Me, the Zipcar, shelves, and the DAV
May. 7th, 2014 07:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
robotech_masterSo, I had a busy day.
I turned in my latest project yesterday, and the person going over it with me won't have time to meet 'til later this week, so I took the day off since I wouldn't have anything productive to do at work anyway. So I decided to get some things done today. I finished sorting out the twin sheet sets and accessories I no longer needed into boxes to donate to the Disabled American Veterans thrift store, was able to get rid of more boxes, and shoved the remaining ones together out of the way for some later attention. Then I turned my mind to thoughts of what I could accomplish with a car.
Annoyingly, both zipcars at the nearby IUPUI university were checked out. There was one available five miles away at Butler University, however. And it was a nice day for a bike ride. So I reserved it starting at noon and set out, arriving at the campus in good order. I found where the cars were parked easily enough, and had an iced mocha from the Starbucks in the student union while I waited for it to be time to take it out.
First thing I noticed was that the schmuck who'd had the car last turned it in with about an eighth of a tank of gas—a violation of Zipcar's policy; you're supposed to fill the tank (using the supplied Zipcar gas card) if it goes below a quarter. So I called it in and reported them, so whoever had the car last might just get hit with a little fine reminding him not to do it again. Then I decided to start going places. First: Wal-Mart. I needed to get some big bags of Iam's cat food, because I had run out and had to buy a smaller bag a few days ago just to give the cats something to eat—not economical. I bought two, then headed to the closest Sam's for 84 lbs of Fresh Step cat litter and some various food items. Then it was back home to unload the groceries.
The next thing that needed doing was to exchange a set of cheap shelves I'd got at Craigslist; turned out when we unboxed them for Alex to put them together, one of the shelves was broken. I liked the unbroken one enough that not only did I exchange it, I bought two more. I don't anticipate Alex being terribly happy about putting them all together when he finds out there are three more of them, but these are just what I need for my room. A helpful neighbor from down the hall helped me get the three shelves into my room when I brought them back to unload. After that, I packed in the three boxes of DAV donation stuff, and went off to find the DAV.
This proved…not as easy as I had expected. I drove to the nearest listing in Yelp for the Disabled American Veterans…but it turned out to be the DAV's office, which was closed, and not a store. The thrift store itself was on the other side of town. So I drove there…only to find that thrift store had closed and moved! I finally located another one, about four miles away, and went there. I ended up having to extend my Zipcar rental twice. This always happens; I'm just glad nobody wanted it after me so I had the time available.
I was a little disappointed that this thrift store didn't do the thing where you got a discount in return for making donations, but that didn't matter. I was just glad to get those boxes out of my room and into a place where some of the stuff might find a use. What's more, in the store I found a battered old dresser that was perfect for my additional-drawer needs, and it was only $10. And it even fit in the back of the zipcar when I put the seats down. Perfect! I got Andy, my two-floors-upstairs neighbor, to help me carry it in, and put it in my room. It looks great! When I get up later tonight, I might start shoving some clothes into it.
Finally, I went ahead and drove the car on back to Butler to turn it in, and then went downstairs to the "C-Lounge" food court. There I found a Papa John's pizza and a burger grill, whereupon I ordered a bacon cheeseburger that was made fresh to order for me. It was extremely good, and I made a point of telling the cook so afterward. If you want to get a good burger, a campus student union short order grill is a great place for it. It was almost worth having to bicycle three extra miles for the car just to eat there.
By the end of all that running around, I was tired enough that I took the bus back. I got off near the Walgreens and CVS store, as I remembered (too late to buy it with the car) that I really need a full-sized broom for sweeping my apartment. However, neither of the pharmacies carried brooms and the hardware store didn't have any in stock! Bleah. Trundled on home to be with my cats and have a beer.
And that was my rather quite productive but tiring day.
I turned in my latest project yesterday, and the person going over it with me won't have time to meet 'til later this week, so I took the day off since I wouldn't have anything productive to do at work anyway. So I decided to get some things done today. I finished sorting out the twin sheet sets and accessories I no longer needed into boxes to donate to the Disabled American Veterans thrift store, was able to get rid of more boxes, and shoved the remaining ones together out of the way for some later attention. Then I turned my mind to thoughts of what I could accomplish with a car.
Annoyingly, both zipcars at the nearby IUPUI university were checked out. There was one available five miles away at Butler University, however. And it was a nice day for a bike ride. So I reserved it starting at noon and set out, arriving at the campus in good order. I found where the cars were parked easily enough, and had an iced mocha from the Starbucks in the student union while I waited for it to be time to take it out.
First thing I noticed was that the schmuck who'd had the car last turned it in with about an eighth of a tank of gas—a violation of Zipcar's policy; you're supposed to fill the tank (using the supplied Zipcar gas card) if it goes below a quarter. So I called it in and reported them, so whoever had the car last might just get hit with a little fine reminding him not to do it again. Then I decided to start going places. First: Wal-Mart. I needed to get some big bags of Iam's cat food, because I had run out and had to buy a smaller bag a few days ago just to give the cats something to eat—not economical. I bought two, then headed to the closest Sam's for 84 lbs of Fresh Step cat litter and some various food items. Then it was back home to unload the groceries.
The next thing that needed doing was to exchange a set of cheap shelves I'd got at Craigslist; turned out when we unboxed them for Alex to put them together, one of the shelves was broken. I liked the unbroken one enough that not only did I exchange it, I bought two more. I don't anticipate Alex being terribly happy about putting them all together when he finds out there are three more of them, but these are just what I need for my room. A helpful neighbor from down the hall helped me get the three shelves into my room when I brought them back to unload. After that, I packed in the three boxes of DAV donation stuff, and went off to find the DAV.
This proved…not as easy as I had expected. I drove to the nearest listing in Yelp for the Disabled American Veterans…but it turned out to be the DAV's office, which was closed, and not a store. The thrift store itself was on the other side of town. So I drove there…only to find that thrift store had closed and moved! I finally located another one, about four miles away, and went there. I ended up having to extend my Zipcar rental twice. This always happens; I'm just glad nobody wanted it after me so I had the time available.
I was a little disappointed that this thrift store didn't do the thing where you got a discount in return for making donations, but that didn't matter. I was just glad to get those boxes out of my room and into a place where some of the stuff might find a use. What's more, in the store I found a battered old dresser that was perfect for my additional-drawer needs, and it was only $10. And it even fit in the back of the zipcar when I put the seats down. Perfect! I got Andy, my two-floors-upstairs neighbor, to help me carry it in, and put it in my room. It looks great! When I get up later tonight, I might start shoving some clothes into it.
Finally, I went ahead and drove the car on back to Butler to turn it in, and then went downstairs to the "C-Lounge" food court. There I found a Papa John's pizza and a burger grill, whereupon I ordered a bacon cheeseburger that was made fresh to order for me. It was extremely good, and I made a point of telling the cook so afterward. If you want to get a good burger, a campus student union short order grill is a great place for it. It was almost worth having to bicycle three extra miles for the car just to eat there.
By the end of all that running around, I was tired enough that I took the bus back. I got off near the Walgreens and CVS store, as I remembered (too late to buy it with the car) that I really need a full-sized broom for sweeping my apartment. However, neither of the pharmacies carried brooms and the hardware store didn't have any in stock! Bleah. Trundled on home to be with my cats and have a beer.
And that was my rather quite productive but tiring day.
