Hmmmm, okay, so the second part of this trip. Perhaps I could condense some of this? Ya think? I try not to. *grins*

Regardless...

We got the car fixed up and all. Saturday I got to meet Charles' sister. That was cool. Of course, I felt like a complete ass. Hell, she was beautiful. Slender and all that shit. *rolls her eyes* It's really irritating when I meet the most important person in my friends' lives and find out that that person is gorgeous and sveldt. *sighs*

That doesn't really matter much tho...

We went to a Chinese buffet place. There was good food and it was all labeled, yay me. *grins* Since I am allergic to pork and don't eat fishy stuff, most of the Chinese menu is pretty much off-limits to me. HOWEVER, they had everything labeled and I was able to pick and choose as I so desired.

I do have one question... What in the fuck is it about thin people? My God, they can eat huge amounts of food and they gain maybe (super-ultra-massive imphasis on "maybe") gain one quarter of an ounce. Whereas I can LOOK at a picture of food from 30 years ago and gain 10 pounds. What the hell is up with that shit???

Shari was cool. I think she'd be a really great friend... if I needed another skinny friend to make me feel inferior simply because she's slender and I'm not... *grins*

Regardless... When they set the bill on the table, I took it. I figured I'd pay for lunch. No biggie. I had the money and I thought it would be a nice gesture. Shari looked at me like I'd grown a third eye. On my nose. She asked me what I was doing.

Now, this is the funny part. Here I am, this big, tall, fat woman, a year older than Shari (like that makes any difference) and suddenly I blush, feel about 12 years old and wonder what I did wrong.

I said I was gonna pay the bill. She asked me why. I said... "Well... um... because?" She said I shouldn't pay the bill, it was the man's job to do that. *blinks*

I just kinda stared at her. She must have thought I was like.... a cave dweller or something. I blinked again, pushed the check back and sorta sat there, embarrassed to hell and back. What is it? Do I just not have the intel or what? Did I commit some major faux pas? Am I really the biggest jerk this side of Texas?

I figured, I had the money, I had my wallet out... I could afford it. WHy not?

I looked at her. Man, I wouldn't have been surprised if Louis had seen a warm, bright-red glow coming from Arlington. I stuttered and kinda just slumped down a little, shrugging. I said something like... "Oh... Well... I'm not really good in social situations... I didn't mean to make some big mistake or anything..."

She just shrugged it off. I don't know if she really didn't care, or if she was trying to alleviate my own obvious embarrassment over having done something so.... well.... socially outrageous.

Charles, if I made some major blunder by paying for a couple meals... I'm sorry. I never meant to do that. I"m used to paying my own way. If I insulted you in any way by that... forgive me. There was no insult intended.

*shrugs*

Anyway... That kinda threw me. It really did. I mean... yeah, it's the "popular" thing for the man to pay, but I thought that was if you were dating. *shrugs* I guess it just goes to show that it's been a hella long time since I"ve been on a date. *smirks* A very, very, very long time.

Oooohhh... I just thought of something... what if Shari thought that Charles and I were actually... ya know... a couple?

*ponders that for a few*

*shrugs*

Anyway... She was cool. She's outspoken and knows exactly what she wants and what she feels she's entitled to. Dunno... maybe that goes with being height/weight proportionate. *chuckles* Maybe that's a Southern thing... Dunno. Maybe that's something that most women have... a sense of "this is who I am and if you don't like it you can go fuck yourself". *chuckles*

I like her.

And I like her attitude. I'm just not used to it.

Anyway... Saturday went off without too many problems. I got to meet Shari's pup. *laughs brightly* He was great. His name is D'Artagnon (sp) and his nickname is Pookie. *grins* He's a black, Pomeranian-esque dog. He's kinda small, but really big for a Pom, so Shari thinks there's something more than just Pom there. Regardless, he's black and has extremely long fur. ANd ya know what? He looks like he was tossed into the dryer. *grins* No lie. He looks like he was set on perma-fluff. *grins*

His hair was long and every single hair... every single one... stood on end. And he was so excited to see someone else. *grins* Anyone else. He probably would have been just as excited and friendly if I were a robot. But I petted him anyway, and loved the attention almost as much as he did. He did ease my loneseom-ness for Joey.

