Dog escapes, adult Happy Meals, death by spiders, and women/chivalry

It's a beautiful day, and Waif got out -again- somehow. A day or two ago she dug a hole under the fence and both dogs got out; after I covered the hole with planks, they got out again. Nathan bolstered the planks with a piece of iron railing, and I came home for lunch to find Waif out -again-. I figure she's squeezing through the gate itself, so I'll put something to block it on the outside before I leave. :P

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From gothiccripple: Apparently, "Adult Happy Meal" = salad and water. Porn toy not included. :)

From yournailbunny: Man killed and eaten by his pet spiders and other critters. Not for the squeamish or arachnophobic, and the last sentence is inappropriately anti-pit bull.

smandas's commentary on women and chivalry. Men and women, take heed!

Mail day for me! Also, lazy work and bike service.

Good stuff:

eBay order that Steph pointed out the other day, wherein I was the only bidder

Mall Monkeys CD from Mixonic

Advertising flyers and video from Trailer In A Bag that I requested

Refund check from Geico, which was admittedly about half of what I remember being told (but didn't document), as a result of canceling my insurance for the old bike

Neutral stuff:

Credit card bill for a card that gets automatically paid monthly

Bank statement (for only my accounts, this time!)

401(k) statement from work

This afternoon at work was the most laid-back segment of the week yet--half the people left early, the rest lazed about. A little after 4 I called Coleman to check on my bike, and was told that the service was complete, but that they'd just called Ducati to get some codes related to tuning the throttle/fuel injection, and to call back around 6 to see if it'd be ready by 7. Hope so, or I may not be able to get it before Monday--though I might be able to get it before the ride Sunday morning even if the store is officially closed.

Bike pickup, stupid moped, Kill Bill vol. 1, Nathan's improv

I called Coleman a bit after 6, and as luck would have it, the tech who answered the phone was the one who'd just finished working on my bike. Apparently there was an issue with one of the fuel injector cell's mixtures, that caused an intermittent lean mix and miss; a call to Ducati to get whatever codes they needed and a bit of work fixed that up. Christina then drove me down to the shop, taking the back-roads route to avoid 95S and 1S; we arrived just before 7, they again had issues looking up my Preferred Maintenance membership--I really need one of the physical cards--and I was ready to go.

Stopped for gas at the first station we came across, a Citgo, where the first -three- pumps I tried were out of service, and moments after leaving a saw a Mobil that was $0.06/gal cheaper and I'd get a 3% discount vs. 1% elsewhere. Blast!

Once on the road, I got to try out my newly-available torque due to the higher cap of 7Krpm for the next 600mi of break-in (which also allows me to easily go 50+mph in 2nd gear, and comfortable highway speed in 3rd or 4th of 6.) Much smoother now, too--none of the hiccups in power that I noticed before.

Getting off of 95N onto 1N, we encountered a vehicle that had no business being on such a highway--a moped that struggled to pull off 45mph, with a very timid driver, riding off on the shoulder to let people pass. (But the car in front of me wouldn't pass until we were off the ramp, so after I passed him, Christina had to hurry to do the same, and the minivan behind her had to do something drastic not to hit him as he pulled across the entrance/exit lane into traffic again. :P

Once home, I shuffled vehicles into legal parking, then made dinner while alternately watching the DVD extras for Kill Bill vol. 1, which he bought earlier. Dinner made, we watched said movie, which was good. Soon--but not tonight or tomorrow--we'll go see vol. 2. :)

Tomorrow morning, however, Christina and I will drive out to Sperryville before 8am to meet the Cornell Club folks there around 9:45, to go hike over Old Rag Mountain. In the evening, we'll go to Nathan's improv troupe's first show!

Speaking of which, anyone in NoVA who's looking for something to do Saturday evening, should come see Round The Bend! 9PM Saturday, April 17th - 201 King St. Alexandria VA. (And even if you can't make it this time, be sure to check out the cast bios! :)

Sunday morning-into-afternoon, Coleman's Italian Bike Ride! :)