UMTravels

The saga of the Rose Gold Cross continues, sort of. The story, the cross below:

I purchased from LeoStarFuckerSunshine a year or two ago for $60+/- with shipping. Last spring I left it with my friend and jeweler Margo on consignment with the understanding that it would bring $160-170 once it sold. In the meantime, early this fall I found a buyer for it at the bargain basement price of $100 because it was to be a Christmas present for his sister, who I know, and who I know is a devout Catholic and would really like the cross (hence the cheaper price). Who knows what the value is today with the price of gold having gone up in the last six months, but it was really more about finding it a good home that wasn’t the smelter. It had that look of a cross that was worn every day for a lifetime.

And then it couldn’t be found. I’ve been hounding Margo for three months to get the cross back. She couldn’t find it, which I think worried her as much as it annoyed me. I stopped in yesterday at the shop in Berkeley (what the hell, I’m in town), and no cross. Missing somewhere inside the shop.

This afternoon I called, she stayed until 8pm last night searching through the shop with no luck. I swung by on the way to the airport and picked up a $160 check for it. As I said to her — I’d be happy to sent the check back (or buy it back) if it surfaces so I’ll hold the check for a week and pray.

The swing by the shop and Friday traffic in the Bay Area made me a little panicky about getting to the airport. Got there almost exactly on the hour mark, and those of you who know me know that I’m a two-hour kinda guy. Luckily, it’s Oakland and the security lines are like six people long. I even had time for a little beef and broccoli from the Chinese place (no rice or noodles).

Season greeting picture number three:

Yes, Santa is in coach. It’s a Friday night. Lots of big mileage fliers. There was one person in front of me on the upgrade list and a dozen behind me. Amazingly the seat next to me was empty, which is wasn’t on the website earlier in the day. Flight was packed, maybe three seats open.

Finally got home a little after nine with a stop drive through for a bacon cheeseburger. Not on the diet, but I didn’t order the fries so it’s just the buns that aren’t really on the diet and there haven’t been much in the way of carbs the last couple of days. But, of course, the scale will tell the truth in the morning.

In the living room on my return were ALL the martini glasses that I helped blow last summer, all marked with which session they were from, what their photo number was, and either 1^st quality, 2^nd with minor imperfections, and true 2nds. The firsts are ballparking at $60 for the short martini glasses (no real stem) and $100 for the single and double sizes with stems. No clue on what the pricing will be on the 2nds, and you know how much I like seconds.

Time will tell. Back to the work grind tomorrow.

[? ? ?]