Saturday night, Charles and I watched a couple movies and talked about the trip and the supplies we still needed to get. We foolishly stopped at a place called something like Garden Circle or some such. I can't remember the name of the place, but we didn't notice that it was the grand, 50 hour, feeding frenzy sale of a lifetime.

*shakes her head* I lost my cool really, really quickly. I begged off and left the store. It was nasty.

I'm thinkin I might actually have some sort of panic-attack thing going on. I don't get panicky, or short of breath, but I damn sure get irritated. ANd not just a little irritated, but massively irritated. And I do mean massively. *grins wickedly*

Ya know the whole fog-horn voice thing? Magnify that by about 100 times. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. SO, instead of letting that side of me show... Hell, I didn't want to completely ruin any chances of fun for Charles... I just told him I had to get out of the store. I just couldn't handle it.

He was just so.... so damned nice about it. He didn't bitch or complain or look at me like I was some pansy-assed whimp, tho I sure felt like one.

Yeah, that's me... I make some stupid blunder like trying to pay for lunch, then I can't handle a little shopping. *shakes her head* I've been alone toooooooooooooooooooooooooo long.

*smirks*

So, as we left the store, THEN we both saw the sign stating that that particular weekend was the big, massive, come and get your best, 50 hour super sale. *chuckles* Charles said that if he'd seen the sign before hand, he never would have pulled off the freeway. *grins* I agree.

Sunday... Damn, now that was an adventure. We were planning on leaving late Sunday night/Monday morning for the drive from Dallas, Texas to Hattiesburg (Hattiesberg?) Mississippi. We had most of the things we'd need for the week-long camping trip. Charles had gotten a big tent (and man was that NICE) and all that stuff. We'd gotten the extra air mattress on Friday. But we still needed to get a few incidentals. AND a sleeping bag for me.

See... I carted my blanket half way across the country, cause I figured that would be enough for me. Hell, when it's 28 degrees outside, (I sleep with the window open) and I'm here, sleeping in the buff (you didn't see that) Just my blanket is enough to keep me warm... So, I figured that it would be more than enough.

Charles, in his infinite wisdom thought otherwise. He would have allowed me to just go with my blanket, but he did suggest, a few times, that I get a sleeping bag. So... I did. And damn-olla, I was really, really glad I did.

Regardless... We planned to get the sleeping bag and some food staples, ice, soda, bread, summer sausage, cheese, fruit... we planned to get all that at Wal Mart on Sunday. I was also thinking about getting an ankle brace. Hell, I know me. Me, trekking through the woods... My weak ankles... I figured it would be wise for me to have a brace of some sort.

So, we go through all the trouble of actually shopping *shudders* for the crap we needed. The sleeping bag, food stuffs, batteries, film (Charles took a hell of a lot of great pics. I only took a few... Maybe I can talk him into scanning some of the shots he got... if so, I'll post a few) travel size shampoo, bandaids, pain meds... ya know.. the little things.

Well, we wandered through the halls of Wal Mart. About ten minutes into it, I was done. Hell, I"d shopped all I wanted to. But was Charles done? Hell no. He wanted to be sure he didn't forget anything. *rolls her eyes* He's so logical about that kind of stuff. I"m all for the hit and miss style. Go in, grab everything I can think of as quickly as is humanly possible, and get the hell out.

Charles was more methodical. Looking at each section to be sure he didn't need something he'd completely spaced.

So, we get through shopping and we're standing in line for the check out. *shakes her head* The people in front of us took for-fucking-ever to get through their stuff. They had THREE full carts of stuff. One cart they wanted to pay for with cash. One cart they wanted to pay for with check and one cart they wanted to pay for with a bill of lading type thing. (I think it was WIC, I'm not sure)

So, the cashier, who was a reject from the "How To Spell 'NO'" school, checked all the stuff they'd perchased... but only THEN did the customer say that they needed to pay in three different ways. THUS, everything had to be taken off, item by item. It had to then be RE-rung through. And was this the end? NO!!! The cashier then started ringing things through again... and got all the way through the first two cart loads.

