IHOP rules.. and here's why...

So I gotta say.. IHOP ROCKS. I'll tell you why later..

I went to the party. Was grand, got to see folks, people were friendly.

Lil Beachie went too, there's a couple pics I have to upload to his twitter(yes, he's been fussing about that, although he was QUITE happy to hit his bunk last night/this morning when we got home). Since the party was sort of short, I went back home, slept in my bed, and went to the Hoggetown fair setup this morning. It was a lot more convienant to be at home and only have an hour's drive to the fairgrounds.

So.. Hoggetowne fairgrounds we put up all the gigantic tents, went very smoothly. I managed to put in side poles, lay out ropes and poles, sledgehammer in stakes, etc etc. Lots of grunt work, which made me feel like I helped a lot.

Lil Beachie came along for that as well, and helped out. Pics also going up of that.

So after getting the tents all up, and crawling under the tent wall a couple times.. another thing.. I decided to reward myself for all my good deeds(I was social at the party AND helped at Hoggetowne, only yelled at one kid), with a waffle. Cause I love waffles. I've had a waffle iron before, but I have no waffle-waaaaa. .. cannot make them. It's okay, I can eat them.

So Lil Beachie and I went to the Clock resturant(greasy spoon) for a waffle. We were seated, and the waitress asked what I wanted to drink.. then snatched the 'extra' paper placemat almost from under Beachie's feet. I overlooked that.

After 15 full minutes, my soda hadn't arrived, and my order hadn't been taken.. despite the fact that there were all of 4 tables taken in the WHOLE DANGED RESTURANT. There were no less than 6 waitresses. No one brought the drink.. no one took the order.. even though I sat in full sight of them. So.. I plopped the menu back onto the front counter and left.

We went to IHOP. We were seated and a waitress came up and took my drink order. She brought it back quickly.. and took my order. She asked if I wanted anything else OTHER than just a waffle. Nope.. just a waffle.

She brings the waffle in a couple minutes. Lovely big waffle. She asked if everything was okay about 3 minutes later on another pass by the table, EVEN THOUGH the place was packed with patrons. PACKED. I told her honestly.. "The waffle is great, but Beachie is a bit annoyed you didn't ask if he wanted to order anything himself."

HERE is why IHOP rocks.

She looks at the tiny action figure who is standing on the far side of the table where a place setting would be. She says TO HIM... "I'm so sorry.. I assumed you were on guard duty."

Yes. So I pointed my fork at him and told him "I told you not to carry that gun into the resturant, that's a legit assumption on her part. He's fine, I'll let him have some of my waffle, he certainly doesn't need steak and eggs this morning." She nods agreeably and leaves again.

She comes back in about 4-5 minutes and asks "Okay.. who gets the check?"

Yes. I said I would pay, since he didn't order. Gave her a $20 bill. She came back with the change and I left it all for her as the biggest tip she'll be likely to see today(percentage wise). Because SHE GORRAM ROCKED.

Lil Beachie agrees, that IHOP is the bomb and we should go back there, despite it being across town for us to drive to.

Also went to Walmart to get a new pen to write letters with, because I've been going through all of mine and they dry up halfway through a letter. I forgot to check the toy department for the Lil Shipwreck, but that's okay, I'll be in town for Hoggetown next sunday, and I can go then, in garb.

Lil Beachie's twitpic page(you don't have to sign in to look at the pics and captions) cause a couple people asked me for the link recently.
http://twitpic.com/photos/LilBeachie

That's about it, I'm back home, a bit tired, but thinking of a nap.
tayla

Squeeky the Wonder Truck goes to the Mechanic!

So, I had to take Squeeky the wonder truck back to the mechanic. It started to bog down really bad on saturday on the drive home. So I was worried.. oh noooo!!! It's gonna blow up like the stupid Dodge. It's also been getting worse and worse gas milage, from 30 mpg when I parked it, to 25 mpg when I got it back recently, to 15 when I checked it on friday or so.

Made a appointment, becuase my mechanic was busy, and could only look at the truck on wedsday. So I gingerly drove it to work tuesday. I noticed almost to work that my trip odometer says 34. Well.. that's sort of a kick in the head.. because the distance from the house(gas station I filled up at) to work is 64 miles. So.. EITHER... I'd entered a wormhole which spat me out on the road to work, skipping some 30 miles in the process... OR my odometer is fucked up.

After a short debate with Lil Beachie on which answer would be more probable, we decided that the odometer was fucked up. Actually, I thought the wormhole theory was more sound.. but Beachie pointed out that the odometer was NOT moving currantly, which supported HIS theory of it being borked. Since let's face it.. he's usually right.. we're going with his theory.

