mapsedge | This seems to be a pattern... (Reply)

This is becoming a pattern: the weekend started badly, and then turned out okay. Well, for this weekend, it turned out really well. The "badly" part of the story is a post on its own, after I've had time to put my thoughts in order. The "really well" part of the story - which includes the squirrel - that's the subject for today.

Gardening

By a sort of mutual agreement - by which I mean that Michelle stated her intentions and I agreed with them - we skipped church on Sunday morning and instead went for worship to the great DIY altar, Lowes, for plants, dirt, misc gardening supplies, and lumber to make raised beds. 5/4 x 12' treated lumber is extremely heavy when still wet from the treating process, but we managed to bring home a half dozen of them, plus a few 8'-ers, without springing the luggage rack on top of the van. We stopped along the way at Panera for bagels - a treat for us as well as the kids.

By the end of the afternoon, I'd built and staked the frames for two raised beds¹, buried a drowned squirrel, and done a lot of miscellaneous puttering about with power tools. Michelle, for her part, kept us fed and watered, and got at least four plants in the ground, some new lantanas and russian sage (pictured).

Dinner

After showers and a little dressing up, we went to the Islamorada Fish Company at Bass Pro in Olathe with our "Sorry We Fucked Up Your Last Meal" coupons and had a pleasant dinner, including Jeni, Michelle's sister, who was able to get away from the police station long enough for a quick bite. It's amazing how polite the staff can be when you've got a cop sitting at the table. I kind of felt sorry for her: with the equipment belt she was wearing, she only barely fit into the chairs. Sitting down and, more importantly, getting up, became very carefully executed maneuvers to avoid catching, binding, discharging, firing, etc etc etc.

Starbucks, and retail in general.

I suppose it is a sad commentary that I am no longer amazed at how thoughtless, inattentive, and sometimes downright stupid people can be, especially in retail sales. On the way out of Independence on the way to dinner, I needed a little pick-me-up and decided to make what is now a rare stop at Starbucks for a cappuccino. It was only after traveling a few miles down the interstate that I realized that the distracted and inattentive girl behind the counter at Starbucks had failed to add the espresso shots to my drink, making in effect (and point of fact) a cup of hot, sugared milk.

Not in and of itself a bad thing, but not precisely, or even close to, what I wanted.

With two hungry children (and, to be honest, two hungry adults) in the car and dinner moving ever later, it was too late to go back, but I had a strategy in mind. You see, there are several Starbuckses² between Independence and Olathe, and we stopped at the one next door to the restaurant before going in for dinner.

I walked in with my cup. The girl behind the counter saw it and asked, nothing but friendly concern in her voice, "Uh-oh, did we do something wrong?" All innocent indignation, I replied, "I ordered a cappuchino, but I don't think there's any espresso in this."

She took the cup, tut-tutting about the error, and after pouring out the offending drink, started a new one. No mention of, "Wait, you didn't buy that here..." or "We don't recognize you...did you buy this drink here?"³ Just like that, I had a new drink - shots included this time - and a coupon for a free coffee drink on my next visit. What made it even funnier for me was that, upon verifying the lack of coffee in my coffee drink, the two employees started to criticize another employee at their store, "Heather must have forgotten to put the shots in...she's always doing that..."

There was a bit of chaotic devilment in that, that appeals to me.

¹ 12' x 12' and 6' x 12', which will require about 70 cubic feet of dirt to half fill. That's either a lot of bags, or two borrowed pickup truck loads.

² Hey, I'm trying, and it makes a certain sort of sense. An apostrophe wouldn't work because it's not possessive or a contraction.

³ And of course I wasn't going to volunteer that information. The answer, as always, depends upon how the question is phrased, mwah-ha-ha.