Whine and Cheese

I've had my iPhone 6s for more than a couple of years now. I've not had a lot of problems with it, though the last major software update I did on my phone knocked out several favorite apps, but that's not Apple's fault or mine. Now I'm not the person who has to have the latest thing, but I went to the Apple Store today to take a look at the new iPhones.

Whenever I go to the Apple Store I feel like a kid in a candy store. I want a new laptop, a new iPad, an Apple Pen, a new Mac Mini, etc. Everything is so new and so colorful. I only need several thousand dollars to get everything I want with the memory I want.

Assisted by a furry namesake Genius, I broke down and bought a 256 GB iPhone XS. No pressure sales tactics, it just seemed to suit my needs. In fact, Marc the Apple Genius actually talked me out of buying a new iPad after I told him that I rarely used the one I bought seven years ago. He's a married man with two kids and he understands that sometimes people may buy things unnecessarily. I decided to put the idea of a new iPad on the backburner until my tax return shows up next year.

After putting a major dent in my savings account, I left for home with my new iPhone. It took me a while to figure out how to transfer the apps and data over to it, as it involved updating the software on my desktop at home and iTunes. Then I spent several hours waiting for the apps to finish downloading.

While having the new iPhone is pretty fun so far, I now wonder what to do with my old phones, as I now have three of them. I may convert the most recent to an iPod for the gym.

So I got up this morning feeling better, after catching a quick bug the other day. I worked out and mowed the yard, feeling a bit energized. I grabbed lunch and drove to the Cincinnati Comicon (the "Con") held in Northern KY. I had not attended this particular comic book convention before, but I had a list of comics I wanted to get and though I could grab some deals.

After spending $35 to get in and $5 for parking, I went inside, grabbed a vendor map, and started my shopping journey. And was bitterly disappointed.

The "Con" was very heavy on the creators and very light on the back issue vendors. I found a few good deals at one table, but didn't want to spend all my money in one place, so I ventured to look for others. There was only one other vendor with a huge supply of back issues, but he's local and I've already seen his goods in his store. The other handful listed as "vendors" basically had about 10-12 long boxes of comics, which is almost nothing, and certainly not enough to pay for the rental space.

I was there for maybe an hour, spent $27, stopped by Starbucks for a Frap that the barista screwed up, and went home for a nap.

The "Con" was a waste of time. The Comic Expo in two weeks is usually much more fun.

Lesson learned.

It's certainly been a busy Saturday.

Last night, I went to dinner with a friend who has recently started a new career at a bank. He deals with mutual funds, retirement accounts, etc., as well as basic banking processes. I asked for his opinion on whether to pay off the mortgage or buy a new car. His response was basically to pay off the house, as I wasn't paying hardly any interest at this point, then get a home equity loan to buy the car. The interest from it would be tax deductible and likely last longer.

So this morning, I showered and dressed and headed to my bank. The Assistant VP gave me an estimated pay off amount. However, when it came to the interest rate on the proposed loan to buy the car, the rate was 3.24 to 6%, a variable rate. I thought that was too freakin' high considering. Of course, it would be toward the lower end if I opened a home equity line of credit for half the value of my home. Ugh...

I left and went to lunch, determined that I should at least test drive some cars. My Toyota Corolla is still doing well and it's been a good car, but I'm craving something different. It's nine years old and has over 164,000 miles on it.

So I drove up to Carmax in Northern Cincinnati and met a very handsome, young salesperson named Jeff. Jeff is probably in his late 20's, has wavy brown hair and beard, lean otterish build, and the most amazing deep blue eyes I've ever seen on a man. Seriously, he is a good looking feller. So Jeff talked me into letting them give me an estimate on my car and then we test drove a couple cars on the lot. I drove a Nissan Rogue (with some nice bells and whistles) and a Nissan Ultima (which was unimpressive). I looked at a Camry and was very interested in a Ford Escape (until I saw the Consumer Reports ratings -- yikes). Overall, I just wasn't ready to buy, but I have a few more that I'd like to drive, like a Kia Soul because I'm curious and it's fairly well-rated.

So, I'm back home and a bit tired. While I haven't made any big decisions, it's been a good information-gathering day. Ideally, I'd like to see about being in a new car by next week. Since my bank won't give me a decent loan rate, I'm not sure if the house will get paid off at this time, as I may buy the car outright to avoid the loan.

As for the cat, I think the name "Milo" is going to stick. At this point though, he's still hunkered down in the storage space. I moved some boxes so I could get a better look at him, but still have yet to crawl in after him. I'm trying to be patient. I think he is exploring a bit at night, though he seems to be walking gingerly (no pun intended) so I can't hear him.

Last night, I got a call from aceofspace, asking if he could fly into Cincinnati and we drive down to our hometown together. Of course, I said yes. It seems American Airlines canceled his flight to Knoxville, and left him to sit for several hours to the next day, unless he changed his plans. Unfortunately, they sent his bags to Knoxville (we hope), so he was without essentials. So after a quick dinner, we went to the wilds of Wal-Mart late last night.

