Christmas Eve

 Last night I just drank watery beer and watched YouTube and went to bed. I woke up around ... noon? My headache was there, but mild. 

I had two things I had pre-packed, put labels on those and found two more things  I can send by FedEx and packed those, then waited for a bum to finish messing around outside with some sheets of plywood and his Mad Max bike trailer. I'd resigned myself to going out, loading up, and in passing, tossing him some strapping material I have around here, when I looked again and he was gone. 

So I headed out. First dropped off the stuff at FedEx, then rode up to 99 Ranch for more "Curry Mee" hot red curry ramen, some pate', and another thing or two. It came to $16 and I got $60 cash back, so that's my spending for the week - any more will have to come out of the cash in my wallet. This way I know I'm saving $100 (or a bit more this week) in the bank and have money to spend. 

I rode back to H Mart and got more things including more watery beer because why not, and some sashimi, and other odds and ends. I squirreled it all away on the bike, most importantly the 12-pack of beer in one saddlebag so it was effectively invisible. 

I rode back and stopped by Tom's because he's back from Alaska. He was "glad to finally have some company". He offered me a Bud Lite and we sat and ate saltines and summer sausage, "Alaskan hors d'oeuvres" as I joked. He talked about these little stores in Alaska that have nothing but "dry goods" all dry things like crackers or things in cans, and plenty of bottles of hard liquor. No beer, and "you can't hope to see any *bread*" and I joked "Well, it was all brought in by dogsled, don't mind if there's dog hair in it, ya need the fiber". 

I had a 2nd beer, although Tom's plant, a thing we've decided is mint, had a good part of it while Tom stepped out for a whiz. It's kind of nice how well the guy and I get along. A mutual friend is leaving California to be a father to a kid he's had with a gal who left to go back to Alabama or some-such place. And Tom's father's died, that happened early in the month. His ashes will go to the family cemetery in N. Dakota. It turns out Tom's relatives are "mega ranchers", like, featured in Fortune Magazine big. Tom's father had said he ought to get together with them but, "I don't want to play second fiddle to those fuckers", Tom told me. 

All in all it was a nice social little Christmas Eve, and Tom wants to cook turkey and stuff tomorrow. I'm invited, needless to say. I've got about $30 left and I might well decide to swing by H Mart and pick up some beer and something to put on the grill, and see how it goes.