Indulge me please, O Gentle Readers, while I recount my activities last Friday. They were nothing special, but there were a couple of highlights.
Woke up a little late after a night which featured “episodic sleep” — other Olde Pharttes will know whereof I speak — and finally fell into some proper sleep at about 5am.
Got up, did the usual Morning Stuff (Rx, urination etc.) and staggered out of the bedroom to make the morning coffee. Debated about the gin, decided against it as I’d taken New Wife out for a Birthday Dinner the night before, and drunk perhaps a leetle too much sangria. (Everything in moderation, that’s me.)
Coffee in hand, I discovered lying on my keyboard an empty bottle of some female facial cleansing lotion, and a plaintive note asking me to get her a fresh bottle.
Excellent: a reason to get out of the house and do some husbandly / housekeeping duties — some groceries, fill the car, nothing special.
On the way out of the apartment complex parking lot, I saw something unusual: a decently-styled American car: I think it was a Buick, but as far as I’m aware they (like Lincoln) don’t make passenger sedans anymore, and the badge was too small for me to make the model out, whatever it was, but then again I’m not in the market for anything like that so I pootled out over the irritating speed bumps [1,000-word angry rant omitted].
Decided on Wal-Mart, simply because they’re just up the road and as I said, I needed to refill the Tiguan and their gas is reasonably priced.
I turned left across the traffic, and noted that there was an oncoming car just down the road, but the speed limit is 35mph, so plenty of room. Except that he wasn’t doing 35 or anything close to it, so he swerved out of my lane and rocketed past me, shaking his fist (!) as he went by.
I had one of my quiet conversations at that point: “I’m sorry; did I make you late for your appointment at the next traffic light?”
As it happened, I didn’t; but he was right on time for the cop doing the speed trap a block or so away. So that ended well.
Went into Wal-Mart and got all the necessary things on the list — but before checking out, I stopped by the self-service lottery machine to make my weekly pension contribution. As any fule kno, these contraptions do not give change, and all I had was a $20.
So I went over to the little in-house bank to get some change, only to be told that they don’t do that kind of thing unless the supplicant has an account with them. “Well, I don’t have an account with you, and probably won’t ever in the future,” I replied, and went over to the Customer Service Desk.
Only to be told that they cannot open the register drawer unless “there’s a cash transaction”.
Another man may have exploded with rage at this point, but I decided to be a better man than that. So I went back into the store itself and left my shopping cart in the clothing section, where it wouldn’t be spotted immediately — said shopping cart containing two cartons of expensive ice cream, a quart of yogurt, a frozen pizza and some fresh fruit.
Got into the car and decided to go to my old neighborhood Kroger instead, where everybody knows my name (I’ve been shopping there for well over twenty years, and the only reason I hadn’t gone there in the first place was because it’s about three miles away from the apartment AND it lies on the other side of some serious road repair works).
So I went where everybody knows my name — and where quite a few people know everybody else’s name, to judge from the odd person chatting to another in the parking lot. Took an old lady’s cart from her just as she’d finished unloading it, getting a grateful “You’re my hero! Thank you!” which made me feel quite better about my world.
Went into Kroger, got all the stuff I’d left in the cart at Wal-Mart plus a few other impulse items, and went over to the Customer Service Desk’s Jeanelle, who not only gave me change upon request, but got me my lottery tickets from their machine. (She has a lovely singing voice, by the way: one of those deep, rich gospel/soul ones, which I’d heard on a previous trip. She is also one of the few people who has ever tripped me up on musical trivia, in that she knew the correct release date of Stevie Wonder’s album Songs In The Key Of Life.)
Checked out using the self-service aisle (I only go full service if I’ve got a large full cart, and that in the interests of speed), waved good-bye to Angela the supervisor, waved to Debbie the front-end manager on my way out, and after loading up the Tiguan, filled up at the pump using my Kroger Fuel Points (11c off per gallon when buying more than 8 gallons).
Got back home — the ?Buick? was no longer there for me to see what it actually was, so I filed that under “Unimportant Shit” and forgot about it.
