Oh yeah, I forgot... As an update to the condiments in beer situation, I think I must now find it acceptable to put olives in beer. First of all, in my own head I had mistakenly grouped olives in the vegetable category. But here it turns out that they are actually a fruit, a berry in fact. Since I consider fruit to be acceptable in beer, and I also hear that blueberries in beer are delicious, I think it follows that I must also accept olives. I tried a guy's olive-berry beer last night, and it just tasted like regular beer. Since I don't like olives, I don't know how the olives taste after being soaked in the beer, or even if you are supposed to eat them when the beer is gone. But, conclusion, olives are acceptable.
Pickles on the other hand, I am positive are a vegetable, so they remain unacceptable. I've not yet found anyone's beer to taste with the pickles, so I can't report back on that quite yet.
Lastly, I have also now tasted the "pink beer", which I don't know if I mentioned before, but it is half beer-half clamato (or tomato) juice. As expected, it was one of the most disgusting things I have ever tasted!! But at least now when I criticize, I can say I've tried it.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Boys in Bismarck
It has been a fun-filled week here. My stuff FINALLY got here this week, so I am sleeping in a bed again... it's like sleeping in the clouds of heaven after all this time on the floor. My movers did an amazing job, I'm really impressed and appreciative.
The date that I was supposed to have for the last two weekends finally happened. He told me only death would cause a cancellation this weekend, and thank goodness it didn't come to that. So, Friday night I went out with Rob. He lives two hours away, but drove down here, took me out to dinner, to the Bismarck Bobcats hockey game, and we finished up at B-Dubs playing trivia. All in all, a good time. Unlike Courteous Cody, this guy was trying to feed me non-stop. He also ate all his own food, didn't talk with the crazy accent, and the weirdest thing I found out about him was that he doesn't like drinking out of straws. I also found out that years ago when he lived in Bismarck, he rented a basement from an older lady here in town. Turns out that my co-worker now rents that same basement apartment. Anyway, we saw the older lady at the hockey game, Bernie is her name. Bernie told my co-worker that my date "has a heart of gold", so apparently he is also kind to the elderly. He does have an odd obsession with Disney, and he is totally and completely obsessed with hockey. I know these qualities will actually endear him to some of my friends, so they aren't complaints at the moment, just observations. Overall, I have not too much to say because he actually seems to have some potential so far. Oh yeah, and he also brought me a flower, which while totally cheesy, I totally go for such romantic gestures. We'll see what the coming weeks bring on that front. Could it be that I might actually have a good Valentine's Day for the first time in my entire life??? Let's not get carried away quite yet.
Last night I went out with a new friend, her boyfriend (who I know from work), and some of their friends. We went to dinner at one of the "fancy" restaurants in town, which I didn't think was really that great other than the ample supply of Coke. Then we also went to the hockey game. I'm damn near a groupie at this point, I really felt like I should have bought some merchandise and had it signed by the players after the game! Anyway, the main purpose of me joining on this little adventure was so that I could meet the single friend of the group, though he did not know this was the case. While I could tell that he is a very nice kid, he was extremely awkward, which was also exacerbated by his very thick accent. He got very drunk at the hockey game, and preceded to drink more once we got to the bar. At some point he got ahold of some chewing tobacco, which he then had pieces of all over his face because he was too drunk to get it in his mouth. He walked away for a few minutes, and then when he came back to the table, he walked right over, picked up my glass, and spit in my drink. At that point, we called it an evening and left (well, he stayed, but me and my other friends left.) Needless to say, not only will I not be going out with him since he is not at all my type and totally awkward, I can't handle chewing tobacco, let alone someone spitting in my drink. I think it may even be worse than smoking. I was completely disgusted and my friends were mortified at his behavior. On a good side note, I also met a really awesome guy (who is married with a kid, so not awesome in the dating kind of way) who is also friends with this group and seems like SO much fun and is definitely the kind of person I like to hang with. I assume his wife is equally awesome, though I've not yet met her because she stayed home with the baby.
