happy new year. now with 95% less hair.

yes, i ran out of hair gel so i cut my hair. i was planning on that, but it just happened to coincide with the new year.
on friday the 28th i went by the tax office to get my title and registration done on the bel air. i got up earlier than normal so i could try to take care of it before the time i’m supposed to be to work (9am). i got downtown and there were a couple of cars parked in front of the building, but ample space so i parked and put some coins in the meter and went inside. it took a little while, but i was able to transfer the title and register my 1955 plates with no snags. yea! i went outside and noticed there was a little fluorescent green envelope under my windshield wiper. a ticket. i was confused, since i’d parked in a regular spot, gone to the electronic meter, pressed my number, inserted money, and seen 40 minutes of time pop up (which i was well within). i looked back and none of the other cars who were still parked there when i got there had tickets. so then i thought maybe someone else had gotten a ticket and put it on my vehicle. i pulled the ticket out and looked at it. “parked in tow away zone”? i looked down…no yellow or red curb…i’m in a numbered spot, and not even the number one spot. i scanned the ticket further…$65 fine. yikes. then i saw the plate listed on the ticket…it was mine. huh? i looked around, and then i noticed it…further up the block and on the inside of the sidewalk was a sign saying this was a tow-away zone 7am-9am. when was the ticket issued? 8:55am. son of a public worker’s b1tch. what really chaps me is that those automatic meters change to tell you when parking is free, but that little mechanical piece of sh1te happily let me feed quarters into it and told me i was all legit, while that heartless ticket writer probably sat and watched me do it. quite a tidy little no-effort-required profit mill for the city. the only reason i’m not livid is because the title and registration went off without a hitch. i think i’m going to go to try and get out of the ticket though. even if i don’t, i want to find out why those “intelligent” meters don’t keep you from thinking you’re paid up and legal.
in other news related to the bel air, on sunday night i was coming home and on the overpass exchange between 610 south and 59 north one of my hubcaps came off. i heard it ping and then bounce and roll. unfortunately, that overpass is two lanes at 40+ mph with no shoulders. there was no way i as one person could go back and get it. *sigh* the next day some coworkers went with me during lunch and drove the path, but we didn’t see the hubcap. i still want to see if i can find it further down in the median or somewhere.
friday i took the bel air to work and was looking forward to a relaxing day, taking my car to lunch with some coworkers, etc. i ended up having to meet some ibm guys at the datacenter at 11am. a coworker said he was going and offered me a ride, so i went with him. then the installation went on…and on…and on. we didn’t get done until 8pm. well, at this point no one was left at work and the shuttle buses weren’t running. so i started walking back to my car. it was dark and chilly, but it was only about 1 or 1.5 miles or something. i tried a few people to see if anyone was in the area, in a car, and bored, but didn’t find a ride.
saturday night i was not in a particularly good mood, so i drank. a lot. at home by myself. because why should anyone want to get drunk in public? morons. warning signs, shmorning signs. i don’t drink to escape. i can’t escape. i don’t crave alcohol. in fact, i often think about giving it all away. but then i end up buying more because i like the idea of trying new stuff. anyway. i did have an extended im conversation with someone until like 3:30am. then i stumbled into the bedroom and flopped face down on the bed. i woke up about 7 hours later in exactly the same position…clothes on, lights on. and feeling like crap. i got up and drank some water and took some tylenol. i wanted to go back to sleep, but my head and eyes weren’t cooperating. eventually i guess the tylenol kicked in enough that i fell back asleep. i slept for a couple more hours, then woke up and was hungry. not being experienced with hangovers, i wasn’t really sure what the best action to take was. after some discussion with the person i’d had the im chat with during the night, i decided to go to empire cafe and have some pasta with butter. except when i got up, i decided maybe i should just lay back down and try to move as little as possible. eventually i got up and got dressed and went outs…holy crap the sun was bright! i got to empire and had to wait in a long line, but eventually i got my water, then salad and bread, then pasta. it was all so good. then i went home and took a couple more tylenol.
after that experience, i really wasn’t too excited about drinking on new year’s eve. i was also pretty ambivalent about going out at all. i’d never rsvped to mary and chris’s party, which i usually attend. i thought about going, but decided since i’d never replied or anything to go ahead and forgo it. i ended up going over to the bopho loft and hung out with emily and eric and amy and some other folk. most of them were married and their kids were downstairs (except when they came upstairs). not the kind of new year’s events i’ve generally attended in the past few years. amy had some cigars, so i got one and a few of us went outside and smoked in the new year.
i’ll detail the various things i’ve bought or got for xmas or whatever later.