Window Shopper

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My dispatcher told me that I had a load that went to Nevada. Then, I had only been in Nevada a couple of times. Apparently, the company I worked for trusted me to go there (They did not always trust drivers going into Nevada so those people did not get a money draw when headed in that direction). But this load was going to Vegas, baby!

I really do like Vegas. After a while, I do get bored though. At first, I loved every blinking light I saw, every casino, every wedding chapel around. Before that, I had only seen the Strip on television and in movies. It was amazing. The Vegas hotels were all over the place, up and down the street. If you did not know where you were going, you would get lost in the lights and signs. Of course, I stayed in a hotel with a casino. It had parking for trucks. Very smart of the owners. The hotel was really cheap because they wanted you to gamble and see the shows. I did. It was awesome. And when I left, I still had my money in my pocket because I decided before I got there just how much I wanted to spend. That was all. I was happy. I had fun.

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Today, we found out that there might be some rain and freezing rain in our forecast for tonight. I absolutely hate that possibility. In the past, I have had some pretty hair raising events associated with ice on the roads. And a few years ago, we had the ice storm from hell. It took out our electricity overnight and kept us from staying warm. Now, I know that many would say Waaa since they have had power out for longer but regardless of how much time it’s off, it’s distressing.

Possible ice storms and freezing rain make me think of a couple of times that I was wishing I had paid more attention to the term life insurance quotes I got from my insurance agent. Why? Because one of those times, I ended up on an icy patch of road after taking my husband to work. The car started to spin out of control. When you are on ice, you don’t have a whole lot of ways to change it. I tried but nothing worked. I ended up down in a ditch behind a barbwire fence. No idea how I got that way since there did not appear to be any place I could slip under the fence.

Some very kind people came along. One offered their cel phone. One offered to help me get out of the ditch even before calling a tow truck. It worked. They drove the car out of the ditch with little problem. See, by the time these wonderful people came along, the slippery spot melted. It really did not take long. The temp went up significantly right after my spin out.

It was really scary but I have to say that it was with God’s help that I was not hurt nor was the car damaged in any way. I thank God for it all!!!

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Despite the beautiful cars that roam our country, when you get into a rural area, it’s all about the pickup trucks. Did you notice that? We have. For instance, if I were living in a city, pickups might sell with a good price. Cars are more expensive, especially the ones that look really great. But you get into the country and try to buy a pickup. WOW! The price is way up there and the cars aren’t too bad. The secret appears to be that you go find the trucks in the city and the cars in the boonies.

Now, if you check out the pickups, you will find them decked out with all the goodies a guy can put on them. Are they working trucks? Not if the guy can get away with it. LOL! Yes, in a rural area there are farm trucks but I really do not think we’re talking about those, do you? Nope. The good ol’ boys around our area are buying the big, shiny dual cab pickups with all the truck accessories they can pack into the pickups. Why? To impress a girl, of course! Why else? Oh yeah, to feel manly. Sigh. Maybe they could find other, less expensive ways to do that, ya think?

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I know if you have kids, you are aware of the trauma that goes with putting things together. If you had any sense at all, you did that the night before Christmas. If not, you found yourself putting together some thing that has the directions from the hot place. It takes this screw and puts it into that place, this nail, that hole, this bracket, that brace. Sigh. And yet, it does get done, usually after the cussing and the two or three sore fingers.

We know all about that. My Mom received a television stand for Christmas but it was not yet assembled. It was necessary to leave it until after the great opening of the seemingly endless haul of presents. Yes, we are truly blessed. My husband needed to bring his tools from the tool storage shed so that he and his brother could put the thing together. Some hot words, no cussing, and an hour or so later, the television stand was up and sporting a brand new television on it. Yes, my Mom is now ready for the advent of HD television! Hurrah!

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Are you in the after Christmas blues? Maybe you got some stuff that simply is not going to work, no matter what you do. Hey, I heard about this woman who got a DVD player for Christmas. The tray wouldn’t come out. What do you do with that?? You take it back.

If Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) wasn’t good enough, now we have the day after Christmas when the stores reopen and the reverse rush begins. Sigh. Isn’t getting a tad ridiculous here? First, you have the after Thanksgiving sales. Those take care of the people who are willing to do their shopping early enough to actually get the items on their lists. Next, you have the middle shoppers. These are the ones that shop all December, getting the best deals they can find but the real sales do not start until closer to Christmas.