As another side note, I was told by people both nights how good looking I was, so that's a nice little ego boost. I would have thought with all the blond German/Norwegian looking girls running around that I would be just another average blender-inner, but apparently not. As my friend Amie likes to say, it must be because I'm kind of a big deal.
So, that's the haps from the tundra. We must be heading towards the spring thaw because it's currently all the way up to -1. Practically time for me to go back to Michigan and pick up Godiva (the convertible).
The date that I was supposed to have for the last two weekends finally happened. He told me only death would cause a cancellation this weekend, and thank goodness it didn't come to that. So, Friday night I went out with Rob. He lives two hours away, but drove down here, took me out to dinner, to the Bismarck Bobcats hockey game, and we finished up at B-Dubs playing trivia. All in all, a good time. Unlike Courteous Cody, this guy was trying to feed me non-stop. He also ate all his own food, didn't talk with the crazy accent, and the weirdest thing I found out about him was that he doesn't like drinking out of straws. I also found out that years ago when he lived in Bismarck, he rented a basement from an older lady here in town. Turns out that my co-worker now rents that same basement apartment. Anyway, we saw the older lady at the hockey game, Bernie is her name. Bernie told my co-worker that my date "has a heart of gold", so apparently he is also kind to the elderly. He does have an odd obsession with Disney, and he is totally and completely obsessed with hockey. I know these qualities will actually endear him to some of my friends, so they aren't complaints at the moment, just observations. Overall, I have not too much to say because he actually seems to have some potential so far. Oh yeah, and he also brought me a flower, which while totally cheesy, I totally go for such romantic gestures. We'll see what the coming weeks bring on that front. Could it be that I might actually have a good Valentine's Day for the first time in my entire life??? Let's not get carried away quite yet.
Last night I went out with a new friend, her boyfriend (who I know from work), and some of their friends. We went to dinner at one of the "fancy" restaurants in town, which I didn't think was really that great other than the ample supply of Coke. Then we also went to the hockey game. I'm damn near a groupie at this point, I really felt like I should have bought some merchandise and had it signed by the players after the game! Anyway, the main purpose of me joining on this little adventure was so that I could meet the single friend of the group, though he did not know this was the case. While I could tell that he is a very nice kid, he was extremely awkward, which was also exacerbated by his very thick accent. He got very drunk at the hockey game, and preceded to drink more once we got to the bar. At some point he got ahold of some chewing tobacco, which he then had pieces of all over his face because he was too drunk to get it in his mouth. He walked away for a few minutes, and then when he came back to the table, he walked right over, picked up my glass, and spit in my drink. At that point, we called it an evening and left (well, he stayed, but me and my other friends left.) Needless to say, not only will I not be going out with him since he is not at all my type and totally awkward, I can't handle chewing tobacco, let alone someone spitting in my drink. I think it may even be worse than smoking. I was completely disgusted and my friends were mortified at his behavior. On a good side note, I also met a really awesome guy (who is married with a kid, so not awesome in the dating kind of way) who is also friends with this group and seems like SO much fun and is definitely the kind of person I like to hang with. I assume his wife is equally awesome, though I've not yet met her because she stayed home with the baby.
As another side note, I was told by people both nights how good looking I was, so that's a nice little ego boost. I would have thought with all the blond German/Norwegian looking girls running around that I would be just another average blender-inner, but apparently not. As my friend Amie likes to say, it must be because I'm kind of a big deal.
So, that's the haps from the tundra. We must be heading towards the spring thaw because it's currently all the way up to -1. Practically time for me to go back to Michigan and pick up Godiva (the convertible).
