05/01/2005: "Clout"

Huh, I didn't realize that I hadn't posted in so long. So I actually did get better and don't have the whooping cough after all, though I wasn't really entirely back to normal until Friday. Anyway this weekend was my niece Emily's birthday so the whole family (Lynnea and I and my parents and grandma, plus my sister Sarah flew up for the weekend) headed up to Eugene on Friday to spend the weekend up there. Which was fun until we went over to Florence on Saturday and while we were wandering around on the beach somebody smashed in my dad's car window and stole Sarah's bag which had her journal and badge and some money and a bunch of other stuff in it. Which was just incredibly weak and lousy. And my laptop was in the car too but they didn't take it for some reason that I can't really fathom (they'd obviously looked in the bag). Which is a really good thing considering that it's basically irreplaceable (I mean, technically it's replaceable, but it'll be a really long time before I have that much spare cash on hand). But yeah, criminals like that just really suck. I mean they got away with maybe $100 but managed to ruin our entire day. I guess there's always the consolation that they'll most likely spend the money on meth, which is very bad for them, but seriously... meh. (On a side note why is this type of crime referred to as "car clout"...? it's not as though that meaning of the word "clout" is used anywhere else in the entirity of the english language... "Mom! Billy's clouting me!" just sounds a little weird, no?)

But anyway, other than the thoroughly unpleasant and unnecessary spectre of crime looming over the weekend, I guess it wasn't a bad trip. We got to go by Borders and Trader Joe's today on the way out of town and Borders happily had the matching edition of The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman. I read The Golden Compass a couple weeks ago and I've been looking for the second one in trade (I already have the third) since then. Children's book or no (and I do enjoy children's books from time to time) that's a seriously good read. A vertible page-turner if you will. But anyway it was a short trip but it's always nice getting back home. So I think for now I'm going to just sit here and Be Home for a little while.