Return of the Stolen Car!
So, Stephen got a parking ticket the other day. Unfortunately the actual ticket had not been found by us on the windshield of the car. Upon closer examination we found it hard to imagine what Stephen would have been doing downtown, on Chapel Street, at 11:30 am on a Wednesday late in March. He has come down for lunch a couple of times this semester, but always just after noon. He's paid for parking, so the time should be for one in the afternoon or so. 11:30 is just weird. Then we discovered that the make of the car is a Saab. We do not own a Saab. In fact neither of us has ever owned a Saab. We can't think of anyone we know who currently owns one in any country. Hmmm.... I asked if the license plate number was right, and Stephen said yes. However, when I looked at the notice, I did not recognize any license number. I pointed this out.
Apparently the ticket is for a license plate which was stolen with the Honda Civic in the early fall of 2008. This is the license plate number that Stephen canceled when the car was stolen. So, the New Haven police has billed us for a ticket we have not paid for a car he has never owned with a license plate he has actively gone downtown to cancel. Excellent work, dudes.
Theoretically he should be able to call, point out that the license plate has been canceled and then the ticket taken off the books. However, this is the US, Connecticut or New Haven (the exact focal point of the curse/stupidity remains to be located), and we've had a fabulously irritating, if entertaining track record with cars here. Like the DMV refusing to register Stephen's new Ford because he had not renewed his insurance on the Honda, because one branch of the DMV is incapable of seeing what another branch has on file on their central computer. Of course, this is the NH Police dept. and they might actually be capable of finding their asses with both hands and a map. They were pretty helpful when the car was stolen, although they did neglect to tell us we had to actively cancel our car with Geico (calling and saying my car has been stolen, what now was apparently not a helpful hint for them) and the DMV...
Meanwhile my lumpectomy scar is healing fabulously. I had the operation two weeks ago on Friday, and it's not itching or anything. However, I've been down with a summer sinus cold thingy since Monday afternoon. I did work in the yarn store on Tuesday (knit and watched Lost, with only two people coming in, including the mail man, who did not call twice), and I went to my first cake decoration class that night, but then was pretty much incapacitated on Wednesday.
I've worked at the yarn store a lot (Thursday, Friday, Monday Tuesday) as the guy who normally works there went to North Carolina to find an apartment. He is moving at the end of the month. The store is also closing. Well, it has closed. Yesterday, in fact. The official term is "merging" with the mother store in Westville. However, for me this means it is closing as I can't easily get up to Westville without a car. It is sad. But on the other hand, maybe it is all good as I got 50% off yarn in the closing sale; have a ton of yarn at home; am leaning towards cross stitch again; and have a dissertation to work on. It does mean I will not be seeing the people regularly any more, which is super sad. One of the ladies and I will have knitting lunch dates on campus next year. It will all be good.
Last weekend we did make it to Boston on a day trip. We were both in a bit of a funk, but it was a great day anyway. We started with Harvard Square. Lovely, and we could even glimpse Harvard University through the tourists. We decided we could come back another, less tourist heavy time. Lunch at a lovely Vietnamese place. however Pho soup for lunch meant we could not thoroughly enjoy Tealuxe, a tea shop. Next time! We went to the fantastic Harvard Museum of Natural History. It is a truly great museum, and the best part is their collection of absolutely life like flowers made of glass. I kid thee not. They are one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life.
Then we headed to the Boston Museum of Science and their Imax. We saw an Imax show on the Antarctic, which was really interesting. For dinner we went to the oldest restaurant in the US, the Union Oyster House. We came at 4, so before dinner rush. Their clam chowder was out of this world! And we had raw oyesters and clams - yummy in the tummy! And root beer. We had such a craving...
After dinner we walked to the Boston Hay Market. We could live in Boston, but the amount of tourists is a bit disconcerting. But that is ok.
Next time we will come outside tourist season: walk around Harvard and Harvard Square, walk the Freedom Trail (a walking tour of historic landmarks in Boston, apparently focusing on the process of independence from Britain), and have tea at Tealuxe.
Other than that it's been quiet. We've seen a lot of Andy and Ellen who are moving to Japan. It is sad when so many of one's friends leave town, and Andy and Ellen are the first wave this year. straussmonster is next, and then Phillip and Kathleen. We really should manage to go to see Schreibergasse et al. as well as ej_in_nyc et. al. & Karine and Albert more often. We suck. We are also all of us very, very busy. Hopefully in after Europe... However, perhaps July 4th will see us in Pittsburgh. We were supposed to go for Memorial Day, but...
