Although the entire trip to Fort Worth was enjoyable, Monday was perhaps the best day. The highlights went like this:
- Afternoon: Visit to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing
- Late Afternoon: Temperature drops 20 degrees in a matter of minutes
- Early Evening: Aunt Donna and Uncle Richard visit, later joined by cousin Emily
- Late Evening: Mike has a delicious T-bone steak at... IHOP.
Let's deal with the last one first. Putting aside the issue of Mike eating meat at all (which I, as a vegetarian, must do lest someone start reminding me that I don't exactly check to make sure all the cheese I eat in restaurants is rennet- and cruelty-free), Mike likes his meat well done. Super well done. Cooked through. No pink at all.
And I'm sure I've mentioned before that I, despite being a vegetarian, or perhaps even because of it, weep a little inside when I see that an animal died just to be turned into a thin, ugly brown patty. As opposed to the thick, juicy, medium rare destiny I would've chosen.
Anyway, I had the migas at IHOP - they were yummy. And Mike had the steak. And he loved it. A steak from IHOP. In Texas. Where usually you can find a steak that's a bit better than what they serve at IHOP.
I'm just saying. Steak. Well done. IHOP. Mike doesn't realize how noble my parents and I are for sitting by him for this event. Have you seen that episode of King of the Hill, where Hank is making rare burgers, and he's explaining to Bobby that this is how meat is supposed to be cooked? And Bobby asks what if someone wants theirs well done? And Hank gets that reverent tone in his voice and says he would politely but firmly ask those people to leave? Yeah.
I don't have any pictures of my aunt, uncle, and cousin to share because Dad took the shots, and I'd have to walk across the room and get those photos of the jump drive. (And it's summer vacation, so I'm thinking... maybe in October?) Also, I promised my aunt I would Photoshop her to perfection, except I think she's already perfect, so that's going to be tough.
But we did have fun, sitting outside in the 70-ish weather, feeling the breezes, talking about whatever. And nothing bit me, unlike every other day of the trip.
See, I'm allergic to the invisible creatures of Texas. The best thing about moving to Nevada might be that there are no mosquitos, chiggers, no-see-ums, you name it, because if there were, they would bite me. All my life, I've been that person with the 100% Deet sheen who is the only person in the group being bitten. Every time. Truly - all of my life that I can remember - so I guess I'm allergic to Michigan, too.
That all changed when I moved to Las Vegas. So, I came back from this trip with 30+ new scabs from chin to toe. I don't have to scratch - if something just barely touches the skin where the bite is, it wells up. But this will just lead to old Girl Scout Camp war stories, so let's return to last Monday.
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing, as already mentioned in an earlier post, was the big hit. Before we flew to Texas, I made a list of places we might visit that we hadn't seen before. When I saw the BEP mentioned in a visitor's guide, I just knew we had to go: http://www.moneyfactory.gov/locations/section.cfm/25/493.
The BEP must be one of the few tourist attractions in Fort Worth that my parents (both native FWers) haven't already seen. After talking to some other relatives and locals, none of whom have been, we all realized that this must be one of the city's best kept secrets.
Well, I can tell you, it is pretty neat. You park in a side lot, pass through airport-style security, and hop on a free shuttle to the building (which passes through several layers of gates under the scrutiny of an uncountable number cameras). In the building, there are exhibits about everything you'd might like to know about the history of currency in this country. This was all quite engaging, and it was all free.
In fact, everything is free. Tours (again, free) start regularly (about every 30 minutes on the day we visited), last half an hour, and can be supplemented with a 15-minute video that runs in the theatre upstairs by where the tour starts. We didn't see the video because Mom couldn't stay on the tour, but my parents saw it and said it was both informative and interesting. (Mom is afraid of heights, and the walking tour is done completely via "observation corridors" above the factory floors. They aren't very high up, but her phobia combined with her condition meant that they had to leave the area just before the tour officially started. Thankfully, the employees were all very nice, and the movie - which covers what you see on the tour - was starting in a few minutes. When we got out of the tour, we decided to forego the video so Mom and Dad wouldn't be stuck hanging around.)
I don't know why it was amazing to see the serial numbers inked on, or the cash bundled into "bricks," or the sheets of uncut notes ironed, or the stations where people watch for boo-boos, but it was. Sometimes the people on the floor would wave to us. Fun.
The most unexpected part for a lot of people (judging by the questions) seems to be learning that two-dollar bills are alive and well. Mike, coming from the land of the beloved $2 coin, doesn't understand why we-the-American-people tend to perpetuate the low circulation of the two-dollar bills by hoarding them. To Mike's delight, Dad later gave Mike a $2 note from his hoard. (However, Mike's plans to bring back the $2 are already thwarted, because of course I grabbed the bill at the first opportunity and put it in the "to be scrapbooked" pile. Hoard, hoard, hoard!)
The gift shop was pretty cool. Lots of people were buying uncut sheets of $2s. (True, it's cheaper than, say, uncut sheets of $50s. But look, I'm not kidding about the fascination with $2s. See how the new ones already sold out in the online gift shop?)
We got a T-shirt to share, postcards, and a novelty pen with a shredded-up $50 inside. I think novelty pens might be part of next year's classroom image. And you, of course, can look forward to all the moaning I'll make when they're stolen.