So.. when I took the truck in this morning, ten minutes early for my appointment, the mechanic's assistant asked me "So what's it actually doing?" I started to explain, at which point his face went all funny and he stopped me and said.. "I'll let HIM talk to you."

The mechanic came out, and I told him what was wrong. The truck WAS bogging down and wouldn't get over 60 mph with the gas pedal floored.. althoug it WAS NOT doing that yesterday. The odometer stopped working yesterday, so the gas milage might actually be okay, although I was convinced it had dropped, BEFORE I noticed the odometer being borked, although the odometer could have been partially going out THEN.. and the odometer is borked.. although the odometer started working this morning too. The truck runs okay usually.. unless you turn the headlights on.. which makes it start to cough, sputter, kick and generally sound like an ashmatic kitten in a smoker. Oh.. and it rocks to the left a lot when I start out of a parking spot, but that's likely just the springs which I borked by loading it with about a ton and a half of gear to drive all the way to mississippi and back a few years ago. And the AC isn't running very well, but that's not exactly a real concern right now.. AND the ignition works without a key.. or it used to before my aunt's mechanic screwed with it, so now you just have to keep a key in it so the tumblers don't get out of position and make it impossible to put a key in it. So leave the key in the ignition at all times.. please. ANd I think that's all.

At this point, his lip had gone up on one side, down on the other, and his head had tilted distinctly to the left. I sort of wondered if he'd had a stroke. He basically said.. "You realize.. NOT one lick of any of that makes ANY sense."

"Welcome to my world dude."

So he ran down the list.. discounted a few things like the ignition, the AC, the springs, and the odometer for now. Those probably have nothing to do with the truck running properly or not. Then he discounted the headlights making it run rough, because "That doesn't make sense at all!! They're on different circuits, it can't happen like that!"

I suggested he do a full tune-up, change out the filters(or clean them as the case might be) and see if that fixed the issue. He decided he would change the fuel filter, reset the computer, and see if that fixed it all. The other mechanic changed out the cam shaft postion sensor(which the computer was saying is still bad) so it SHOULDN'T be an issue, but if the other mechanic didn't reset the computer, we wouldn't know what was wrong right now.

So I waited inside the office, because I'm not allowed back in the garage area. Very soon after I started using this mechanic, there was this BIG sign that went up saying no one is allowed back there.. although I see other clients going back all the time! Shrug. Okay.

While I was in the office, I chatted with the guys who do the oil changes and stuff. They kept getting funny looks on their faces and needing to leave to go outside. If they weren't inside, I wrote a letter to Aubray. They went to the garage, and suddenly MY truck was put in front of the other trucks that were already lined up when I arrived. That was awfully nice of them to put me to the head of the line!

So.. after a real nice chat about how people really should know more about how their brain forms a thought using the organic slush in our skulls.. the guy inside had to go 'somewhere.. other than here... thanks. " and the mechanic came and told me he changed the fuel filter, the check engine light was off, and that he was only charging me $34. He finds me amusing.. I think because he's safely out in the garage I'm barred from entering.. while his poor guys get to deal with me up front. They sometimes suggest I could just go home to wait for a call.. but I find if I wait, things get done MUCH faster. Plus I tell them I'd have to walk home, which usually makes all of them offer to give me a ride.. awfully NICE boys.

So on the way out of the parking lot, the check engine light came back on, but I'm going to see if the engine actually acts up any before I call the mechanic. If it acts up more, I'm going to mention to him that I really think it's being caused by the ninjas, and see if he thinks I should change to salted peanuts as bribes. See, ninjas are usually healthy eaters, and I think that they would prefer the whole unsalted in the shell type of peanut. It's always seemed to be acceptable. BUt perhaps he would know better, being a mechanic.

Anyway.. I'm back home, and I'll let everyone know how Squeeky the Wonder Truck is driving after I go all the way to work and back tomorrow!

Cupcakes!!

Yes, I baked more cupcakes.. this time the ninjas allowed me to get the red velvet mix home, so I made red velvet cupcakes.

First, the mix isn't red! But when you put the wet ingrediants in.. it turns red! Wow! Secondly.. when you have the batter mixed up, it looks JUST like ketchup!

So when you might think.. it looks like ketchup.. and so.. maybe if you bake ketchup.. in a cupcake paper.. it'll also become a cupcake!! You'd be wrong. No matter what Lil Beachie says, ketchup just becomes hot ketchup.. I have photo proof.