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Briney Beer in Bismarck
So I went out for a hot Tuesday night on the town with my coworkers and a couple of their friends. We went to The Lonesome Dove (doesn't that just sound like a ND bar?) and played B-I-N-G-O! For $12, it was a pretty good time, I'm not gonna' lie. There were a couple cowboys there, but not as many as usual they told me. Anyway, the highlight of the evening was the expansion of my culinary knowledge... Apparently it is commonplace here to put vegetables in your beer... specifically pickles. Pickles in Beer! I don't drink a lot of beer, so maybe this is more commonplace than I think, but I've never seen it before to my knowledge. The other girl had olives in her beer, which I also thought was odd. And when I asked about the pickle in the beer, I was the weird one. Her response was, "Where are you from??" Once she finished most of her beer, she then took the pickle out and ate it. In my head, I thought, "O^2, for gross!"
Monday, January 11, 2010
Beautiful in Bismarck
So I have a new favorite thing about being here. Although I guess since I didn't have an old favorite thing, this is more like my inaugural favorite thing. This morning when I got up there was a weather alert flashing on my computer, and it was for freezing fog. I get what that means in theory, but I feel like it isn't something that I'm accustomed to. In reality what that means is that you can't see shit on your dark drive to work. I couldn't even see the capitol building, which is normally lit up like a permanent, ugly, weird looking Christmas tree. What is also means is that when the sun comes up, everything is absolutely gorgeous. The frozen fog has covered everything in some sort of frost/ice/snow, so everything is white. And then when the sun really comes out and it starts to warm up a little, everything turns silver. I wish I wouldn't have been at work already so I could have gone and taken some pictures. (I mean, this presumes that my camera was here rather than laying on my kitchen counter where my freaking movers still haven't gone to pick it up... but I digress...) Of course, it is currently winter and there is snow on the ground, so it kind of just looks like a picture postcard for winter. However, when I was out here for my interview in November, this also happened. I just didn't know at the time what it was. It was even more amazing then because there was no snow on the ground, but all the trees and fields were still all white and silvery. Anyway, frozen fog is my new fab fave. (P.S. - Plus, I don't know under what precise weather conditions this occurs, and if you care, do your own Wikipedia search you lazy bum... What I do know is that a temperature with a positive sign in front of it was involved!)
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Brrrrr in B-b-b-b-bismarck
I've decided that there are a few big advantages to living in a sub-zero climate:
1. It's very quiet outside, peaceful, and the air smells clean. Also, it's so quiet that even with your ears bundled up you can hear people coming because of the squeaky crunch of snow. Therefore, nobody is ever likely to sneak up on you, nor are you likely to be hit by a car while on foot.
2. You can dress badly and nobody can tell. One of my favorite things about living in Howell was that I could walk into Walmart without having showered, brushed my teeth, put on a bra, or brushed my hair, wearing clothes that even a blind person would know don't match, and nobody would look at you funny. (Not that I did this often, but sometimes you are just extra lazy, sick, or need to make a semi-emergency grocery run.) Anyway, living here in Bismarck ramps this perk up to a whole new level. Not only can you do the whole unmatched-unwashed thing, but nobody can even tell because it's so cold that you have a coat and hat and boots and gloves on all the time. As long as you willing to wear pants and an actual hat (instead of earmuffs or a headbands like I prefer), nobody would even know what a sleaze you are underneath all your cold gear garb.
3. If your freezer or refrigerator gets too full, you can just set stuff out on the balcony. In addition, when you have leftovers from a restaurant or buy frozen items at the grocery store, you don't have to rush right home. You could go buy a gallon of ice cream and then go see a movie, shop at the mall, browse the bookstore, and then meander home. It's sorta' like driving around in a mini-deep freeze.
4. Since nobody in my pre-ND life has ever been to ND before, especially in the winter, and since the perceived horrors of the ND winter are legendary, I ipso facto win all arguments/discussions about cold and shitty weather.
I'm sure I have more of these gems, but it's hard to just come up with them by sitting here and blogging from my warm warm apartment. They'll have to come to me while I'm out enjoying the frozen peace and quiet.
1. It's very quiet outside, peaceful, and the air smells clean. Also, it's so quiet that even with your ears bundled up you can hear people coming because of the squeaky crunch of snow. Therefore, nobody is ever likely to sneak up on you, nor are you likely to be hit by a car while on foot.