The next set of sales comes during the last few days before Christmas. This is the time that you really cannot find the one thing you really, truly wanted to give a person because you waited entirely too long. However, they have excellent sales on things like big screen televisions and you could get that instead. Your spouse is likely to never speak to you again but, what the heck, it’s Christmas.

The last day before Christmas is the worst. That’s when there is little that you actually wanted left in stock. However, you find quite a few sales and a number of people you know that are as ridiculous as you are..waiting to to the last minute.

Then Christmas day happens. All the paper is stacked up to be burned or picked up by the garbage guys. The presents are all opened, some to be played with until they break, some to be used sparingly because you really didn’t want it but you won’t hurt the person’s feelings. Then there are the ones that you just know you have to return at first light on the day after…after what? After Christmas, of course.

The day dawns bright and clear and you are ready to go at 8AM. You get to the store and there’s a mob scene. Everybody has something in their hands that they simply cannot use or do not want. Some of it is broken, some not the right style or size, some is just not you…like the lamp from the movie..The Christmas Story…you know, the one with the lamp shaped like a lady’s leg.

The doors open and it’s a stampede to the customer service desk. The line is already so long it’s going to take the better part of the morning to get to you. The item you brought is a DVD that is not working. You have no receipt, nothing to show it was bought here. The store clerk looks at it and wants to know what’s wrong with it. You tell her that it does not work. She scans it and…. nothing. Are you kidding me? Nope. This item does not come from this store. You groan and think of the hours you have wasted already, standing in a line you did not even need to be in for this item.

Outside, you call the person who gave the DVD to you. They claim they did not give that particular movie to you at all. They have no idea who gave it to you. This is not working well. Is this a nightmare or what???? Actually, yes. Time to wake up! There. Now wasn’t your day better than that? I thought so.

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I have told you before about my family and their need for making lists at this time of year. And I have mentioned how impossible it can actually get if you cannot think of a thing you really want or that they could afford even if you did want it, whatever it is. Now that the biggest part of the buying is over, do you start thinking about what they actually got? Did you “pad” your list with those things that you secretly hope they will buy for you so that you don’t have to go out and get it yourself? Ah ha!

I think I really did do a bit of that but mostly I couldn’t think of too much that I wanted. It’s an amazing thing. You live your life dreaming of things you want, places to go, people to be around. But when someone starts to ask you what you really want, it’s freeze up time. It is for me, at least. There are people who would list half of the store if allowed.

Now, I truly want a new car, a house to live in for the rest of my life and a couple of laptops..one of me and one for my husband. They are practically essential to our making a living these days. THOSE are the things I really, really want. But it’s extremely unlikely that our family could do any of those things. Times are hard and dreams can sometimes be too far out there. But some day, I will have the things I want. I believe.

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As I have said before, we live in a rural area of the Ozarks in what used to be a retirement village but these days it’s really more of a retirement and family village. Quite often, especially in the summer time, we will see the moving vans bringing new families and retired folks here from other parts of the country. They are from such varied places that they tend to form clubs or groups of people from a particular state.

Also often, we see the bigger moving vans that bring people who have a job with large companies that relocate them here for the purposes of starting up new offices or stores. It has happened once in a while that a family will come here because of a corporate relocation, meaning that the company will find and arrange for a place to live. I rather like that companies are willing to do that.

The main thing is that our area is growing pretty fast now. It will take our village many more times the number we have living here now to fill up but some day that will probably happen. Right now, you can still see wild life in your front yard on certain days. Not bad.

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The kids were out from school for the summer. It was getting hotter and hotter. Such was the beginning of summer at our house. The usual and customary yelling and screaming happened every day without fail. Yes, I was sure that we had a parrot in the house but, really, it was me. Why was I yelling and screaming? First, the dog decided that she just had to tear up the latest copy of the paper. Then the cats, one at a time, needed to come running through the house..back and forth until the carpet almost had a path in it.

But did that do it for me? Nope, I was still sane, sort of. The computer refused to work properly. Of course, that happened just as I needed it because, at the time, I was a seller on a rather popular auction site and I had to track my auctions. In those days, I was truly sure that if I did not watch them, they might disappear or something. No real idea what the heck that was about but there you are.