So, I have red velvet cupcakes, and a cup of hot ketchup. Lil Beachie still thinks that I just baked it wrong, and that it should really become a cupcake. Sigh.

So there's a pic of them, being guarded properly by Lil Beachie and some of his greenshirts.

No mechanic trip today

The mechanic was too busy to look at the truck today, even though I was prety pitiful, which I'm ashamed of. I hate it when people try that on me at work, but I did it to him anyway. Sigh. Anyway, I'm taking wesday off work to take the truck to him so I get to hope it makes it to work and back tomorrow, then will miss work(and thus pay) on wedsday, because my life sucks.

At home here, I used steel wool on the helmet, looks better. But I might have to use some bond-o on the edging. I got the chin strap in, so now it's complete, just need the paint job(and possibly Bond-o). Then it's putting on the camera and mic, possibly the scale plates(want to be authentic!!).

Also, I have beef roast and taters and onions in the crockpot cooking slowly, and I made mashed potatoes on the stove for lunch. Then I realized I have no butter or cheese to put in the taters, which sucked. Blegh. Ate some for lunch anyway.

Dogs are almost all outside enjoying another day of nice weather, it's just a bit chill inside the house with the windows open. It's nice outside, and so when I sanded the helmet, I did that outside in the front yard.

I did move back to my bedroom, so I slept in my bed again, yay! Next job is to clear out the back bedroom. I'll try to post any progress if I bother to actually do any of it.

Writing is going okay, the characters had a major argument, and now they're sulking at each other. Perfect. LOL.

Once again...

I spent most of today jumping through all the hoops to sign in to here. Sigh.

Anyway.. now that I've forgotten all the stuff I was going to blog about..

The weather was awesome today, warm, sunny, breezy, just great!

The nieghbors tacked up about a dozen no trespass, keep out type signs in their front yard. Some drama going on between diff neighbors. It was grand to see the primate behaviors going on though. I stepped out to get some mop water from the hose, and the boys from across the road made a big fuss of greeting me, making sure to seem as if I was part of an alliance with them. It's pure chimp behavior, and always amusing for me to see myself put into the alpha role in this neighborhood.

I did a small amount of cleaning. I'm probably getting moved back to my bedroom, although I didn't get the bedroom cleaned up like I originally was going to. Oh well.

I've done quite a bit of writing, started a new fic(Road trip!) and am getting down to the last two days of the vacation fic. Ever think about how a game of football would go if there was a ninja playing? Yeah.. now try writing it.

Mood swings are more shallow now. This is good. My annoyance with Moggie and Wilson is less tonight, although they aren't doing as much scraping and all tonight either.

The truck is acting up really badly, and I'm taking it to the mechanic tomorrow. I hope it's not serious, beause I cannot afford anything. I'm tapped out completely. Sigh.

That's all I can think of right now. I got the red velvet cake mix to make cupcakes agian too, so that'll be nummy. Also have a roast to put into the crock pot. Mmmm.

Lil Beachie has had a lot of action this past week. Check his twitter for more.

Not responsible for ruined keyboards.

This is the true story of how my Aunt(my FAVORITE aunt got me to go Kayaking with her and her daughter, in lovely little kayaks.. shaped like plastic bananas. Enjoy.

Why did anyone invent this? As a punishment? As a torture device? I would understand that, but as a way to get from point A to point B? Well, technically, but swimming strapped to a 20 lb anchor would not only be easier, but safer, faster, more fun, and less expensive. As you all may have surmised, I did SURVIVE my day of kayaking with my beloved aunt and cousin. I crawled up the steps to my house using my teeth, as my arms and legs no longer work, however I did survive.

First off, I forgot to set my alarm, got up late, got dressed, put up the critters, and ran out to truck to discover that the arsenal was still in there, so I had to carry all the guns into the house. Then I was in such a hurry I jumped into the truck and almost got out of the driveway before remembering I did not have my cell phone(I had put it on the charger while unloading guns) so I jumped out of the truck to get the cell phone, only to discover I also had forgotten my purse, with my keys to the shop and house. However I was clever enough to have locked my front door. So off to the shop to retrieve my other house key from my assistant. Back to house to get purse, keys, cell phone, and jammin' off on the 2 hour drive to St Augustine. The drive was fairly uneventful, with the exception of saying if you ever ever drive on 9-Mile road, there is a sign that indicates "curve ahead - 20mph". It is a double curve that would send snakes to the chiropractor, and my truck WILL take it at 55mph when I ignore the sign. The sad part being I KNEW the double curve was there, but was running so late and preoccupied that I was dumb.