Net result of the day: considerable personal satisfaction (mission accomplished, grocerywise; watched an asshole get a speeding ticket; denied Wal-Mart some profit both from an unrealized transaction plus — I hope — some spoiled unsellable foods, as well as having my gas money go to their competitor).
And I got to interact with people that I don’t really know, but had only pleasant experiences with. On a warm autumn day (no a/c needed in the car) in north Texas.
Not too bad, all things considered.
I did a good deed Saturday.
I went to a local gun buyback event. So many dumbass people were turning in perfectly good firearms like Ruger 10/22 and AR 15 rifles, along with 1911’s and many other handguns.
I guess these idiots don’t realize that they could get market trade in value at a local FFL dealer. While that trade value might be low compared to what they paid new for the gear, it would still be more than the measly $ 50 gift card from a local grocery store that the local popo was handing out.
I sold these idiots a broken BB gun pistol. That’s right. A non working BB gun. I paid $ 10 bucks for it years ago. Got myself a $ 50 gift card to a grocery store I am not allowed at (that’s another story) so I passed that gift card to my wife.
I realized how many stupid people exist in society when I saw the news later that evening. While of course the usual junk gets collected, anyone who turns in a working AR 15 rifle, Ruger 10/22 or a 1911 handgun in exchange for a $50 gift card to a local grocery store needs to be locked up in a nut house. And many did turn in perfectly good equipment.
But again, I did my part to waste the assholes running this bullshit event time and some of their donated “money” ($ 50 gift card).
Trump wasn’t kidding when he said we have stupid people running things in this country.
In addition, zombies are real. They aren’t looking for brains to eat though. They are looking to turn in their guns to the guv mint for paltry amounts of compensation.
My Friday was most enjoyable. I hied myself south to Hillsboro, then hung a right out to Peoria, and then right again to my buddy Jim’s property where he has built himself a range, out to 1000 yards. We spent the day at the 200 yard mark. Many guns were shot, to include my M1917 Enfield and M1 carbine.
For a country boy like me, it was like coming up for air. No traffic noise, no other people, no human habitation visible in any direction, the smell of dirt, grass, trees. Lunch was at a local burger joint where everybody knew everybody. I had the large double meat cheese burger with onion rings.
Re: Songs In The Key Of Life – if you don’t appreciate 70s Stevie, I don’t think we can be friends.
Here’s one of my favorite youtubers, breaking down Superstition. I had been unaware that Stevie plays everything on this track, except the horns. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7d7AL5Tvn4
There are things out there that hear you when you boast. They don’t always act, but they never forget.
.
Whose comment is this in reply to?
First, Buick used to make a really nice looking sedan, the LaCrosse – looking at their website I don’t see it anymore. Well damn. My wife has a 2015 and if she ever was to replace it, she’d want another LaCrosse. That’s going suck when she finds out.
Second – your car story reminds me of the meme – “I can’t wait to retire, wake up at 5 am anyway, then go drive 10 mph below the speed limit with my blinker on and piss off all the people trying to get to work.”
So you took some expensive perishable items to a remote corner of the store and, without paying for them, left them there to spoil which means that the store had to discard them and take a loss.
(dramatic pause, for emphasis)
How is that any different from just sauntering out the door like we’ve seen so many other shoplifters do?
It’s way different. Kim tried to pay for his goods. They wanted to take more money than the goods cost. Because they weren’t competent enough to setup their register to give him correct change.
Also, for the Walmart employees that are retarded window lickers that take 1 hour to complete a task that even a monkey could do in 10 minutes, isn’t that time theft?
Kim did the right thing. I would have put more perishable shit in the cart before I 86’d the cart.
Oh and one other thing. Why in the actual fuck is Walmart charging less money for things online than in the store? That’s a game. Some items are cheaper online that in store. Order online and pick up in the store pickup area. Fucking joke. What if someone is not familiar with or doesn’t have time or access to the internet before they go to the store? Or it is an emergency? They have to pay more?
