Pik 'n Save Nuts

We were saved by Pik-N-Save, again.

The company is now called Big Lots! (with "!", of course). But that's not important.

I spent an hour wandering around Lowe's today, trying to find the right bolt and nut to attach our new Target headboard to our bed. I found some nice 1/4" diameter 2.5" bolts, and the corresponding stop nuts.

Well, it turns out I had no idea what a stop nut is. For those of you similarly uninformed, this is a nut that goes on the bolt a little way, then stops. It doesn't screw down tight.

Rather than going back to the store to try again, I decided to see if I had something appropriate in the garage. A couple hours of tidying and organizing later, I uncovered an old package of miscellaneous fasteners in a yellowing Pik-N-Save package. RKCP's grandmother had several boxes of random stuff like this, and they are now in our garage.

In it were some square nuts. Square nuts. What the heck? They fit my bolts. So, how do you hold a square nut to tighten? I found a socket that fit over it, and turned. Good luck to me when I need to detach the headboard.

The headboard looks good, especially with our new matching bedside tables.

Front Page News

SKGP has reached the pinnacle of fame in small town California. She's on the front page of the Valley Sun.

The Easter festivities included a bonnet parade, and she was one of the winners.

Vacation

We visited the in-laws for Easter. There was a fun Easter brunch with lots of family. Then we left the kids and went home.

Spring Break!

Last night, we had a date.

We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in San Jose. I can easily imagine a future where I never eat there again. They really put the factory in their name. Our name was lost for the waiting list, and then we were put in a table that felt like a cafeteria, with people immediately adjacent to us on both side (and they weren't interesting conversationalists).

We then went to see a movie. It costs $9.50 per person; and they don't take credit cards -- Grrr. The film was Thank You For Smoking and it was very good. Go see it; it'll make you laugh.

It was nice and relaxing to act like adults, without having to keep someone in line.

The kids are driving home tomorrow.

Thanks for the vacation, Gram and Pop.

RSVP

We have scheduled our house warming party for the anniversary of moving into PaceHouse 2.0. It's an open house on April 29 from 2 to 5 (or something like that).

Where are the RSVPs?

Finally, some people responded, once prodded!

Pie

It started around 3. I wanted some pie. I described some of the potential pies I wanted. Heaping fresh strawberry; sweet peaches; pecan. A la mode. Heated, so hot it burns.

At 5, we found that Red Robin doesn't have pie. They have Mud Pie. We could go to Denny's or Harris Ranch. We didn't.

At 10, we pulled into McDonalds. They only had one apple pie left. I wanted two to share with my brother. They only had one. I took it.

While waiting for DMP to eat his chicken sandwich, I looked over the receipt and noticed they charged me $1 for the single pie. The deal is Two Pies for a Dollar, and I was unhappy.

The clerk tried to tell me that they were $1 each.

My point was that since I wanted two pies, and they were unable to deliver on the bargain, the "sale" price should still hold. I was willing to uphold my end of the deal, but they couldn't hold up theirs. Why should I pay for their mistake?

Eventually, the manager stepped in and gave me $0.50 to make me go away. DMP thought I was crazy.

We shared the pie, and drove home.