Lenophis
01-24-2004, 09:08 AM
I have returned from Texas! While the visit itself turn out to be pretty uneventful, that doesn't mean the juicy trip itself isn't worth a story. So here goes:
Christmas night. My mom finally arrives, two days late. She blames the van with poor gas mileage. I'm thinking to myself "uh huh..." I bring the VCR, PS, SNES, every PS and SNES game, and a few movies. She's wondering "why are you bringing the TV, the computer, and the stereo." (She's been trying since October to get me to move down there. I told her no then, and I told her again.) I could sense the depression and the "oh why not?!" and whatever, let's go. Off we go, southbound towards Amarillo. We get to about 5 miles from the MN/Iowa border, still in MN, need gas. Guess what, she has $0 on her. Her husband can't do anything until the next day when it comes to money. Guess who fills up the tank? Me, $25 of the $50 I brought, gone for gas. <img src=smilies/angryfire.gif> This emote pretty much explains how I'm feeling at that point. Back on the road, travel south for about another hour. It's about 1 am, and we pull into a truck stop. Nighty night. Van is on accessory, so the heat is running. Speed up to 9 am, I wake up first after four hours of sleep, she fell asleep first. I look at the gas gauge, half empty. Get back on the road, traffic is at a snail crawl. Turns out a semi rolled over during the wee hours of the morning. The truck itself was gone, fell over, the trailer was turned on its' right side with all of the cargo on the road and in the ditch. She guesses us sleeping was the best thing that happened because the accident had to have occured sometime just after 2.
But, I was irritated. I had nothing to listen to, and I can't stand country. I said, "we've got to get to Wal Mart." Time passes, just outside of Des Moines, we pull into a truck stop, her husband wired some money. I think it was about $150. I get $25 back for the gas tank. Whee, back up to $50! <img src=smilies/thumb.gif> We pass through Iowa, plain as plain can get. I'm going crazy because I have nothing to listen to.
We get to Kansas City. And, there's a Wal Mart! I dive in, head to electronics, find a CD player. There's one that's a CD player and has an AM/FM tuner. $25. I bought it with little hesitation. We get out of the store, and get to a payphone. My mom calls hubby to "put the giblets in." I check, low and behold, no receipt. K, just hope for the best. Turns out, the player randomly decides to play a CD or not. (I only have burned CD's, so at the time, that's what I was hoping was the problem. More on that later.) So with my half assed failure, (which I've yet to figure out why it didn't finish) plus 8 other CD's will be my entertainment for the remainder of this trip. Everthing's hunky, then I see a billboard. "Accept the Lord as your savior and you shall be saved... or REGRET IT FOREVER!" I could only laugh...
To the residents of Oklahoma City, you should consider getting the construction crews out to fix the roads. Even with brand new suspension you'd feel the roughness of the pavement. Now that we're finally done with I-35, we head west. I saw another billboad. This one was a company slogan, but I forgot the company name. "We buy ugly houses." (They fix em up, rundown as they may be.) The winds had picked up. A report on the radio had said "gusts up to 40 mph." I can assure you it more like 60 not 40. The wind was blowing us around. But that's not the scary part. The really scary part is when we are coming up on two semi's dancing on the road because of the wind. Neither tipped, but came really close a few times. We get through it, and arrive at our destination at about midnight Friday (night after Christmas).
Let the battle begin. Her hubby did not put the giblets in and cook them, from advise from a friend of his. My mom unloaded, and Saturday, we cooked the turkey. It was also interrogation time. Why the silence for two days, and where did $400 go? She left Amarillo with $400, and arrived in Duluth with $0. It's $200 for gas one way, so guess what happened. Kansas City, casino time! Then she turned defensive and tried to win the argument with empty claims. She outright refused to help, got in one of those moods, and practically locked herself into a corner. So I do what is practical, I get on the phone with my grandma and we find out how to cook this bird. The turkey turned out excellent, and my mom somehow got out of that mood.
