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I love getting mail (real mail, that is), few things more fun than walking to the mailbox and pulling out a big wad of envelopes. Though there is the flipside of getting back to the house and finding that it’s all charity pleadings and catalogues. But this week I am expecting:

• A ‘welcome pack’ from ING who last week took over my NetBank accounts after they went bust. As of last Friday NetBank truly ceased to exist so the money I have there is currently wholly unavailable to me until ING get my account details to me. [Received!]
• My driving licence from the DMV. It expires this Friday on my birthday and the new one is not here yet. They took my money a couple of months ago and the renewal website says my licence has already been renewed so I assume it is coming this week.
• Six – count ‘em, six – parcels from Amazon.com. It’s only three orders but one has been split into three shipments, another into two. I think they will all arrive same day. I can’t say what is in them in case Teri is reading. [Received 5!]
• A returned cheque from my local bank that they denied because it was made out to my business rather than me, been waiting for that a month now. I need it so I can a new cheque in my name – and its for $750! [Received a letter but not the cheque grrrr.]
• Maybe I will get the final cheque from the buy out of my previous employer, supposed to have been settled at the end of November. The amount has been in dispute but it’s either $300 or $1200, either is good.

Hopefully they will arrive as expected.

My regular weekly pattern involves going to Von’s on the evening of my first day back in San Diego to buy items for lunch and dinner for the rest of the week. I almost always want a bottle of Sierra Mist Free, and occasionally I need a 12-pack of Diet Coke. My needs for the week are quite modest so I take a basket around the store rather than a trolley.

For the last few weeks, my soda items have become quite expensive when purchased singly. But if I want to “buy 3, get 2 free” then it’s a steal. But I don’t want to carry 5 bottles of Sierra Mist or 4 12-packs of Coke around the store with me. Yes, I could drop everything and go get a trolley but I don’t need one for my 10 items (or less), and I don’t want all that in my fridge.

It’s very annoying.

Oh, a Friday video…. I love this version of Cameo’s Word up by Willis. You can buy it on the iTMS, but here’s the only video clip I could find, from the episode of CSI that first turned me on to it.

• Just back from the ER having another abscess drained and removed. This one was right on the back of my bum and had become very painful so I decided I couldn’t wait for my doctor appointment on Tuesday. The guy today was very good – gave me a good shot of morphine in advance (head so buzzing right now) – and I didn’t feel anything like the discomfort of the last one. Got some new, improved, antibiotics and we’ll see if I can resist becoming Boil Boy.
• Last night was the Sony Christmas party at Petco Park. Sony knows how to throw a corporate bash, thats for sure. Plenty of free booze (domestic beers though, ugh), different food stations (burgers, sushi, tempura, and so on), and a great gift giveaway (which I swear was rigged as I hadn’t heard of any of the winners, but I wish I had won the 56″ Bravia TV).
• Had planned to go see the dead sea scrolls today but I decided that I really needed some more quality ER time so we came back early from San Diego. Waiting for me in the mail was a letter from the INS – my oath swearing ceremony is Dec 14th. So I will turn both 42 and American on the same day. Bummer is that we have a hotel booked in Sedona for that weekend so we’ll have to make a much later start that originally planned.