Then came the WIC stuff. *growls* The cashier didn't know how to process the WIC stuff. So she rang it all through, THEN discovered that she didn't know how to do it.

NOW, at this point, had I been the cashier, I would have looked at the people behind the current customers and stated that it was going to be a while longer and they might want to find another register. Actually, were truth to be told, as soon as I'd seen that there was a problem the first time, I"d have called for yet another cashier and suggested that the next customer in line go to that check out.

That didn't happen. Now, if you have never been in a "Super Wal Mart" there are something like 20 available check out stations. Possibly more. However, there were only like 6 open. Now, there were at least four people in line at EACH check out. That would indicate to me that Wal Mart needs to hire more cashiers. That would also indicate to me that if there were a problem at one check out station, the cashier SHOULD have the foresight to alert the next customer in line that there was a problem.

Anyway... after the second cartload had been checked, I would have looked back to the next customer and stated that this might take a while and they might find faster service in another line. After I'd had to re-ring (I wouldn't have had to) the merchandise, I would have CALLED for another checker, specifically for MY customers. Thirdly, my next move... when I"d gone through having to check ALL THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE a third time, I would have looked to my next customers and stated that I was about to go postal on certain customers and they might want to get out of the blast zone.

ANd that was NOT the end of the situation... After the cashier had rung the WIC stuff through a second time... and again... WRONG, she FINALLY called the manager over for assistance. That really ticked me off. Because even the manage was having difficulty. The next step was that all the WIC merchandise had to be un-rung AGAIN and rung in, written down and checked, item by item.

As you might have guessed, by this time, both Charles and I were extremely steamed. He'd been standing in line for a full half hour. I had left, gone to another line, purchased a bottle of water, three packs of smokes (yes, the addiction caught me up again... sue me), waited in line for three people to go ahead of me, made my final purchase and walked back over to the check out where Charles was and they JUST THEN had called the manager over.

First off... if that specific customer is reading this... I mean this in the absolutely most polite and gentle way possible... The next, fucking, damned time you have to purchase something... if you are in line ahead of me... You had better the fuck have all your documents, payment methods and paperwork inline and straight BEFORE a single thing is checked through. If you find that you're dealing with a grade-school drop-out for a cashier, then you make damned sure she calls the manager over FIRST. AND, you have the common descency to tell the customers behind you that this checking out thing is going to take a long time and they might be more satisfied at another check out line.

If you don't do those things, and I have to wait for you, I WILL go postal on your ass. AND, I now have a dagger, a knife and a sword. I will not hesitate to use any and all of my weapons. I guaran-damn-tee you that if you ever keep Charles and myself waiting like that again, you will find yourself unable to breathe really, really, really, really quickly.

*bats her eyelashes*

NOW, after having shopped for about 45 minutes and waited in line for nearly 30 or so... and after I had already gone and purchased my things and was waiting for Charles, I looked at him, saw the expression on his face and nodded as he glared first at the cashier, then at the slow-ass-hill-billy-wannabes before him and stormed out of Wal Mart. Fuck that shit. I didn't blame him for even half a second. We walked out.

No fucking way in hell do either of us have to sit there and wait for Mr and Mrs Po-dunk to go through their bi-monthly shopping list with an insanely incompitant (sp) cashier!!!

SO, instead of just calling it a day, Charles and I decide we really do need the stuff for the camping trip. We go to ANOTHER super Wal Mart. *shakes her head* I don't think I will EVER go back to another Dallas area Wal Mart for as long as I live.

At the second one, we made it through the store, gathering together all the things we had at the first store within 20 minutes. We'd gone through all the stuff and didn't have to think about any of it. We just grabbed and stashed.

Well... we get through check out. ANd yeah, it takes a while, but nowhere near as bad as the first one... We get through everything... our stuff is checked and bagged. ANd lo-and-behold, Charles slips the card through the little reader machine... Dun Dun Dun... it's dead.

