weekend

[cellio]

This year's bunny melt (hosted as always by ralphmelton and lorimelton) was a great success. The fondue was easy to manage, neither too hot nor too cold, and we had vast quantities of food. We also got to see dr4b, visiting from Seattle, which was nice. Note for next year: it looked like a pound (or maybe a pound and a half) of chocolate bunnies will suffice. (I think we had another three pounds or so that didn't get melted down.)

Saturday night at a restaurant we were given a "pager", a gadget that would flash when our table was ready. (And this was with reservations. :-) ) The pager is a hunk of plastic that also serves as a coaster; it says so right on it. (I guess they want you to go into the bar and wait.) While waiting, we read the advertising on the coaster, which said that such-and-such brand (yeah, I've already forgotten -- not very effective advertising) was the perfect pager for restaurants, bars, something else, and church nurseries. Church nurseries?? Dani tried asking the hostess (she said she'd be happy to answer questions), but she had no enlightenment for us.

Saturday's mail brought a letter from my health-insurance company with a $7 coupon for Allavert, an OTC allergy drug. (If the coupon is for $7, I shudder to think what the stuff actually costs.) The letter first said that OTC drugs are better than prescription because you don't need to see your doctor -- and then went on to say that before changing medicines you should consult your doctor. Their spin-meisters need some remedial training. Of course we all know that the real reason they're doing this is that OTC drugs don't involve any insurance pay-outs. I think I would have respected them more if they'd pursued a "...and that helps us keep your rates down" line of reasoning, but they didn't.

We've now (re-)watched B5 through the end of season 3. I suppose you could say it ends on a cliff-hanger. :-) We have B5 season 4 and West Wing season 3 DVDs waiting for us now. We tend to be pretty busy and only see a couple episodes of anything per week, so this will last a while.

Short takes:

The bachelor and the dust bunny, via metahacker.

"There's an amazing variety of things to do in Pittsburgh. It's just that all those events share the same three parking spaces, and two of those spots are staked out with folding chairs." -- innerbitch_rss.

Comments

[psu-jedi.livejournal.com]

Folding chairs! I've forgotten how much I miss Pgh!

I'll never forget the first time I went to the Southside, and saw these chairs sitting along the sides of the streets. I said, "What the hell are people putting chairs out on the streets for?" My roommate, who had lived there a year longer than me, said, "To save their parking spaces, of course!" I don't recall seeing this in Shadyside, where I lived, but only on the Southside. Has it migrated? ;-)

[cellio]

I've seen it randomly throughout the city -- certainly Oakland, I think Highland Park, and other places here and there. Maybe not Shadyside. Some neighborhoods seem to be more aggressive in discouraging it.