My husband was away at work so, although I could always call him since his was a one person shop, I did not feel that it would be good to do that too often. But my computer was down. Sigh. I knew if I did not get that thing going, the cats didn’t stop running through the house, the dog didn’t stop shredding my newspaper, if the kids didn’t stop……..actually the kids were pretty quiet. Hmmm, that can’t be good.

The truth is that I knew the migraine would start soon. It always did when things started to get out of hand. Still, it wasn’t completely out of hand yet. I still did not know what the kids were doing though. As I walked back to their rooms, it occurred to me that quiet in our house was not good, really not good. Looking in, I saw angelic children. Uh oh. “What have you two been up to this time?” I asked as kindly as I could. They began to get red. ACK! But, this time it was only that a couple of the stuffed toys had not cooperated and were residing in toy hell, the box. Somehow, one of them seemed to have lost it’s arm and the other some stuffing. Not bad considering the rest of the day so far.

Blasted computer. It still will not work right. Okay, I am biting the bullet here and calling my husband. As cheerful as he always was about these things, you just never know. When he answered, I explained the problem. No soap. He had to see it to fix it, if possible. Sigh. My auctions were ending without me!!! NO!!!! (It was actually an easy fix once he got home. My life was more or less a total wash until then. At this point, I have no idea why that was true but it was.)

My life has returned to normal. Well, except for the kids’ toy box. It might need a cleaning out soon. Toy bodies do accumulate. The cats are not going to stop their running back and forth through the house. Thing is, they really never bump into each other. How do they do that? As the sun fades into the west, I pick up the remains of the newspaper that used to belong to me. And so it goes.

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I have to tell you that I love the website I am about to talk about. It is so much fun just being on the site because of the fun stuff that they have to sell you. No, this is not just so you can go buy something. I really do love it. Recently, I was sent some samples to try out. Boy, was this fun. Vat19, with the strange name, has some really awesome stuff to play with on their site. I am going to tell you about a couple things but you have to go see the rest for yourself.

When I opened the package, I had no idea that I would get such fun stuff. First thing I did was smell the inside of the package because it had a fragrance like watermelon. And what do you know? There was this pencil inside a plastic holder that smelled just like watermelon. I LOVE IT!! Apparently, these SMENCILS are made from recycled paper and the fragrance was added for fun. The fragrance will last up to two years, with or without the plastic container. Just think. They were made with recycled products. Very nice.

Next, I saw a box of what appeared to be colored candles. They looked like birthday candles. We just had to get a picture to show you so look to the side and you can see the candles with each flame that has the same color as the candle itself. Now, it isn’t as noticeable in the picture but those candles are looking red, green and yellow. I love that! Someone is going to get some great looking Color Flames Colored Candles for their birthday!!

And finally, we got snow. Yep, snow. Of course, where we live, snow happens but not right now. Today, it was in the 70s for a high. So, no snow. But yet we have snow anyway. This is a powder called Insta Snow Fake Snow Powder that works great when you put some water on it. Looks like the real deal, more or less. I can think of a couple of pranks I could do with that stuff. LOL!!!

And just for the heck of it, I wanted to mention this other item that would work great for people who want to read at night but do not want to disturb others with the light in the room. It’s called LightWedge Book Light and works by putting the wedge on the book. It illumines only the area of the page you want to read. Not bad!!! Are you convinced yet?

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This year has been, to say the least, busy. I have wanted to find a way to go on a vacation for months but it was a “no way” to me because something always comes up. Ever been there? Yep, I sit in front of the computer, looking at all the places I could be going. Sigh. It’s not fair, is it? I can count on one hand the number of times I actually had a vacation.

But there is one tiny little difference between you and me. When I was trucking, I got to go to almost all the states in the U.S. plus Canada. It was awesome. The one thing I had problems with, especially when I was first starting out, was what to take in the luggage. And how much luggage do I take? Well, you learn quickly that you do not pack six suitcases when one will do. Why? Because you lug that stuff all over the country and then, when you get ready to unload and go home, all that luggage is still in the sidebox, having never been opened…even once. Oh, you learn all right.

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