Pray tell what was I to do: put everything back (my time wasted) and reward them for their shitty customer service?
I think ya dun good sir!
For good measure I would have grabbed a few expensive steaks and tossed those in the cart before you 86’d it in the clothing department.
I shop at Walmart cuz it’s cheap. But they sure are assholes. Right now at the Walmart I go to, they have a nice full case of ammo. On the case is a sign “no ammo sales at this time”.
They also have the biggest assholes at the door demanding a receipt when you leave. Fuck that. Once I pay for my shit It’s mine and I don’t have to and I am not going to prove I paid for it. I know I paid for it so I walk right past the receipt nazi.
Hey Walmart – show me a receipt that you paid for all the shit in the store from your vendor so that I know I am not purchasing stolen goods.
I walk right past the door stasi. BJs or those other membership stores do the same thing.
JQ
Wally’s great, ain’t it!
What is Walmart gonna do anyways? The worst they can do is trespass you. Then you
– call corporate and see if they will rescind it. If they do go back and laugh at the dickheads
– if they hold the trespass then just shop elsewhere or have shit shipped to you.
Remember another way to cost Walmart money. Shipping and return shipping
Order over 35 dollars in stuff. Get it shipped free. Then ask for a return label for returns and it’s free if the item is sold by Walmart themselves (they have some 3rd party sellers with different return policy) – keep buying and returning stuff. Cost them lots of money in shipping.
I can find no compelling reason to go to a Walmart, Target, or the like. I can barely stand going to Costco and Home Depot. If I can’t get it by mail, my local restaurant supply warehouse, or a farmer, I don’t need it. A trip to Walmart would require Anger Management therapy and I’m so over that.
I briefly lived in San Antonio during my military career and HEB wrecked me for life. Here inside the wire (Northern Virginia), the best we have is Wegmans and while they are great, they are a tier below HEB. Plus, that’s the favorite store of the AWFLs (Affluent White Female Liberals) and if I have to stand in line behind one of them with their cart full of boxed chardonnay and a $600 charcuterie tray, my head will explode.
My weekend was shot after I drove 70+ miles to my favorite range only to find that they’ve now blocked all future weekends for state and county LEO CQB training. While I don’t object in in theory to that level of training, in the back of my mind, I’m thinking that is an awful lot of taxpayer money being spent on weekend overtime (and it all counts towards retirement!) and ammo. FFS, why does a county department (in some of the richest counties in the US) need CQB training for patrol officers? Half the officers there were Desk OFFs (old fat fu*kers) whose only time in a prowler is to and from work (and apparently, to weekend CQB training). On top of that, the only day left with regular openings is Friday at 4pm? For an outside, unlit range going into winter?
I’m already a “get off my lawn” guy. This stuff is just fuel for the fire.
The local constabulary use my club for their qualifications but they do it during the week when the club is a ghost town. We get plenty of notice through the rapid news email system. cluttering up a range on the weekend by the police is inconsiderate of everyone else and just plain wrong.
If I have to go to any store, I do my best to avoid weekends and evenings. I buy canned goods at Walmart due to price and try to only go once or twice a month. WHen I go there, I go early in the morning before they get crowded with the great unwashed. Sure there are people blocking the aisles with big carts of goods as they restock the shelves but those people are much more helpful and polite than the great unwashed.
JQ
Most of the big stores and mega corps have made it abundantly clear that they have no concern, and too frequently utter contempt, for their customers. Walmart proves it on a regular basis.
JQ
Complaining about stores is a 1st world country problem.
In another year or 2 there may be no stores to complain about.
Think how much better life will be.
Except for perishable foods and few other things which are procured locally (within about 10 miles) almost all of our purchased for the past 5 years have been online and delivered. When a delivery is fucked for any reason we either refuse it or have it picked back up.
BTW, if you destroy someone’s property you should have a work boot slammed in your ass.
Just like you would want if someone destroyed YOUR property.
Don’t we learn this stuff when we’re about 5 yo?