Friday was a Day of Glory for MarathonChick and me. We decided to try the newly opened Peet’s Coffee to see if it was as good or better than our usual favourite, Uptown.

The shop itself is lovely with lots of dark woods and even some outdoor seating for enjoying the perfect California weather. The coffee? Well, it was good, but not spectacular. I would say it’s better than Sbux, but in no way, shape or form is it anywhere near as good as Uptown! Just my opinion. *shrug*

This weekend is the SLO Plein Air Art Festival, so there are artists scattered all around town painting, sketching and generally being creative and artistic. As MarathonChick and I were heading back with our coffees, I noticed this woman painting the Fremont Theater, and thought it would make a really nice photograph. I really wanted to get a shot of the her actually painting the picture, but just as I approached her, another woman started talking to her, so the above photograph was the best I could do.

Friday evening as mom and I were on the edges of our seats watching the season finale of Doctor Who (which, by the way, have I declared my undying love for this series yet? i haven’t? well, i love it. i love it with a passionate passion! they’ve done such a fantastic job bringing this series back to life, i can’t even accurately put into words how wonderful it is, but it is wonderful.), a stream of four fire engines, a couple ambulances and numerous police cars screamed by. I peeked outside to make sure the neighbourhood wasn’t on fire, but couldn’t see anything. It was strange, as this is usually a quiet part of town, but we would have to wait until the next day to find out what it was all about.

Saturday was Plumbing Day. The faucet in the kitchen has been leaking around the base and under the sink, and spraying water out of microscopic pinholes for a few months now. I’ve been putting off fixing it, because I dread the thought of doing it, but it has to be done, and this was the weekend to get it done. So, after mom and I had our coffee (Sinful Delight from Door County Coffee) and some bagels with Bea’s Ho-Made Apple butter for breakfast, I crawled under the sink and unscrewed the old faucet. It actually wasn’t too hard, but some of the screws were corroded, and, boy! did I wish I had an actual basin wrench! It would’ve made the job SO much easier!

Anyway, once the old faucet was removed, we headed out to Miner’s to pick up a new one. All the faucets they had included a sprayer, which we don’t have and don’t want. The guy who was helping us assured us the sprayer was optional, and we didn’t have to use it. So, we bought a nice-looking Moen faucet, and headed home to install it. Installation took about 45 minutes, most of which was spent trying to interpret the impossible-to-read-or-understand instructions. Once I had it installed, I had my doubts: the middle pipe, which was supposed to be for the sprayer, was just … hanging there … like a metal penis … and I couldn’t figure out how I was supposed to keep the water from just running out of it. (which, by the way, is exactly what happened as soon as i tried the faucet) I went to the Moen website to see if they had better diagrams or instructions. They didn’t. So, I called the toll-free number and spoke to a very nice young man who told me I needed a “1/4-18 pipe plug”, and that I could just run down to Home Depot and pick one up. Excellent! However, when we told the guy at Home Depot what we needed, not only was he confused about what it was, but once he figured it out, he told me the size I was told to get would probably not fit the pipe I have, and perhaps this slightly larger one would work better?

*sigh* 

We ended up buying two pipe caps (caps not plugs) and headed home. The smaller cap the Moen guy told me to get was, in fact, too small, but the one the Home Depot guy suggested fit perfectly. The problem was, I just couldn’t get the damn thing tight enough to keep the water from leaking out, so we decided tojust return the Moen faucet to Miner’s, then go back to Home Depot and get another new faucet; one that was specifically designed for our purposes which do not, and never will, include a sprayer.

The guy at Miner’s who helped us originally was a bit peeved that we were returning it. He told us we just needed to put on the plug (cap, whatever), then proceded to rummage through the box looking for the part, which, apparently wasn’t included. I’m sure if it had been, we would’ve figured out what it was used for, and tried it. Perhaps a plug/cap that came with the faucet would fit better than one we just pick up off the rack (so to speak). Anyway, he told us that he would put a plug/cap on and guarantee it wouldn’t leak, but by then I was just over it. I was over this faucet, over Miner’s, over everything. We insisted on a refund and got it, while the guy went off in a huff. I felt kinda bad, but I really just had to walk away from this whole thing to protect my own sanity. Hopefully the Miner’s guy will understand.

After getting our refund, we headed back to Home Depot and picked up a nice, simple Delta faucet that didn’t have a single unnecessary thing to it, took it home, and installed it in about a half hour. I’m very pleased to say it works perfectly!

Later that evening, we were looking through the paper, and found out what all the sirens, fire engines and police cars were all about: a man was hit and killed by a train. Sad, so sad. I don’t really understand how this could happen, unless the guy was really drunk, or passed out, or something. I just don’t get it.

Also, since the weatherman said it might freeze tonight, mom and I went out and harvested a bunch of little zucchini, some good-sized red and green bell peppers, and some tomatoes.

Today is Sunday, a day of rest. I slept in, fixed a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs (REAL eggs, mind, not the Egg Beaters!), turkey bacon and English muffins, and made some yummy coffee (Peerless Vanilla Hazelnut). I’ve been trying to update my journal, and get all my pictures from last weekend organized and resized, and print out a few of the better ones to post on the Art Wall. Then I’m going to take a nap. Tonight the Packers play the Bears at Lambeau, and tomorrow I have off for Columbus Day.

Update complete! Cheers!