2. You can dress badly and nobody can tell. One of my favorite things about living in Howell was that I could walk into Walmart without having showered, brushed my teeth, put on a bra, or brushed my hair, wearing clothes that even a blind person would know don't match, and nobody would look at you funny. (Not that I did this often, but sometimes you are just extra lazy, sick, or need to make a semi-emergency grocery run.) Anyway, living here in Bismarck ramps this perk up to a whole new level. Not only can you do the whole unmatched-unwashed thing, but nobody can even tell because it's so cold that you have a coat and hat and boots and gloves on all the time. As long as you willing to wear pants and an actual hat (instead of earmuffs or a headbands like I prefer), nobody would even know what a sleaze you are underneath all your cold gear garb.
3. If your freezer or refrigerator gets too full, you can just set stuff out on the balcony. In addition, when you have leftovers from a restaurant or buy frozen items at the grocery store, you don't have to rush right home. You could go buy a gallon of ice cream and then go see a movie, shop at the mall, browse the bookstore, and then meander home. It's sorta' like driving around in a mini-deep freeze.
4. Since nobody in my pre-ND life has ever been to ND before, especially in the winter, and since the perceived horrors of the ND winter are legendary, I ipso facto win all arguments/discussions about cold and shitty weather.
I'm sure I have more of these gems, but it's hard to just come up with them by sitting here and blogging from my warm warm apartment. They'll have to come to me while I'm out enjoying the frozen peace and quiet.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Back to Bismarck
Even though I would consider myself a fairly easy-going person, I’m not gonna’ lie, so far this year has pretty much sucked! And it’s only the second day. As most of you know, yesterday was moving day. This meant that I had to finish loading my car and continue packing as much as I could to make the condo ready for the movers. The movers are a huge pain in my ass in that they are not prompt about getting back to me, they are very needy as far as all the information they want, and I feel that as moving is a stressful event, they should be more accommodating. Anyway, I had to leave by late afternoon yesterday in order to make it to my dad’s house in time for dinner last night. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to finish packing everything, so I just had to get as much done as I could and leave the rest. Maybe because I was rushed, or perhaps in spite of it, it was a really weird feeling to walk about of the place I have spent the last eight years living without having more than about 30 seconds to reflect on all the things that happened there. Even weirder to leave half my stuff there, but know that I won’t be returning anytime soon.
Anyway, after I had mostly finished packing the car and was getting close to departure, I shut the back tailgate of my Expedition thinking it was pretty much full. Once I did this, I realized that it wasn’t nearly full, that because of the way the tailgate curves, there was still TONS of room if I loaded things in through the back window area. As I was bringing out one of the last loads and within about 5 minutes of leaving, I opened up the glass only to have it practically fall completely off its hinges. There are two hinges at the top on either side, and the glass lifts up on them. Each hinge has two pins, and then there is a latch at the bottom in about the middle of the tailgate. (If I’m not describing it well, too bad, look at the back on an Expedition next time you are on the highway.) Anyway, three of the four pins on the hinges snapped and the piece of glass was sticking out at a weird angle. This could have been a COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER in that my car was fully loaded already and pretty much every square inch was occupied. No glass on the back window meant the vehicle would basically be undrivable, especially for the move, in that not only was it subzero temperatures, but all of my stuff would have come flying out the back. Now I’m no Torts expert, but I’m guessing there is some kind of negligence liability involved if you drive down the highway with stuff flying out of the back of your car. As you may also know, I have been looking to get rid of some of my possessions and become less of a hoarder, but not that way. Anyway, I managed to get the window piece configured back around to the correct angle and shut it. It seemed to latch okay and I gave a tug on it without it appearing to move. I figured this was the best I could do under the circumstances (i.e. New Years Day and within five minute of leaving to move most of my possessions over 1000 miles to start a new job on Monday morning.) So, I left. When I got to my dad’s, he tied rope tightly across the window in the hopes of minimizing the results of disaster. I am now here safely, without incident from that catastrophe. However, the fun didn’t stop there.
