(11) Downtown Indianapolis treats, and a visit with Uncle Bill...

Hey folks! It's another weekend, and another bunch of exciting escapades.

Friday: After work Amber and I stopped by Arby's for a low-budget dinner, using some coupons I had gotten in the mail. Even better was that the young fella running the cash register had gotten confused over the coupons, and forgot to charge us for one of our milkshakes, so we got that on the house. We both ate a nice dinner for just over 7 bucks total. Leaving Arby's, I noticed that the new Goodwill store they had been building next door was finally open for business. We stepped in to see if we could find any hidden treasures, but we didn't. We went on to Kroger to do my weekly grocery shopping. The evening was finished off with a movie on the big screen, which was the flick '14:08'. Its a pretty creepy film.

Saturday: Today started off with a trip into Shelbyville to check on Amber's mother's kitty cat. Amber restocked the food and water bowls and we entertained him for about a half hour. I decided we'd stop by and visit Grandma Cole while we were in town. We visited for about an hour, and I gave her a box of 'Thin Mint' Girl Scout cookies that I had brought from home. We decided to go out for a late lunch at the Chicken Inn. I had a full plate with 3 chicken breasts, mashed potatoes & gravy, and green beans. It was a belly buster. We headed back to grandma's to relax for a bit and let the food settle in our bellies. I had read online earlier that the Indiana Ice hockey team was having their annual 'Pack the House' game at Conseco Fieldhouse tonight, so I called up my dad and little brother to ask them if they'd like to go. They were all for it, so we had to get moving, as it was approaching 6pm, and the game started at 7:30. Grandma had asked if I could hook up a new TV for her, so I got that done in a flash right before we left to pick up my dad, CW, and Ryan (my step-sister's husband).

It turned into a boys night out at the hockey game, but Amber didn't mind tagging along. We all piled into the Subaru and headed north for Conseco Fieldhouse. It took a little driving around to find a parking garage with vacancies, but we finally managed to find a place to park to the tune of $10, but it was only about a block and a half from the fieldhouse. We scurried to Conseco, and I walked straight up to the ticket counter to purchase the tickets. Unfortunately, the only seats available were in the balcony, which is about as high as you can get. We made our way to our seats and the game had just began. It was quite a thrilling game, but the Ice lost 2-1 to the Cedar Rapids 'Rough Riders' from Iowa. The game was over around 9:30, and we dropped the guys back off at Dad's house. Amber and I decided to stop by Walmart on the way home to pick up a couple things left on the shopping list, and I wanted to look for a movie called 'Zack and Miri' that was highly recommended by Bob and Tom on a radio show during my morning commute. We made it home and watched the movie, and it was a flop. Oh well.

Sunday: I had gotten a couple free tickets to the Indiana Home and Garden show at the Indiana Convention Center being held this weekend. I checked online to see what they had to offer, and noticed that they had garage organization products. I've been eyeing different options for my garage and thought this might be a good opportunity to see what is available, and see it in person. We drove up to downtown Indianapolis again, and had a much better time finding a garage to park in, although it was still $10 for event parking. We make a brisk walk across the street to the convention center, and hunt down the Home and Garden Show in the maze of hallways and conference rooms. We finally get to the show, and make a trip down all the isles checking out the different vendors. There was a whole slew of vendors selling windows, patios, decks, sheds, gutter guards, water softeners, humidifiers, and more. Hell, we even saw the ShamWow demonstration again. What we couldn't find, however, was a single booth that had anything to do with garages. No overhead door companies, no shelving companies, no floor sealers, or cabinets. I was a little perturbed after walking through the whole show, not finding a single thing I was looking for.

We decided to skip that joint and take the skywalk to the Circle Center Mall. We perused the mall a bit, and stopped by Johnny Rockets for a burger and fries 50's style. My mind drifted on to thinking about how I miss the warm weather in Florida and the water and the fish. I guess I can blame this on Grandpa Lahrman, who had just sent me a couple envelopes in the mail with pictures from our vacation in Florida. I got to remembering my old aquarium I had back in the day, and kinda thought I'd like to get another aquarium going. They are so colorful and lively, and a great way to bring a little of Florida to my home. So, we decided we've had enough of downtown Indianapolis for one weekend, and headed south to Greenwood to visit a place called 'Uncle Bill's Pet Center'. I've been in there a few times before checking out big aquariums, and they seemed to have some pretty nice deals. We walked around the store a bit, scoping out the many varieties of aquariums. I came across a special they were having on a 75 gallon aquarium, with a lighted hood and cabinet stand for $399. It seemed to be quite a deal, and was about perfect size for my living room. We got everything loaded into the Subaru and headed home. Everything was pretty much preassembled, which was nice. Amber helped me stack the pieces together, and clean up the glass. I did some more online shopping at PetCo for a filtration system, aeration system, cleaning supplies, rock, and plants. PetCo was having a good sale as well, up to 40% off. The filtration system I chose was $229 at Bill's, but I snagged it up for $169 at PetCo. All the fixins for my 'paradise' shrine came to $370. Its a bet of a blow to the wallet, but this tank will not only look great, but it will damn near take care of itself. That is the biggest selling point for me, as my terrible memory and busy schedule is a sure formula for dead fish. So I won't have to tend to it much more than tossing in some food. I also wanted to make sure that everything was compatible with both fresh and salt water applications, in case I want to change things up down the road for some more exotic salt-water fish. Maybe some sheephead, snook, or mullet! Ha! Anyhow, it'll take a bit of time before its a standalone work of art. For now, we'll wait on our shipment from PetCo.

Until next time...