Saturday, January 15, 2011

It was a *productive* day

that's about the best I can say about it.
Today I: bought a new battery for my car. It would not start yesterday morning.

Went to the tailor with Mike to drop off some clothes.

Took Audrey to a skating lesson.

Cleaned the other half of the house (the half I did not finish last night).

Took my car to the shop for an oil change and to have the charging system checked (to make sure the dead battery was a result of an old battery, and not a sign of alternator failure). Watched my car go up on the lift, down to the ground, up on the lift, down to the ground. Back out of the garage, back into the garage, up on the lift, back down to the ground. Two hours later they were done. They had accidentally drained my transmission fluid, so they re-filled it. Then realized they had not refilled it "right" (wrong liquid? wrong grade of liquid? They were not clear about what was "wrong".) So they drained it again and refilled it again.

All the while, Mike and Audrey were at Macaroni Grill, where I was supposed to meet them for dinner. Audrey ate, and Mike finally ordered our meals to go, and we met back at the house.

The bright spot of the day was lunch - we went to Zog Dogs for lunch. We've never been there before, because Audrey does not usually want to eat hot dogs, but for some reason today, she was willing. The lady behind the counter asked if it was our first visit, stuck her hand across the counter and introduced herself as B. Zog - the owner. Told us about the hot dogs (Sahlen's, from Buffalo). I asked if she was from Buffalo (she was) and told her I was from Rochester. She reckoned I like Zweigle's dogs (I do) and asked if I like the white hots (also yes).

It always amazes me how many people from Upstate New York I meet all over the country. It's like wherever you go, there's someone there from Rochester or Buffalo, and you swap favorite brands of hot dogs, debate who has the best wings, or commiserate about the Bills.

For the record - Zweigle's, Country Sweet, and hey - what other team has gone to the Super Bowl four years in a row?