some nice half-rim wglasses for kyttn monofocal, but we did splurge for the 10% tinting. We paid less than $20, including shipping from http://zennioptical.com/ a place that I found linked to from http://glassyeyes.blogspot.com/index.html . I am very likely to get my next set through one of these places, as well - I think that tricking them out with what I need may run up to $75 or $100. Of course, I will also probably get a basic pair for backup, as well.