'Twas the Not Before Christmas....

[captainsblog]

This is the first year we're totally all-out on this holiday.  No tree, no blinking lights, and with all family living elsewhere, no Eve and Day of obligations.  Still, there's no completely avoiding it. If there's a War on Christmas, make no mistake: Christmas is winning.   So there've been gifts received and given, and parties to attend, and coma-inducing spreads of food and booze showing up in both of my offices.

Thursday was the annual office holiday party in my out-of-town venue. I'd planned to make an overnight out of it, since I had court there the next morning, but before I left here, everything packed, I got word that my proposed hostess couldn't do it- medical emergency in the family.  I briefly thought of begging out of the event, but I'd scheduled a client meeting (he had a medical emergency, too, so no meeting) and, besides, these are fun.  This year, they combined the holiday party with an event they'd done earlier in the year- two rounds of games at Lasertron, a WNY chain of laser tag-based venues.  Food was not-bad-for-a-buffet, they had actual craft beers at the bar, and the games were a good way to get a recent bunch of new hires to relax into the group.  My two main achievements for the evening were:

(1) during the Cybersport game (the evil love child of jai alai and bumper cars), I skillfully maneuvered the ball into the net- OUR team's net. That's called an own-goal, and in World Cup football can easily get you murdered, but my teammates were much nicer about the whole thing.

(2) leaving my Lands End-ish winter coat in the venue when leaving to drive home (understandable, since the outdoor temp had gone up during the day and my inside temp was way up from both that game and the shoot-shoot-bang-bang round before it which I also sucked at).  Fortunately, somebody noticed and I picked it up when I came into the office after court the next day.

Better luck was had in the gift exchange: I got a coffee mug from a beloved Rochester (Ithaca originally) pottery joint, and gave two bottles of the grape from a Buffalo urban winery, which wound up with a new co-worker who also part-times at a similar place in Rochester.

Also lucky: since I was making two trips in two days, I decided to make the most of them.

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Eleanor's electric Smart car charger was getting hinky. The thing was putting so much energy through a standard 110V three-prong plug, both the plug and the outlet were showing singes on them, and one of the three prongs was basically turning into a free-range chicken. I took it to Mercedes yesterday afternoon, and they basically told me to Go Fork Myself- only option, far as they were concerned, was to replace the entire charging unit for 1200 bucks.

I found another option. A longtime Rochester client does electrical work. I brought the charging cord into the 585 with me, met him at the end of the day yesterday, and showed him Da Damages. He promised to replace the plug, and the cheapass cord between the plug and the charging unit itself, by the time I left town today. Which is exactly what he did- and despite my protests, he did it for free (since he'd missed a previous appointment to fix something at our house which Eleanor did herself). She and he finally talked on the phone today, and he now understands that she's the one who understands this stuff in this house:) He has our thanks and respect- and will get compensatingly comped legal work for his kindness:)

The after-picture:



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My Friday morning hearing went reasonably okay, but I spent the morning in a bit of stress because I was again double-booked both there and back home, and this time I didn't have the option of delegating the appearance.  So I waited to see if my adjournment was granted. Wound up better than that: they withdrew their opposition altogether.  Hey, if you're going to be in the War on Christmas, you may as well take advantage of the truce;)

Right before I left, Michelle aka Evil Cat was particularly vocal. In fairness, she didn't wake me up in the middle of the night or hours before feeding time, but in the time I was getting ready for work, she was yowling with such range, it sounded like she was practicing scales. So I decided to help:

DOH, a cat, an evil cat,
RAY, is sick of you around,
ME, I’d like, to bury you,
FAR, far down into the ground
SO, I’ll be able to say,
LA, La La I can’t hear you
I’ll TEE a golf ball off your face,
That will bring us back to DOH!

After I got home last night, Eleanor and I headed over to meet a friend for a birthday tradition she's had for years: a Bad Movie Night.  This year's was a very good movie about very bad people: The Favourite, about England's Queen Anne and two Ladies competing for her affections.  The New Yorker review has some great insights into the history of the very real characters and the intricacies of the film itself.

While I was away, Eleanor, who had the whole day off, gave Pepper a pressie: a full grooming, not just the 3Fs treatment (face, feet and fanny) I'd been taking her for. HER after-picture:



In addition to making her ridiculously cuter, it also will likely cut down on the number of burrs she picks up at the dog park. I tested this hypothesis this morning; I'd slept in until 10:30 (and might've gone longer if Eleanor hadn't needed something from me), so Pepper missed her morning walkies.  I apologised by taking her for an extra Parp! trip for the second Saturday in a row, but this time it was my idea.  She had a great time meeting new pups and even humans, and look ma! No burrs!

Today brought a few more Christmas cards, and I sent the codes for Emily's gift card from my sister.  We're not observant of this occasion, and don't need the efforts, but I still appreciate the four days I can take away from the madness. All is calm, all is bright. Tomorrow will be a minute or two longer of daylight than the day before, and Monday a minute or two longer than that. And so and so and so and so and so.

Merry and happy whatever:)