We look at the cashier... WTF? She looks at us with a slack-jawed "Duh... what year is it" expression. Charles asks what's wrong with the machine. She says she doesn't know. So, Charles runs the card again... Dead.

Not a negative balance, not a problem reading the card, but dead. THe machine is completely and utterly dead. Charles, already irritated by the damn near hour and a half we spent in the previous Super Wal Mart, nearly growled. He didn't, but he almost growled... Again he tried to run the card... nuthin.

So, he asked the girl what the problem was. She shrugged and called the manager over. NOW, this is rich... the manager... was about 12. OKay, so maybe the manager was actually 20, but I highly doubt it. It looked a hell of a lot like this was just a weekend gig. The manager said that she didn't know what the problem was and that it seemed the machines were down.

Charles asked... quite adroitly... "Well then, how am I supposed to make this work?" (I don't remember his exact words, but that was the gist)

The manager didn't even have the common courtesy to speak to either Charles or myself. She simply shrugged and told the cashier that he'd (refering to Charles) have to use the ATM.

Again I could have sworn Charles growled. I don't think he did... but he could have.

It was then that he simply turned and straight armed the door. For just a moment, he thought he might have broken it. But he didn't. We left then... well, okay, so that was obvious... bear with me.

All tolled... we spent nearly two and a half hours going through Super Wal Marts in order to attain camping supplies for the trip we were about to embark upon. *shakes her head* Charles looked at me one we were in the car and we were on the way back to the apartment... He said there were Wal Marts in Jackson and we'd get our stuff there!

*smirks*

Again... I have absolutely NO intention of EVER going back to another Super Wal Mart in Dallas.

Monday afternoon we DID get to a Super Wal Mart in Jackson. We went in, got the stuff, checked out with no problems whatsoever and had it all done and packed away in the car within half an hour. Amazing what happens when you have someone who is competant behind the register, eh?

Regardless... Sunday evening was spent making sure that both of us were packed and ready to go. We packed the car... or rather, Charles STARTED to pack the car, when all of the sudden the flood gates opened. No lie. I've only seen rain like that once before. ANd that was when I was in Trinidad.

It was like someone had just slashed a hole in the floor of a suspended swimming pool. But ya know what? Even the water in the ravine was BROWN!!! That's how brown Texas is. Even the water is brown. *grins, winking*

Anyway... CHarles put up with the rain even tho he hates it and packed the car up. I spent most of that night trying to stay out of the way. I watched KnightRiders and washed dishes and cleaned the counters so that we'd come back to a fairly clean apartment. (Yes, I hate cleaning, but I do it once in a while... so sue me)

I did all that email checking and sending a few brief notes out to those people who would be most worried about me... My Mom and Russell then it was about 4am Monday Morning. Deadline.

So, since most of the nasty-ass rain had abated, we climbed into the car and took off. We got the tail end of that nasty-ass storm almost all the way to Louisianna. And, since it was rather dark, I didn't get to see much of East Texas. Of course... I was kinda still a little miffed at the weanies at Wal Mart. Imagine their audacity... to fuck with Charles like that. How dare they.

I should write a letter to Wal Mart and complain. Vociferously. With great Verbocity. Something I tend to do rather well. *grins*

Or, maybe I should just let by gones be by gones since I won't have to worry bout it till next year. *shrugs*

Doesn't matter one way or the other.

SOOOOOOOOO

For the story of the drive, you're going to have to wait til my next post... which probably won't be that far off. I have to let Joey out, then I have to actually get him something to munch. THEN, I'm gonna post this little segment and settle in to do a few things online. I might post another segment later tonight. I just don't know. Keep your eyes trained upon the .........

Oh hell... just come back a lot. I want more hits. *grins*

I've been doing this for over a year now and I don't have enough hits. I wanna be popular like Uncle Bob. *grins*

Okay, so that's not exactly true. Still and all... I'll be back soon.

Love and all to you and yours, my dear, dear, dear friends.