Oh, dear God, it was a wasteland. In addition to their employees putting new stock out, there were easily two dozen or more carts full of returned goods to be restocked out near the registers. We went to the menswear department, where we found the tee-shirt/socks aisles completely trashed. Literally, more stock on the floor than on the hooks.

Since we were there, I went to the toys department to grab a toy for my nephew. If I thought the menswear areas were bad, I certainly was not prepared for the toy aisles. It was like someone picked up each aisle, shook it up and down several times, then put it back down. I told aceofspace that it looked like a violent crime scene. Needless to say, we moved quickly out of the area. Gift card for the nephew. Let his dad drag him to the toy aisles instead.

I think I'm going to try to avoid Wal-Mart (more than I usually do) until long after Christmas.

Great weekends always fly by so quickly. After finishing work on Friday, I desperately needed some fun.

Saturday, I drove up to the outlet stores and had a bout of shopping therapy with jeepdude_70. I'd not seen him in a while, so it was good to hang out and catch up with him. While he swears I enable him in the shopping, I blew quite a bit of money on stuff I usually wouldn't thanks to him ($50 at Yankee Candle Company, for example). I did get some much needed clothes and a big candle with "Leather" scent. I got home, had to punch a hole in my butch card for repairing the lawn mower before mowing, and grab dinner. Overall, it was an awesome day.

Sunday, I had lunch with my buddy Dan at Mokka in Newport. Pancakes with orange creamsicle "fluff." Oh, SOOOO GOOOOOD! Dinner was a mac & cheese bar at Brian's (cincycub), which was inventive and incredibly tasty.

Monday, I settled back into my own office after working in the branch director's office most of July. After work, I worked out, cleaned house, and settled down on the couch for TV and drawing, letting the stresses just kind of melt away. TV was two hours of "Absoultely Fabulous" and a new episode of "RuPaul's Drag U," the latter having three of my favorite drag queen professors included -- Raja, Sharon Needles, and Pandora Boxx.

While watching TV, I worked on several pages of the next issue of "Grizzly & The Bear Patrol." Not to toot my own horn (if only I were so limber), but the two pages I drew last night were some of the best I've done in a while. I can't wait to put the color to them.

Overall, things are moving at a good click. It's nice getting back to the norm.

Double-header softball tonight. I've got a good feeling about it.

Continuing the saga of the week-long staycation, I went in search of getting the "... get new tires..." crossed off my list. I checked a few of the local tire places, but was put off by user comments listed. Apparently, some tire places are desperate and doing some harsh sales tactics on folks. I went to one place and they were booked solid all day. So I iPhoned a map of other tire places and came up with Sears Auto next to the Florence Mall (yep, the one next to the "Florence Y'All" water tower).

One thing I did like about the sales guy (who was a cute daddy bear-ish guy) was that he started by showing me the lower-end tires. Granted this might have been because I look like a hobo, unshaven and in shorts, but it felt good to have him start on the low end and allow me to go up if I wanted without pressure. After doing a bit of tire research last night, I settled on "premium" but relatively good-priced tires (Goodyear!). It was within what I expected to pay so I'm happy there.

After walking to Qdoba for lunch, I ventured into the mall and JCPenney where they were having a big clearance sale. I bought a few dress shirts for work at $7.00 a shirt! I asked the mens area salesperson to measure my neck to make sure I got the right size. He was a bit overly helpful, reminding me a bit of Leslie Jordan, only taller. He was constantly showing me one shirt after another, but he measured my neck, chest and waist to make sure. In fact, he measured my chest like three times over the course of an hour. I guess the gym thing is working on those. I'm not used to being so well-catered to in a store, which is sad really. After the sales and discounts, I walked out with eight shirts and three ties for $65!

After picking up my car and heading home, I admit I'm a bit beat. Happy Thursday everyone!

Work is going well. Bowling Green is okay too. I did snag a couple of odd photos for viewing, but I'll have to post them later, I'm too tired tonight. The hotel is also full of church hoppers according to the vans outside. How comforting...


V for Vendetta
I managed to make it for a matinee of V for Vendetta. I was pleasantly surprised how good this movie was. I had overheard in a comic book shop that the previews were misleading as the movie is far more dramatic than action packed. While the film does have a far amount of action, it excels better in some very tense drama. The story of a terroristic vigilante in a corrupt dictator-ruled Britain has some strong political overtones that parallel some current issues today. I don't think it's intentional, as the story was originally defined during the Margaret Thatcher years. The V character is so suave and romantic, I have to admit that I was falling for him myself. I never read the comic, but the movie was impressive.

After the movie, I went clearance rack shopping at Old Navy and found some great long-sleeved stuff for $5. The local comic book shop was nearby and open until 9 PM, which was a nice surprise. The shop has a good inventory of 1970's and 1980's comics and at cheap prices, not to mention their 50 cent comic box. I blew about $20 and got a nice stash of comics. It's been a good Tuesday.

Did I enjoy the movie? Oh yeah!
Would I see it again? Would love to...
Buy the DVD? I'm planning on it...