Not really amusing, rather disjointed I have to say. My company in it’s infinite wisdom (?) moved our schedules around so that instead of doing overtime or swapping off for a full day we worked from 9 to 2 today & I, at least, have to work 12-5 on Friday which is normally a day off for me. This is not a bad thing right this minute, I’m home hours earlier than normal, the work load was light & I attempted to get a couple of errands out of the way after work. I know however that Friday when I have to roll in there at noon I’m going to be hating my life & my job & everything to do with satellites, tvs & driving. It could be worse, if it wasn’t for Miss 10 having a field trip Friday which puts her back at the school at 8:30pm, I’d be going to work from 7pm to midnight on my Friday evening off. I would not be a happy camper if that was the case, still, I’d have gladly worked all day today to have all day Friday. After being released from the confines of the building I went to McDonalds to get something to eat & then sat in the mall parking lot eating the burger. Why the mall? I hate the mall but they have something no one else around here has. A Radio Shack, it’s the only one nearby unfortunately & when I tried to get a memory chip for my cell phone so I can use the mp3 player in it at walmart where the nice salesmen told me to go they were sold out & recommended Radio Shack, this was at 9:30 last night & it being Sunday no one had been at Radio Shack for the last 3 hours. So the mall it was. I walked in as briskly as possible & headed straight for the store, I had my phone & the instruction manual with me & showed both to the guy behind the counter who ushered me over to a bunch of random chips, he assured me this one would work & while I blanched at the price listed at $39.99 I agreed since the whole point of getting the new cell phone was to have an mp3 player built in because I hate not having music when I want it (yes, I know it eats up battery juice- I’ve waited over a year for one of these & Nothing was going to deter me from my plan!) The salesman & I were both relieved when he scanned the chip on the computer & it told him the price was $14.95, much better, after writing a check for this I headed back to the car.

Of course I was waylaid by the Bath & Body Works people, The really cool scrub I bought a few weeks ago is too heavy for spring/summer weather. I can’t use it because of the oils in it, they’ve been making me break out & I’m all about scrub, gotta have one for the body & one for the face in the shower all year long. B&BW had some nice ones in a cream base which were the same scents as their regular scents, like vanilla, poppy, sweet pea. but they seem to have discontinued those in the last year or so & so I had a choice of ‘I’m in the mood for scrub’ of which I have a half an inch left in the bottom of a bottle from last year & which, while I liked it ok, I am tired of. (I hate to buy the same thing twice when it comes to things like soap, shampoo & body scrub) They only had that & one other to recommend which weren’t oil based & likely to make me break out. I took the other which, though rather alarmingly menthol scented will surely wake me up, cool me off & make me think of my teenage, ‘Sea Breeze’ cleansing days. I was reflecting as I tested this at their impossibly small sink while trying not to get scrub or water on my new memory chip, on the horrors & insults I have perpetrated on my skin in the name of cleansing, Sea Breeze, Aapri apricot scrub, (like washing with rocks) Clearasil & Oxy both of which I would go bright red from using due to an apparent benzoyl peroxide allergy- (I quickly learned just to apply to the already broken out pimples & leave the rest of my face alone unless I wanted bright red cheeks like Santa Claus) I hurried off before they could convince me to buy an ugly pair of flip flops, a round pumice & foot cream I don’t need for just $10. more. I’m much better in situations where salespeople don’t cram themselves up my butt. I prefer to browse on my own & bring what I want to the counter when I’m ready. While walking out of the mall I found myself considering going into Spencers but I’ve recently found I am not cool enough to go in there without a child! The people who work there seem embarrassed to see me & rush right up with a ‘can I help you find something ma’am?’ So I left well enough alone & came back home. After a stop at the local store where I accidentally left something last night!

I was not pleased a few weeks ago when this store began making you come in & get checks approved before you pumped gas & I could just tell this was going to be a problem, last night it was a problem. I did what I was supposed to & went inside, got my soda & gas line cleaner & paid for them plus $25. in gas. I went outside, pumped the gas & left. Halfway home, staring at my gas gauge in annoyance because it was only 3/4 full after ‘all that money’ I remembered that I’d only pumped $20 in gas not $25. I was in a dead zone with my phone, didn’t know the store’s phone # & figured there was no way to prove it & so wrote it off to my own inattention to detail which is getting worse & worse as I get older. I was home about 15 minutes when my phone rang, it was the store (good thing I write my phone # on my checks) They had caught the error & told me to stop by to get my $5, she said to just tell them P had put an envelope in the box for me. I went in & picked up a soda (did I mention that I have a sore throat & stuffy nose heavy enough to kill & am suffering from constant dry mouth & throat due to it? Well I am) When I walked up to the counter the woman behind the counter bent over & when she stood up she already had the envelope with my $5. in it! Small town life, I love it! She already knew it was me & knew they owed me $5. The day got a little better when I got home & found a refund for a silly ‘best customer, extended care’ package the loan company sold me which after reviewing I knew I didn’t want. They’re a lot more on time than the student loan people & the car loan companies I overpaid while paying them off I still haven’t seen my refunds from them. Every little bit helps though, with the car problems & the plumbing problems already past & miss 10’s birthday & our vacation coming up in June. I don’t have the money to do the stairs for the kids right now. I hope to in the late summer when I receive the ex’s back child support, that should be just about enough to get it done. Off to Chrissea’s in a little while to get a car for 17’s BF which she is selling to him.