I left this morning at 7 AM EST, which should have out me home by around 8:00 or so. Enough time to unpack a good amount of things, eat some dinner, and relax after a long day of driving. As soon as I got on I-94, I knew things were not going to go as planned. I did manage to make it the 60 miles to the MI/IN border over the course of the next hour and a half. The freeway wasn’t plowed, there was a blinding blizzard in parts, and because the freeway wasn’t plowed, there was really only one driving lane. Unfortunately, there were many drivers on the road without 4WD, and therefore, there were many people driving about 20 mph. Now, yes, the roads were horrible, and if I wouldn’t have had 4WD, I’d have been one of those drivers. But being as I did have 4WD, I felt fairly safe driving about 50. Needless to say, it totally sucked and it was not a good way to start out the trip.
After I got through the storm and into Chicago, I noticed that it was really loud in my car. And then I noticed I was also a little cold. And then I noticed that the rear drivers side window was down about two inches. What’s the big deal, you ask? Well, sometime this summer that window came out of its track and can no longer be put up using the electronic control. I can put it down using the control, but in order to get it back up, I have to basically open the door, grab the glass on both sides, and pull it back up manually. Therefore, I just don’t put the window down in the first place and consider this one of the “quirks” of this particular vehicle… just like I also consider it a quirk that my back windshield wiper hasn’t worked in several years and the heating coils on the back half of the back windshield no longer work. Sure, it’d be great if the car was still in perfect running condition, but after 190,000 miles, I’m happy that quirks are merely minor inconveniences rather than mandatory repair bills. Anyway, back to the window… My dad is the best dad ever and he had warmed my car up for me that morning. I figured that maybe he had accidentally hit the control to roll the window down, didn’t realize it, and that I hadn’t realized it because of the intense driving situation through the storm for the first part of the journey. The problem was, I couldn’t fix the problem without stopping. Finally, I came to a rest area where I could just pull in and right back out, so I stopped and pulled the window back up and continued on my merry way. I was less than five minutes back down the road when the window had fallen back down about quarter of an inch. Another 30 minutes later, and it was down about two inches. Because of the items packed in that location, there was no danger of anything falling out, just I had to listen to the wind and it was a little bit breezy on this balmy day. (As a side note, the low in Bismarck last night was -24… yes, that is a negative sign.) When I stopped for gas, I pulled the window back up and then went inside to buy duct tape in order to attempt to hold it in place. Of course even though I had stopped at a huge truck stop, they were out. I knew that I had some in the glove box of my car, which only necessitated about 10 minutes of unpacking all the items in front of the glove box, taking it out, and then deftly shoving all the items back in their storage areas. Good news is, the duct tape worked just fine for the rest of the trip, and since I taped it on the inside, it doesn’t even look like too much of a redneck ride (besides the rope holding the back windshield in place.)
By this time, I was really crabby, and I decided to grab lunch and use the restroom while I was already off the highway. I ran into the McDonald’s across the street, and was promptly told that I wouldn’t be able to get lunch for another 10-15 minutes because it was still breakfast time. (It was 10:50 local time.) Infuriated, I left and drove for another hour to another McDonalds and went through the drive thru. That only took about 20 minutes to get through, and because they also still were showing the breakfast menu and I just ordered by the number I thought I wanted, I ended up getting the wrong thing. I ate it anyway and carried on, already thinking that this drive totally sucked.
Fast forward several hours… I’m in the middle of nowhere Minnesota… I notice that my gas gauge says 50 miles to empty so I decide to stop at the next gas station I see. Um, yeah… approximately 45 minutes later I decided to take a nap. And by nap, I mean that I put on my coat, gloves, ear warmer, and scarf and tried to stay warm while I sat on the side of I-94 with no heat for 2 hours waiting for AAA to bring me more gas. The “next gas station” was unfortunately 52 miles away from the time I had decided to stop.