So I make it intact to aunt's house on the intercoastal waterway, and we jump into the bananas(hey they were even yellow kayaks!!!!). I suddenly realize that MY banana is filling with water!! Ahhh! IT IS GOING DOWN!!!!! At which point my aunt lets me in on the secret. The boat is supposed to have water in it. I told her "no, boats that have water in them are SINKING!!" She laughs, apparently she thinks I am joking. She shows me the basics of how to paddle a kayak which is apparently different from all other boats I have ever paddled, in that kayaks don't really care how you paddle, hold the paddle, or which direction you indicate, it is going whereever there are mudbars to stick into.
So we head off into the wild intercoastal. Then Meg(cousin) discovers she has forgotten her fishing license! She doesn't however want to feel stupid, so she asks me if I remembered to BRING my license. I laugh and say I don't even have one!! Never thought of it, because I thought we were going kayaking, not fishing. Apparently fishing goes with kayaking. So we head off to get my fishing license(foolish me, I was happy for a moment to think, gee guess I can't go after all!!) Nope, we got to go into St Augustine to get one! darn foiled again!) Then we came back(complete with kayaking hats-don't ask) and head back out in the bananas. Once we got going down the lanes of water, that I have no clue where they go so I am lost as any moron in a Louisiana swamp, I thought, hey this boat is possessed!!!! It is going over there, over that way, hey a mud bank!!! Not to say that the scenery wasn't grand! It was such a clear day(darn it) and you could see tall grasses(marsh?) and mudbanks. Occasionally some small bird would fly by at about 200 yards, which my aunt helpfully pointed out to me. Did I mention the fact that we were leaving at nearly low tide? Yeah, you can see the water in front of you, and grassy stuff on either side. That is it, unless you are really into mudbanks. I got fairly excited as we rounded a bend to see a dead piece of tree! Which MY kayak immediately headed right for.
So then I am thinking "ok, this is hard but not too really bad. I can deal with paddling about a bit then I get to go "Wow! That was such fun! Thanks favorite aunt!" " and go home. Ha! Nice try! Then we came out of the winding grassy stuff onto the actual intercoastal waterway, also called 'the place where really big friggin boats go really fast and swamp all people riding in ridiculous little possessed bananas'. So we got halfway and my aunt said 'oh big boat go back!' Go back?? This thing has reverse somewhere? I haven't even found forward yet? Oh fun. Riding swell huge waves in the bananas was kinda fun, if you aren't afraid that you are going to die any moment!(nope, darn it) So we didn't die and we kept paddling(yeah right, we kept padding, translation is they paddled their sleek little bananas effortlessly across glass calm water, while I swiped at the choppy water and cursed at my banana who wanted to go back to the mudflats. Not that I blamed it at that point, *I* wanted to go back to the mudflats too)

So now it becomes apparent to me that my aunt doesn't really exist anymore, she and my cousin have apparently been snatched up by aliens and replaced by these weirdos who think that attempting to paddle INTO the wind(15-20 knots!!!) AGAINST the tide and currant, while being run down by boats(REAL boats with STEERING wheels and MOTORS!!!) is somehow fun. Finally my aunt beachs her banana after we cross the channels to the other side(which is a MUCH better place to be! It has water, grassy stuff and mudflats!! Not at all like the place we just came from!) and I was relieved to finally catch up, do the same, whereupon she asks me if I want a breather?? We are not there yet. We are in fact about 1/4 of the way where she was intending to go. So I honestly answered her with "No of course I don't need a breather, I need a MOTOR!!!" She laughed, I think she thought I was joking. SO onward even more paddling into the wind(still 15-20 knots) and against the tide and currant to even more water, grassy stuff and mudflats, until finally my aunt announces 'almost there, right around the bend is where we are going to go to fish!!' Around the bend I struggle, the end is IN SIGHT!! As I round the bend I come upon the thing which makes it all worth the pain and effort. A mudflat with grassy stuff and water. Hooray!! At this point I love mudflats. Anything but large expanses of open water where the real boats can try to run over us idiots in bananas. So we run into the mudflat that is partly out of water and sorta beach ourselves(well my aunt and cousin do, my banana which up to this point has managed to try to get onto every other mudflat, for some reason has an unexplained aversion to THIS mudflat and refuses to get stuck there until the 4th try). So we then fish for a while, I won't bother describing the fishing. It was not paddling, so I loved it. At that point I would birdwatch, study the ecological marvels of the grassy marshy stuff, or just admire the mudflat we were mired in, anything but paddling.

