Southward

Just to bring this up to speed...from WI, we drove to AR, where we have been staying. As stated previously, I can go nowhere without incident, and that drive was no exception. We were driving merrily along somewhere in the middle-of-nowhere north AR, when we passed a gas station. I glanced at my gauge & decided I had a bit more left & kept driving. Well...we were definitely in the middle-of-NOWHERE, because some miles down the road and Calvin was on empty, and still...no gas. I was thinking, "Seriously, this has to happen to me?" Some more miles and he was below EMPTY and yet...no gas. At which point I was pretty much thinking, "Where is a gas station?!?", and that was pretty much the only thing I was thinking. Finally, I saw gas, pulled off the freeway and felt immensely relieved. I parked at the pumps, walked up to the door and tried to open it, just to find it locked. The grouchy, overweight, just-finished-her-shift woman behind the counter stared at me & yelled, "We're closed." No kidding...I though you just randomly locked your door as a practical joke. I looked at the hours posted at the door, and noticed that they closed at 8:00, so I walked back to the car & discovered that it was 7:55. Aha! So, I went to the window right by the lady & yelled, "I'm out of gas". She stared at me. I stared back. For a minute, I was sure she was just going to ignore me, but she finally walked over to the door & said something about having already closed the cash register. She was nice enough to volunteer to follow me to the closest gas station, which I took her up on, even though I was mad enough to take her head off. We managed to have enough gas to make the four mile trip, at the end of which I thanked the lady, while she thanked me for the inconvenience. Either way, we got gas & were on our way without further incident.

Since arriving in AR, Calvin has proved to be quite the brat: blowing a fuse, needing oil, smelling hot...to name a few of his antics. Seriously, I think he just likes extra attention, or something. I guess I gave him enough for now, because he is doing fine.

So, now I'm living in a shed, trying to figure out what happens next, and enjoying the antics of the little girls...

The 10 yr old: "I have an encouraging word for you"
Me: "Yeah?"
J: "Drugs."
Me: *raises eyebrows*
J: "Yes... drugs, not hugs"

Yeah...it's been interesting. 

P.S. All you Northerners should know that I have been running around in a t-shirt. In February. Yep.