I finally made it to the gas station, by this time had to go to the bathroom really badly, and ran inside while my empty tank was refilling. To my relief, I managed not to wet my pants on the run inside, only to figure out that split second too late that the stall was out of toilet paper. God must have decided that he’d had enough fun toying with me for the day, and someone else came into the bathroom less than a minute later. She was thankful because by my asking her for toilet paper, I saved her from the same fate in her stall.
Shortly after I was back on the road, my dad called to check in with me. I told him all about my calamities, and said that I was just waiting for the flat tire or the speeding ticket to round out the day. As he was getting ready to hang up, he told me to hang in there, drive safe, and watch out for deer. Great, the one thing that I hadn’t already thought about. The remainder of the trip was uneventful, I made it back safely, all windows in tact. I have declared Day Bankruptcy, and hope that tomorrow will be better. It’s Sunday… the day of rest (unpacking the car and schlepping boxes). What could be better?
Also, I did my car count between Fargo and Bismarck… I have more accurate data on the mileage… Fargo Mile Marker = 345.5, Bismarck Mile Marker = 159.5, Total Miles = 190. Time of count: Saturday evening, 7-9:30. Cars passed = 38. Must be everyone (i.e. the other 30 people who live here) was just tired from all the hard partying earlier in the weekend and decided to stay in for the evening.
Anyway, after I had mostly finished packing the car and was getting close to departure, I shut the back tailgate of my Expedition thinking it was pretty much full. Once I did this, I realized that it wasn’t nearly full, that because of the way the tailgate curves, there was still TONS of room if I loaded things in through the back window area. As I was bringing out one of the last loads and within about 5 minutes of leaving, I opened up the glass only to have it practically fall completely off its hinges. There are two hinges at the top on either side, and the glass lifts up on them. Each hinge has two pins, and then there is a latch at the bottom in about the middle of the tailgate. (If I’m not describing it well, too bad, look at the back on an Expedition next time you are on the highway.) Anyway, three of the four pins on the hinges snapped and the piece of glass was sticking out at a weird angle. This could have been a COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER in that my car was fully loaded already and pretty much every square inch was occupied. No glass on the back window meant the vehicle would basically be undrivable, especially for the move, in that not only was it subzero temperatures, but all of my stuff would have come flying out the back. Now I’m no Torts expert, but I’m guessing there is some kind of negligence liability involved if you drive down the highway with stuff flying out of the back of your car. As you may also know, I have been looking to get rid of some of my possessions and become less of a hoarder, but not that way. Anyway, I managed to get the window piece configured back around to the correct angle and shut it. It seemed to latch okay and I gave a tug on it without it appearing to move. I figured this was the best I could do under the circumstances (i.e. New Years Day and within five minute of leaving to move most of my possessions over 1000 miles to start a new job on Monday morning.) So, I left. When I got to my dad’s, he tied rope tightly across the window in the hopes of minimizing the results of disaster. I am now here safely, without incident from that catastrophe. However, the fun didn’t stop there.
I left this morning at 7 AM EST, which should have out me home by around 8:00 or so. Enough time to unpack a good amount of things, eat some dinner, and relax after a long day of driving. As soon as I got on I-94, I knew things were not going to go as planned. I did manage to make it the 60 miles to the MI/IN border over the course of the next hour and a half. The freeway wasn’t plowed, there was a blinding blizzard in parts, and because the freeway wasn’t plowed, there was really only one driving lane. Unfortunately, there were many drivers on the road without 4WD, and therefore, there were many people driving about 20 mph. Now, yes, the roads were horrible, and if I wouldn’t have had 4WD, I’d have been one of those drivers. But being as I did have 4WD, I felt fairly safe driving about 50. Needless to say, it totally sucked and it was not a good way to start out the trip.