From here on out, not much happens. On Monday or Tuesday (I forget which day), they need to work. (Driving semi's) It's pretty boring from here. My sister comes over with her two kids, her boyfriend, and one of his friends. We play dominoe's. After they leave, I realize that my wallet is missing. In it were $20, calling card, the atm card my mom left for me, the pin number for it, and the numbers I should know. My sister has a history of stealing, pretty big one too. But, maybe, just maybe, she didn't take it. I slept it off, and at 8 am she knocks on the door and is like "you dropped this." I stood dumbfounded. I immediately hugged her and thanked her, and then she left. Next couple of days, boring. Mom and hubby return, they smell gas. It's 4 am, they wake me up. They call the gas company, and the company sends a guy over. They had to get back on the road, so I was left to stay up and wait for the gas guy. He shows up, and runs a carbon monoxide test. Damn thing was red lined. I was "lucky to be alive." Well at least if the carbon monoxide did kill me I wouldn't have felt it, or known it. He then checks the hot water heater, the furnace, and the fireplace, no leaks. But, the furnace needed to be cleaned. Not burning the gas efficiently. Plus the furnace filter door was open, which is supposed to be closed at all times. It turns out that door being open is the reason for the gas smell and the unrealized near death experience. Couple more days pass. Cable guy comes by to check one of the RF cable's to see if it works. No go, after some inspection, it turns out that there's cable cut on the neighbor's side of the fence. Can't do anything to fix that particular RF cable. Cable guy leaves. The next week and a half involved absolutely nothing. Fast forward to last Saturday. My mom said that they'll be back Wednesday to take me home. Wednesday rolls around, I spend the remainder of my quarters to call them. No signal. Over the course of 3 days I wasted $3 in quarters because of that no signal bullshit. (It went straight to the voicemail and the payphone considered the call went through, so no refund.) Oh, something I forgot to mention. Their phone had not yet been turned on. They are waiting on AT&T and still are to this day.
I have about 25 minutes left on the calling card, and call my grandma. Thursday was the last straw. I called my mom's dispatcher, they've been sent on I-80 back west to Sacramento (again,) while I'm dangling in Amarillo with nothing to do and practically no money to my name. I think decided that if I was to get home, I need to hop on a bus. My grandma then wires me $250, I hop a taxi, and the next 27 hours would be spent on a Greyhound bus or Greyhound terminal station. From Oklahoma City to Minneapolis, there was this cute girl I saw. But, classical me, doesn't say a damn word. It would be on the bus trip that I discovered that my half assed CD player will not play ANY CD, burned or store bought. So I'm gonna open it up and see if I can fix it. 9:30 pm, Friday night. I arrive in Duluth, hop a cab, and at 10:30, home at last. <img src=smilies/sleep.gif>
Here's what I know about:
RIP Earl Hindman (Better known as Wilson Wilson on Home Improvement. He died of lung cancer at age 61.)
Pete Rose: What a shocker! I never knew that!
State of the Union address:
Bush: "We must do what is neccessary to lessen our dependancies on foreign fuels." He's the last person I'd ever expect to say that.
Democratic response: "The Democrats will balance the budget." You know what, screw both parties. Both only want absolute control. Get them out.
It's been a month, what did I miss?
<P ID="signature"><img src=http://www.geocities.com/abgh21/drunk.txt>
Is there something I'm missing out on?
Download FF2 Edit first beta. (http://gavin.dragoneyestudios.net/downloads/FF2_Edit.rar)</P>
Christmas night. My mom finally arrives, two days late. She blames the van with poor gas mileage. I'm thinking to myself "uh huh..." I bring the VCR, PS, SNES, every PS and SNES game, and a few movies. She's wondering "why are you bringing the TV, the computer, and the stereo." (She's been trying since October to get me to move down there. I told her no then, and I told her again.) I could sense the depression and the "oh why not?!" and whatever, let's go. Off we go, southbound towards Amarillo. We get to about 5 miles from the MN/Iowa border, still in MN, need gas. Guess what, she has $0 on her. Her husband can't do anything until the next day when it comes to money. Guess who fills up the tank? Me, $25 of the $50 I brought, gone for gas. <img src=smilies/angryfire.gif> This emote pretty much explains how I'm feeling at that point. Back on the road, travel south for about another hour. It's about 1 am, and we pull into a truck stop. Nighty night. Van is on accessory, so the heat is running. Speed up to 9 am, I wake up first after four hours of sleep, she fell asleep first. I look at the gas gauge, half empty. Get back on the road, traffic is at a snail crawl. Turns out a semi rolled over during the wee hours of the morning. The truck itself was gone, fell over, the trailer was turned on its' right side with all of the cargo on the road and in the ditch. She guesses us sleeping was the best thing that happened because the accident had to have occured sometime just after 2.
But, I was irritated. I had nothing to listen to, and I can't stand country. I said, "we've got to get to Wal Mart." Time passes, just outside of Des Moines, we pull into a truck stop, her husband wired some money. I think it was about $150. I get $25 back for the gas tank. Whee, back up to $50! <img src=smilies/thumb.gif> We pass through Iowa, plain as plain can get. I'm going crazy because I have nothing to listen to.
We get to Kansas City. And, there's a Wal Mart! I dive in, head to electronics, find a CD player. There's one that's a CD player and has an AM/FM tuner. $25. I bought it with little hesitation. We get out of the store, and get to a payphone. My mom calls hubby to "put the giblets in." I check, low and behold, no receipt. K, just hope for the best. Turns out, the player randomly decides to play a CD or not. (I only have burned CD's, so at the time, that's what I was hoping was the problem. More on that later.) So with my half assed failure, (which I've yet to figure out why it didn't finish) plus 8 other CD's will be my entertainment for the remainder of this trip. Everthing's hunky, then I see a billboard. "Accept the Lord as your savior and you shall be saved... or REGRET IT FOREVER!" I could only laugh...
