After
basketball my car didn't start up again, which is rather annoying. We
went to dinner and came back and then my car started. So this is the
second time in a month or so. I think maybe the battery is dying. It
has been 4-3/4 years I've owned the car and it was probably in the
dealer lot a few months. So tomorrow I'll try to get the battery
replaced.
I was thinking of Quality Auto Tuneup but from the web site I don't
think they do batteries. Then again when I was there a few months ago I
think they had a car batteries on the price board. But since I don't
like using the phone I'm not going to call to find out. Looking at
yp.yahoo.com for Automobile -> Maintenance and Service -> Battery
there are only two places listed and they're both chains.
There's Meineke who apparently have only 3 locations in the Bay Area
and none of them are nearby. Nice web site, though there are a couple
of rough spots. And they don't list prices at all. The other place are
the Sears Auto Centers, of which there are 7 within 30 miles of my
house. There's one on W Winton and the I-880 which is nearby. They also
listed the battery price though I'm sure labor will be extra. So I'll
probably go to my nearest Sears Auto Center and who knows -- if I like
it maybe I'll go there for other services.
And then today Fulton found Christopher's Game Boy Advance in his car.
Totally forgot that Christopher had asked me to check next time I saw
Eric. Eh, I'm just not good at remembering things. Meanwhile my
basketball died. Took it out of the car and it was quite flat. We spent
a few minutes blowing it up and played a game of 21. Then we played a
few games of tip. You know, it's a lot easier to shoot free throws with
a flat ball, and it bounces off the backboard kind of funny.
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So we have
started to play this version of Tip that is more competitive. One
person shoots free throws at 2 points a pop. The other two guys try to
tip the misses in at -1 points a pop. The goal is to either get to 20
points or -10 points. It's mostly practice for Eric and I, Woo doesn't
shoot. We've played like six games and the shooter has one all of them,
though at times Eric has gotten to -4 or -5.
While Woo and Eric went to Big 5 to buy a new basketball I went to
Staples and bought some bookends. Metallic bookends. The cheap ones
which are like $6 for two and they have the biggest surface area. I
thought they were pretty solid but now that I have them propping up
books they're not good enough for medium to heavy books. The bookend
bends a bit much and I can tell it'll eventually deform. Next time I
buy the more expensive $9 (for a pair) steel bookends. Bought 5 pairs
today and still need lots more.
So the last few times that we've gone out to eat I've been trying to
spend less money. I figure I can go out after basketball if I don't end
up paying $20 to $30 a meal like I usually do. So I'm limiting myself
to $10 max including tax and tip. For Chili's I get the Old Timer
Burger which is $6 and then either a side Caesar Salad or the Chips and
Salsa both of which are $2. $8 which comes out to $8.66 with tax. 15%
tip is $1.20 so the total is $9.86 so $10 is enough payment.
Then again that Old Timer Burger is starting to get a bit plain to me.
The fries are good when they're fresh. Tonight they were obviously old
fries so not as good. There are other things I could get, like a salad
or half sandwhich and soup. Can't get a drink though so water for me.
And no dessert either which is too bad since I've gotten to like the
Chocolate Shake.
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