After I got through the storm and into Chicago, I noticed that it was really loud in my car. And then I noticed I was also a little cold. And then I noticed that the rear drivers side window was down about two inches. What’s the big deal, you ask? Well, sometime this summer that window came out of its track and can no longer be put up using the electronic control. I can put it down using the control, but in order to get it back up, I have to basically open the door, grab the glass on both sides, and pull it back up manually. Therefore, I just don’t put the window down in the first place and consider this one of the “quirks” of this particular vehicle… just like I also consider it a quirk that my back windshield wiper hasn’t worked in several years and the heating coils on the back half of the back windshield no longer work. Sure, it’d be great if the car was still in perfect running condition, but after 190,000 miles, I’m happy that quirks are merely minor inconveniences rather than mandatory repair bills. Anyway, back to the window… My dad is the best dad ever and he had warmed my car up for me that morning. I figured that maybe he had accidentally hit the control to roll the window down, didn’t realize it, and that I hadn’t realized it because of the intense driving situation through the storm for the first part of the journey. The problem was, I couldn’t fix the problem without stopping. Finally, I came to a rest area where I could just pull in and right back out, so I stopped and pulled the window back up and continued on my merry way. I was less than five minutes back down the road when the window had fallen back down about quarter of an inch. Another 30 minutes later, and it was down about two inches. Because of the items packed in that location, there was no danger of anything falling out, just I had to listen to the wind and it was a little bit breezy on this balmy day. (As a side note, the low in Bismarck last night was -24… yes, that is a negative sign.) When I stopped for gas, I pulled the window back up and then went inside to buy duct tape in order to attempt to hold it in place. Of course even though I had stopped at a huge truck stop, they were out. I knew that I had some in the glove box of my car, which only necessitated about 10 minutes of unpacking all the items in front of the glove box, taking it out, and then deftly shoving all the items back in their storage areas. Good news is, the duct tape worked just fine for the rest of the trip, and since I taped it on the inside, it doesn’t even look like too much of a redneck ride (besides the rope holding the back windshield in place.)
By this time, I was really crabby, and I decided to grab lunch and use the restroom while I was already off the highway. I ran into the McDonald’s across the street, and was promptly told that I wouldn’t be able to get lunch for another 10-15 minutes because it was still breakfast time. (It was 10:50 local time.) Infuriated, I left and drove for another hour to another McDonalds and went through the drive thru. That only took about 20 minutes to get through, and because they also still were showing the breakfast menu and I just ordered by the number I thought I wanted, I ended up getting the wrong thing. I ate it anyway and carried on, already thinking that this drive totally sucked.
Fast forward several hours… I’m in the middle of nowhere Minnesota… I notice that my gas gauge says 50 miles to empty so I decide to stop at the next gas station I see. Um, yeah… approximately 45 minutes later I decided to take a nap. And by nap, I mean that I put on my coat, gloves, ear warmer, and scarf and tried to stay warm while I sat on the side of I-94 with no heat for 2 hours waiting for AAA to bring me more gas. The “next gas station” was unfortunately 52 miles away from the time I had decided to stop.
I finally made it to the gas station, by this time had to go to the bathroom really badly, and ran inside while my empty tank was refilling. To my relief, I managed not to wet my pants on the run inside, only to figure out that split second too late that the stall was out of toilet paper. God must have decided that he’d had enough fun toying with me for the day, and someone else came into the bathroom less than a minute later. She was thankful because by my asking her for toilet paper, I saved her from the same fate in her stall.
Shortly after I was back on the road, my dad called to check in with me. I told him all about my calamities, and said that I was just waiting for the flat tire or the speeding ticket to round out the day. As he was getting ready to hang up, he told me to hang in there, drive safe, and watch out for deer. Great, the one thing that I hadn’t already thought about. The remainder of the trip was uneventful, I made it back safely, all windows in tact. I have declared Day Bankruptcy, and hope that tomorrow will be better. It’s Sunday… the day of rest (unpacking the car and schlepping boxes). What could be better?
Also, I did my car count between Fargo and Bismarck… I have more accurate data on the mileage… Fargo Mile Marker = 345.5, Bismarck Mile Marker = 159.5, Total Miles = 190. Time of count: Saturday evening, 7-9:30. Cars passed = 38. Must be everyone (i.e. the other 30 people who live here) was just tired from all the hard partying earlier in the weekend and decided to stay in for the evening.
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