Overall, the BEP is a well-organized, attractive, provocative experience and, once more, FREE (after taxes).
Oh, and conspiracy theorists will love all of the pyramids in the building design. (According to the recorded Disney-like spiel that plays on the shuttle, this is by design and in homage to the pyramid on our money.)
Tuesday was a lazy day. We flew home that evening, very happy in the three seats we bought because, yes, we are that fat, and - all of you who, quite justifiably, look so scared when you see a fat person coming down the aisle toward your row - you're welcome. Now stop bringing steamer trunks as carry-on luggage, steamer trunks that require several minutes to situate in the overhead bins, one at a time, and we'll call it even.
(I was going to get in to how we were offered a business class upgrade that day for a fee, but obviously we didn't want that. However, we did try to trade our three seats for two business class seats, as there were a number of people flying standby and business class was almost empty. Not a great trade for the airline, but it would mean an extra person could fly. Alas, we had to deal with this creature who couldn't understand at all what we were offering, and, long story short, people are stupid, and the last standby person on the list didn't get to fly. We were very comfy with our original seats, and we don't drink or care when we board, so it's not like it would've been an upgrade for us, but whatever. I can definitely see both sides of why they wouldn't want to make the trade; I just don't get stupid people in customer service who can't handle any discussion that deviates from the script.)
(And if you write in to tell me that I should try working in customer service, and it's so hard, and I wouldn't know, and these gate agents deserve trophies and are allowed to be rude or stupid or Just Not Listen because they have to deal with jerks, I will not only delete your uninformed, asinine comment, I will have my ninth graders make a voodoo doll of you for extra credit next year. And believe me, they are ALL about the extra credit. Expect pins in unusual places.)
If you're flying out of DFW, I highly recommend the sandwiches, especially the paninis, from Frullati for your carry-on in-flight meal:
You can't see them, but they were good. True, the Frullati people completely messed up Mike's order, and it was a huge effort to get napkins from them when they overfilled my smoothie and it went sloshing everywhere, but still - tasty, and comparatively reasonable in price.
Wednesday we went to see if the new Mimi's Cafe was open. It looked open, but just as we were about to park the car, an employee came running out the front door, apologizing for not being officially open, and gave us a box of their muffins.
Wow! They were delicious and remain so moist, even five days later. Mmm! (We will definitely be making our first trip to MC's soon; this is exactly-and-beyond the kind of customer service that I want to patronize.)
(You can see that no one wants the honey oat bran muffin, despite attempts at tucking in.)
We ran a lot of errands this week. Picked up a lot of gifts. Bamboo utensils, canvas drink cooler/storage/things. Did $500 in slot play at Sunset, each, without spending any money. In fact, we came out about six dollars ahead, with neither of us ever putting more than the initial $20 in. Nice - now we'll have gifts, mystery gifts, free slot play, and free buffet coupons for the next three months. (Station Casinos seems to be improving their rewards system after the dark turn they took this past winter.) Oh, and somewhere in all of this we had some free slot play and won $11 on The Monkees slots. Alas, spent already, but I haven't gotten to that part yet.
I think that covers the rest of Wednesday through Friday. I can't remember Saturday - oh yeah, Mike was out with Darren, and I finally picked up my sprawl of "will organize laters" that had crept across the floor of what I guess you could call the "nook."
But before that, I got more books from the library. Summer = reading! By the way, I Want Candy is great if you want to see some writing that really captures the early 80s/New Wave era (from a teen girl perspective) by including all kinds of unexpected, not-your-usual-retro-wank, references. And yes, unlike certain Carmen Electra movies or that band "Bow Wow" (just "Bow Wow"), I'm pretty sure the author understands what she's doing with the title.
Also, I picked up photos from CVS (cheap! no "zoom to fill print size" issues! impressive!) to use during Club Scrap "camp." Our first layout challenge is to recycle household items, and I'm making a couple of layouts about beverages introduced to me by Mike. The first will be about Bundaberg ginger beer, and the second will be about making a lemon, lime, and bitters. I'm recycling labels and caps. (Next up: macrame with ring-tabs?) Hopefully it will be okay to (sort of) make the recycled items the topic of the layout. I think most people are using their kitchen clutter drawer as a source for embellishments, not subjects.
Ignore that Ukranian soda label. That idea has been shelved for the moment. (The soda needs to be, too. Yech.)
Oh, and after 18 months, I caved in and bought Mike some dishcloths. (I think paper towels are more sanitary, but I do concede that they're rather hard on the environment if not used in moderation.)
He hasn't noticed yet. LOOK, HONEY! DISHCLOTHS! They're BLUE!
:)
On Sunday, we decided to try Red Robin. I always thought it was just a fast food place, but it's more like a Chili's/Applebees/Bennigans, etc. The "BOTTOMLESS!" raspberry limeades were delicious.
However, they weren't particularly "BOTTOMLESS!" Our waiter sucked.
This past week we began our search for a pair of girl hammies. (Once again, our hamsters are getting old.) We hit the SPCA, the independents, and the chains. It wasn't until Sunday when we went to, literally, the last store in the "willing to drive in this heat" area that we found...
(Obviously, more later.)
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