Didn't Mean to Stick It to You
Well, I did go to Steamworks last night shortly after getting home from work, but I was done there within an hour, which left plenty of time at home for the rest of the evening.
I realized this might be the only opportunity for several days -- as this weekend will be full of Pride events -- to text Alexia, our neighbor who took care of the cats, and tell her she was welcome, if available, to hop on over to see some of the photos from Yellowstone that she told me several times she would like to see. She was and she did; I made myself a quick dinner (Shobhit had already eaten) and she was over shortly after around 7:45.
I was also glad Shobhit was home for this, as I felt it would be best if we could both talk to her about the trip together.
And I was pretty organized about this. I created a specific Flickr photo set just for this occasion -- Yellowstone National Park 2018: Greatest Hits. 71 photos and 8 videos. Actually there was one photo I wanted to show her that I had not added, so I just went ahead and added it to the set just now -- which gives the set a nice, even 80 total shots (photos plus videos). The set description includes a full, master list in chronological order of every stop we made in the park over four days of wandering through it; I also emailed that to myself so I could reference it while talking to Alexia about the photos. This includes about 45 stops over 7 days -- as it includes a few photos from both the Sunday we were in Wallace, Idaho and just past the state line in Montana; the travel day on Monday from Wallace to West Yellowstone via the brief detour to the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman; and one shot from the trip home just this past Saturday.
I shared the photos by swiping through them on my iPad using the Flickr app, but also using "Screen Sharing" via the Apple TV box so the photos would be projected onto the TV screen. That way the images were as big as I could make them in our living room. Once I got through all 80 shots, I also broke out the map we had been referencing through all our travels through the park, to give her some sense of the geography and directions we went on each of the four days in the actual park. I still need to mark our four days' routes on the map and take photos of it to add to the respective days' photo sets. Anyway, it really piqued Alexia's interest in one day going there herself, as she has apparently never been.
It was a really nice visit and honestly the first time we spent that kind of time with Alexia. She was over for maybe ninety minutes or so. When she left she suggested we get together again sometime for coffee or dinner or something, and I rather like that idea. She wouldn't accept wine as a thank you for looking after the cats -- she keeps insisting she was happy to do it -- but maybe we could even have her over and make her dinner sometime.
She also told us she would do yoga in the small nook area just outside the guest room, and Shanti would hop up onto the half-wall that separates that from walkway in front of the guest bathroom, just to watch and judge her. Every day. Shanti the Yoga Instructor!
Speaking of Yellowstone, yesterday I finally asked Claudia at work if she ever got the postcard I sent her. She said she did, but guess what? It came postage due -- $3 worth! What the shit? I was so, so annoyed by that. I sent out six of those fucking things, and presumably all six people are being asked to pay the U.S. Post Office $3 for them! That includes:
Auntie Rose (if I sent out just one postcard, it would be to her; she sends me enough postcards on her own travels)
Dad and Sherri
Mom and Bill [and Christopher, since he's also living there now]
Gabriel (who recommended Lamar Valley to us; I had to send this to Janine's address though because he never actually gave me his specific mailing address at Salmon Beach)
Danielle
Claudia (who loaned us her annual National Park Pass)
Since I had withdrawn $20 from the bank yesterday on my way to Steamworks and had a bit of change, today I went over to Aimée at the front desk to ask if she had change for a $5 there. I then went over to Claudia's desk and quickly slipped the three dollars onto her desk and backed away before she could even respond. I figured she would not accept the money, but I feel so bad about this I feel I should still try to refund it to people. I know it's just three bucks, but that's a lot of money adding up to stick people with -- $18! If I had known the postage for all of them would cost that much, I never would have bought those damn postcards to begin with! The print on the back of the cards, with PLACE STAMP HERE in the upper right-hand corner, totally made me assume they all just needed a single stamp like any regular postcard. Shows what I know! I guess I should stop trusting what is clearly written in bold print?
I posted a comment on my Facebook post tagging all the people I sent the cards to, assuming this happened to everyone else too -- although so far no one has else has mentioned it; Claudia didn't either, until I asked her if she'd received the card. Auntie Rose is not on Facebook, though, so I just texted her a screenshot of the post, with an additional apology. I feel slightly bad I sent her a Facebook post with moderate profanity in it, but have decided she's probably heard the word "damn" before and can handle it.
Anyway, after like two minutes, that $3 I had given to Claudia came hurling past my head and ricocheted off my computer monitor and back onto my desk. I turned around and saw Claudia, who had rolled the bills up into a crumpled tube, and had thrown them back at me.
[posted 12:36 pm]