I think it is part of The Plan from the Administration: all your friends move away so you have to work on the dissertation not to die of boredom. On the bright side Jen is back in town this weekend (I need to clean the table for brunch...) and will move back in late fall.
Ok. Off to be semiproductive and drink myself sillier on tea.
Apparently the ticket is for a license plate which was stolen with the Honda Civic in the early fall of 2008. This is the license plate number that Stephen canceled when the car was stolen. So, the New Haven police has billed us for a ticket we have not paid for a car he has never owned with a license plate he has actively gone downtown to cancel. Excellent work, dudes.
Theoretically he should be able to call, point out that the license plate has been canceled and then the ticket taken off the books. However, this is the US, Connecticut or New Haven (the exact focal point of the curse/stupidity remains to be located), and we've had a fabulously irritating, if entertaining track record with cars here. Like the DMV refusing to register Stephen's new Ford because he had not renewed his insurance on the Honda, because one branch of the DMV is incapable of seeing what another branch has on file on their central computer. Of course, this is the NH Police dept. and they might actually be capable of finding their asses with both hands and a map. They were pretty helpful when the car was stolen, although they did neglect to tell us we had to actively cancel our car with Geico (calling and saying my car has been stolen, what now was apparently not a helpful hint for them) and the DMV...
Meanwhile my lumpectomy scar is healing fabulously. I had the operation two weeks ago on Friday, and it's not itching or anything. However, I've been down with a summer sinus cold thingy since Monday afternoon. I did work in the yarn store on Tuesday (knit and watched Lost, with only two people coming in, including the mail man, who did not call twice), and I went to my first cake decoration class that night, but then was pretty much incapacitated on Wednesday.
I've worked at the yarn store a lot (Thursday, Friday, Monday Tuesday) as the guy who normally works there went to North Carolina to find an apartment. He is moving at the end of the month. The store is also closing. Well, it has closed. Yesterday, in fact. The official term is "merging" with the mother store in Westville. However, for me this means it is closing as I can't easily get up to Westville without a car. It is sad. But on the other hand, maybe it is all good as I got 50% off yarn in the closing sale; have a ton of yarn at home; am leaning towards cross stitch again; and have a dissertation to work on. It does mean I will not be seeing the people regularly any more, which is super sad. One of the ladies and I will have knitting lunch dates on campus next year. It will all be good.
Last weekend we did make it to Boston on a day trip. We were both in a bit of a funk, but it was a great day anyway. We started with Harvard Square. Lovely, and we could even glimpse Harvard University through the tourists. We decided we could come back another, less tourist heavy time. Lunch at a lovely Vietnamese place. however Pho soup for lunch meant we could not thoroughly enjoy Tealuxe, a tea shop. Next time! We went to the fantastic Harvard Museum of Natural History. It is a truly great museum, and the best part is their collection of absolutely life like flowers made of glass. I kid thee not. They are one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life.
Then we headed to the Boston Museum of Science and their Imax. We saw an Imax show on the Antarctic, which was really interesting. For dinner we went to the oldest restaurant in the US, the Union Oyster House. We came at 4, so before dinner rush. Their clam chowder was out of this world! And we had raw oyesters and clams - yummy in the tummy! And root beer. We had such a craving...
After dinner we walked to the Boston Hay Market. We could live in Boston, but the amount of tourists is a bit disconcerting. But that is ok.
Next time we will come outside tourist season: walk around Harvard and Harvard Square, walk the Freedom Trail (a walking tour of historic landmarks in Boston, apparently focusing on the process of independence from Britain), and have tea at Tealuxe.
Other than that it's been quiet. We've seen a lot of Andy and Ellen who are moving to Japan. It is sad when so many of one's friends leave town, and Andy and Ellen are the first wave this year. straussmonster is next, and then Phillip and Kathleen. We really should manage to go to see Schreibergasse et al. as well as ej_in_nyc et. al. & Karine and Albert more often. We suck. We are also all of us very, very busy. Hopefully in after Europe... However, perhaps July 4th will see us in Pittsburgh. We were supposed to go for Memorial Day, but...
I think it is part of The Plan from the Administration: all your friends move away so you have to work on the dissertation not to die of boredom. On the bright side Jen is back in town this weekend (I need to clean the table for brunch...) and will move back in late fall.
Ok. Off to be semiproductive and drink myself sillier on tea.