Then it was time to leave, when I found out, the only thing worse than trying to avoid mudflats, worse than trying to get ONTO a mudflat, is getting OFF the mudflat. You cannot step out of your banana, under no circumstance may you attempt to step ONTO a mudflat. It would be disturbing the environment's delicate balance, not to mention you sink right up to your armpits. And the mud doesn't let go of anything that hits it. Especially shoes. OR people. Even people who are wearing shoes. But especially dumb people who ride in bananas. My aunt helpfully told me the technique for getting off the mudflats, which is way too complex to explain. But she then tried to show me by getting herself off the mudflat that way. She didn't. She and her banana(her very obedient banana!!) sat there mired and stuck. So I tried what she told me, and stayed there too. So I did the alternate thing(which I thought up right then and there too) of scooting back and forth a lot until the boat scootched out of the mud. So my aunt (the expert) did the same thing. Maybe it will become a revered technique of kayakers everywhere and they will call it the Wolfy maneuver!!! Maybe not. I hope not anyway. That would be stupid.

So then we head back through the channels of doom!!!! We made it, after my arms failed entirely, and I was thinking "just leave me here to die ok?"(darn, they didn't), and my banana wanted to go back into the channels. Great, possessed suicidal banana. Then we started fishing in the waterways on the way back, yay!!!!! No paddling at all hardly, just drift along and fish. Then paddle furiously to keep off yet more mudflats. Which my banana has re-developed an affinity for. So then it starts getting dark, and I am asking 'hello? Are we going to stay out?' Whereupon I am informed, we cannot get back in until the tide comes in. Huh? We are stuck out here?? Great. More fascinating mudflats and oooo grassy stuff.

Finally we get back to the ground(Hooray!!!) and attempt to get back out of the bananas while not sinking into the mud or falling out into the water(why? We are all soaked through and muddy! What does it matter now?) Then we have to pull the bananas up and clean them up(washing mud off, apparently the mud might harm the bananas) and then we get to go inside the house, clean up and get clean dry clothes on. My aunt wanted me to go out to eat with them and grab a shower and all there, but I really needed to go ........ away. Far far away. Somewhere where there are no bananas. SO I thanked her profusely, and she asked me when I wanted to go back out. I told her never ever, not in a million years will I want to subject myself to that again. She laughed. I think she thought I was joking. So home again home again. Where I go to bed twitching with exhaustion, with blisters on my hands, and windburn on my face, wearing my cousin's sweatpants, and my uncle's shoes. Cold and sore. Never never ever go kayaking. Wolfy

Crap they make it friggin' hard ta sign in.

Yeah.. so anyway.. I've spent a damned year and a half trying to sign in. Damned stupid thing.
ANYwho..
I've been freezing my butt off. Yes, Florida got cold, damned cold, cold enough to make me DIE. So I died to death. Frozen Wolfsicle. Yep.
I got over it. Lil' Beachie said "Walk it off ya pogue!" and when he tells you to do something, you sure sit up and take notice, deaded or not.

I've been spending a ton of time writing fanfic, why? Cause I DAMNED WELL FEEL LIKE IT! Yes, I'm aware that I could be writing salable stuff.. like a book, or whatever. I want to write what makes ME happy, and right now it's GI Joe fanfiction, so that's what I'm writing. So there.. put that in your pipe and smoke it. Then get busted for smoking crack, cause I narced on ya to the cops. I'd say "Sorry" but that's just what nice folks do when they've fucked you over and they want you to think they feel bad. I'm not nice folks, I don't feel bad, and I ain't gonna lie and say I am/do.

Hey, guess what? MOOD SWINGS! Where the hell are those coming from? Ten minutes ago, I was happy. Now I'm ready to get out the guns and go shooting.

Speaking of guns. I got a awsome holster for the handgun. I want to look into CWC, but it's always damned well held on saturdays, when I WORK. Sorry for being a responsible citizen with a danged JOB.

I'm gonna post the kayak story on here, because I SWEAR I did, but now I don't see it. DOesn't mean it's not here, just means I can't find it. If it's on twice afterwards, just don't read it the second gorram time.

I made cupcakes the other day. Yeah, seriously. Real ones. And Brownies. They were good. I ate some, took some to work, where other people ate them. Now i'm out. I was going to get another box of mix to make more, but I forgot. Oh goddamn well.

I'm off to write some more, or bitch via email, or have antoher mood swing and go dancing around handing out lollipops. Who knows with me anymore?