Suzy Says

Wonderful Wednesday was followed by Frantic Friday. I worked an extra shift at the jobette in the afternoon/evening, and had a few things to do before hitting the office:

• Stopped at the post office to mail a package. The woman at the head of the line left her wallet on the counter to get something she had forgotten in her car, and when she returned, the postmistress said that she probably shouldn’t leave her wallet lying around. The customer said that she didn’t worry in Hooterville, especially in the post office. The guy behind her in line said that he had found someone’s wallet in the grocery store the other day. The wallet’s owner was floored to have it returned, complete with $300 and all its credit cards intact. I said, “Welcome to our little corner of the world,” and we all laughed in agreement.
• Next stop was the gardening supply store. I recently acquired an acacia tree which needs to be planted in a wine cask, and there are (as always) other garden-related projects that require dirt. I asked if they could deliver some dirt, and the charge was about $120 plus whatever the cost is of three cubic yards of dirt, which even I could tell was way more than I needed. Instead, I bought two big bags of dirt which were on sale and which were very kindly loaded into my trunk.
• After that, I picked up balloons to display outside the jobette for First Friday, which is when shops and galleries stay open late and serve wine, beer and nibbles. I put them in the backseat and soon discovered that they completely obscured the view in the rearview mirror, so next stop was the jobette to unload them.
• Unloaded the balloons and chatted with co-workers before going on to the next stop: the town dump.
• Missed the turn off for the dump. Found it on the second try, but had a long wait to turn into the road from the highway with all the summer traffic. When I finally got to the dump, I wasn’t sure where to go, so I drove around until I saw a sign for Haz Mat, which is why I was there. For about three years, I have had some of those long fluorescent light bulbs which were dead, as well as the hideous CFL bulbs we are now forced to use since they are supposedly more energy efficient (though they are more expensive, ugly, full of mercury, and the light they give is hideous, as well as not being able to throw them away) and some dead batteries and old anti-freeze.

  I followed a trail of traffic cones, pulled up on a big sheet of plastic, and was told to turn off the engine and STAY IN THE CAR. Guys in space suits and covered shoes wearing masks removed the hazardous materials from my backseat. I guess it’s about the closest you can get to having guys come running out of the gas station, one filling your car up while the others wash your windows, the way they did in my long ago childhood. Speaking of gas: I filled up on my way in today and it’s $4.21 a gallon! Happy summer, y’all!

• Went to the Feed & Pet and got both canned and dry food for the cats, as well as a bag of grain free dog food for Monica. I always give her a bag of food for her rescue dogs when I bring her the fashion magazines I’ve finished reading.
• Put the pet food in the car and went to the hardware store across the street for a few things.
• Went to the library and dropped off a bag full of books and replaced it with a bag of new ones. Chatted with Wally the librarian, who thinks I have good taste in books.
• Up next, Safeway. It was an utter zoo, which I guess you can expect on a Friday afternoon in the summer. I was really glad to get out of there with my hard-won groceries.
• Stopped by Monica’s store. Gave her the dog food and took pictures of things she is selling to make money for the rescue dogs. On Saturday, I uploaded them to Craigslist, the local listserv, and Facebook. Little did I know that I’d spend the next two days answering questions from people who didn’t read the whole ad, like how much things cost and where to pick them up, all of which was clearly stated. ~sigh~
• Went to work for First Friday. Tried to keep track of the number of visitors, answer questions, and sell them things while attempting to be nice and charming. My co-worker handled the beer pouring and chatting with the beer drinkers, as well as staying until 8:00 and locking up. I think I got the good end of that deal.

I was pretty tired by the time I got home at 8:00 pm. I had left at 11:00 am.