To the residents of Oklahoma City, you should consider getting the construction crews out to fix the roads. Even with brand new suspension you'd feel the roughness of the pavement. Now that we're finally done with I-35, we head west. I saw another billboad. This one was a company slogan, but I forgot the company name. "We buy ugly houses." (They fix em up, rundown as they may be.) The winds had picked up. A report on the radio had said "gusts up to 40 mph." I can assure you it more like 60 not 40. The wind was blowing us around. But that's not the scary part. The really scary part is when we are coming up on two semi's dancing on the road because of the wind. Neither tipped, but came really close a few times. We get through it, and arrive at our destination at about midnight Friday (night after Christmas).
Let the battle begin. Her hubby did not put the giblets in and cook them, from advise from a friend of his. My mom unloaded, and Saturday, we cooked the turkey. It was also interrogation time. Why the silence for two days, and where did $400 go? She left Amarillo with $400, and arrived in Duluth with $0. It's $200 for gas one way, so guess what happened. Kansas City, casino time! Then she turned defensive and tried to win the argument with empty claims. She outright refused to help, got in one of those moods, and practically locked herself into a corner. So I do what is practical, I get on the phone with my grandma and we find out how to cook this bird. The turkey turned out excellent, and my mom somehow got out of that mood.
From here on out, not much happens. On Monday or Tuesday (I forget which day), they need to work. (Driving semi's) It's pretty boring from here. My sister comes over with her two kids, her boyfriend, and one of his friends. We play dominoe's. After they leave, I realize that my wallet is missing. In it were $20, calling card, the atm card my mom left for me, the pin number for it, and the numbers I should know. My sister has a history of stealing, pretty big one too. But, maybe, just maybe, she didn't take it. I slept it off, and at 8 am she knocks on the door and is like "you dropped this." I stood dumbfounded. I immediately hugged her and thanked her, and then she left. Next couple of days, boring. Mom and hubby return, they smell gas. It's 4 am, they wake me up. They call the gas company, and the company sends a guy over. They had to get back on the road, so I was left to stay up and wait for the gas guy. He shows up, and runs a carbon monoxide test. Damn thing was red lined. I was "lucky to be alive." Well at least if the carbon monoxide did kill me I wouldn't have felt it, or known it. He then checks the hot water heater, the furnace, and the fireplace, no leaks. But, the furnace needed to be cleaned. Not burning the gas efficiently. Plus the furnace filter door was open, which is supposed to be closed at all times. It turns out that door being open is the reason for the gas smell and the unrealized near death experience. Couple more days pass. Cable guy comes by to check one of the RF cable's to see if it works. No go, after some inspection, it turns out that there's cable cut on the neighbor's side of the fence. Can't do anything to fix that particular RF cable. Cable guy leaves. The next week and a half involved absolutely nothing. Fast forward to last Saturday. My mom said that they'll be back Wednesday to take me home. Wednesday rolls around, I spend the remainder of my quarters to call them. No signal. Over the course of 3 days I wasted $3 in quarters because of that no signal bullshit. (It went straight to the voicemail and the payphone considered the call went through, so no refund.) Oh, something I forgot to mention. Their phone had not yet been turned on. They are waiting on AT&T and still are to this day.
I have about 25 minutes left on the calling card, and call my grandma. Thursday was the last straw. I called my mom's dispatcher, they've been sent on I-80 back west to Sacramento (again,) while I'm dangling in Amarillo with nothing to do and practically no money to my name. I think decided that if I was to get home, I need to hop on a bus. My grandma then wires me $250, I hop a taxi, and the next 27 hours would be spent on a Greyhound bus or Greyhound terminal station. From Oklahoma City to Minneapolis, there was this cute girl I saw. But, classical me, doesn't say a damn word. It would be on the bus trip that I discovered that my half assed CD player will not play ANY CD, burned or store bought. So I'm gonna open it up and see if I can fix it. 9:30 pm, Friday night. I arrive in Duluth, hop a cab, and at 10:30, home at last. <img src=smilies/sleep.gif>
Here's what I know about:
RIP Earl Hindman (Better known as Wilson Wilson on Home Improvement. He died of lung cancer at age 61.)
Pete Rose: What a shocker! I never knew that!
State of the Union address:
Bush: "We must do what is neccessary to lessen our dependancies on foreign fuels." He's the last person I'd ever expect to say that.
Democratic response: "The Democrats will balance the budget." You know what, screw both parties. Both only want absolute control. Get them out.
It's been a month, what did I miss?
<P ID="signature"><img src=http://www.geocities.com/abgh21/drunk.txt>
Is there something I'm missing out on?
Download FF2 Edit first beta. (http://gavin.dragoneyestudios.net/downloads/FF2_Edit.rar)</P>