Jake and I made our semi-annual trip to TJ Maxx last night and went to The Fifth for dinner after. I was looking for a few specific things at the store, but came up empty-handed as far as my list goes. I did buy a light hoodie for myself, though. That place is really hit or miss for me, but you can’t beat their prices. Jake fared better. He got a hoodie, sweatpants, a t-shirt, and a belt. Dinner at The Fifth was good. I definitely recommend the Garlic Cheese Curds from the starters menu.
dog
I saw this movie yesterday afternoon with the guy who I met last weekend. It was a pretty good movie, though they had most of the funny bits in the trailer. Nevertheless, I liked it. How can you not like a movie that revolves around a dog? Especially when it isn’t a sad one.
After the movie we went to Anthony’s for dinner. I’ve been wanting to try their wood-fired oven pizza for some time. While the pizza was fine, I was a little disappointed. I think I can do better at home even when I’m not using my wood-fired pizza grill. But, I guess that’s why I don’t eat out that often.
My rating: 3.5/5 (for the movie) 3/5 (for the pizza)
an ordeal
Ralphie has always been weird about having his nails trimmed (among other things) and has gotten even weirder about it over time. The vet gave me some sedatives (pills) to try on him, but I still wasn’t able to cut his nails as he did not seem to be very sedated. So, I made an appointment to have them done at the vet’s office.
They gave him a sedative shot (did I mention he does not like getting shots, either?) and we sat in there for a while but he never went to sleep. I mean, you wouldn’t necessarily know that he had been sedated. Finally, we opted for the brute force method (muzzle and pinning him down) and let’s just say that did not go over well with Ralphie. I felt really bad about it, but his nails really needed done. Anyway, the vet then gave him a shot to reverse the sedative and we went home, where he proceeded to pretty much sleep for 2 days. I think it was more from the crash after the adrenaline rush than the sedative. But at least his nails are trimmed. The vet tech who helped out said that walking on gravel is a good way to naturally wear down dogs’ nails, so I need to find a gravel patch to walk on. I always walk him on the road or sidewalk, but that’s not quite doing the job.
and now this
After getting a bunch of rain the other day, I checked the basement for water. There wasn’t any rain water, but there was some water around the water heater. It was coming out of the expansion valve tube. The plumber came yesterday and replaced some parts on the water heater and also installed a pressure reducing valve on the water line, which, apparently, it should have already had.
Last night, I checked on the water heater and there was water on the floor again. I couldn’t remember if it was like that when he left or if I was still having a problem, but things are dry this morning, so it must have been the former. I’m still keeping an eye on it, but it doesn’t look like there’s a problem at this point.
That all said, the water heater was installed 16 years ago, so it could go at any time. And prices for them have skyrocketed over the past 2 years, much like everything else. It’s going to cost more than double when I have it replaced. At least I know to put some additional money back for that inevitable expense.
beth hart
Last year, I discovered this singer/songwriter, despite the fact that she’s been on the scene for 20+ years. And, I’ve been obsessed ever since. I hoped one day to see her in concert, so imagine my surprise when I found out that she was coming to The Palace Theatre in Greensburg! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, The Palace Theatre is one of my favorite venues to see a show.
And, what a great show it was! The band played for a Dave Grohl-worthy 2 hours and 15 minutes. She played a lot of stuff from her latest albums (I guess I’m going to have to buy her Led Zeppelin cover album now) and did a little acoustic set at the end of the show. Here’s the setlist. Much like the Foo Fighters, she does a different setlist for each show, so you never know what you’re going to get. Also, I wanted to mention that she’s the only singer I’ve heard that sounds better live than recorded. Amazing.
I went by myself and had a really great time, so I plan on doing it again in the future (I mean, I’ve gone to a bunch of shows in Johnstown solo, but this was the first one out of town). It’s not like you can talk at these things anyway. I did have a second ticket and asked one of my music-loving, dog-walking friends to go, but she was unable to attend. I tried selling it on StubHub, but it did not sell. As it turns out, there were a bunch of empty seats. Had I known that, I would have dropped the price. Oh well. I don’t really care, though, it was totally worth the money. And, I didn’t have to sit next to anyone.
Due to the length of the show, I got home late for a work night, so I’m a bit tired today, but it was totally worth it!