It's 9:23pm & it's rained twice already. The wind isn't too bad, but it's blowing off and on. It's been a long day! I'm tired & I'm ready for this hurricane to come & GO!!!!!! SoHo & I have not had an adventure in about a month & along comes this dang storm & I need "parts" to tell you about this adventure LOL! Well, here goes "Part One"!
I woke up about 7:20am, got ready for church & left around 8:45. We got outta' church around 10ish. I went "hurricane preparation shopping" this past Wednesday, but I had to go to the pharmacy at Wal-Mart, but it doesn't open until noon so I "lollygagged" around until that time. Before I get to the next part, I should preface with this: I watched the weather report before leaving this morning & they said Wal-Mart would be closing at 6pm. Back to what I was saying - I went to Wal-Mart just after noon thinking I was gonna' go to the pharmacy & pick up a few other last minute items that I didn't get earlier in the week... ask me how smoothly that went? How smoothly, you say? It didn't go AT ALL!!!!!!!!!
I pulled up in the parking lot & there was about as many cars as usual. People were coming out of the store; a few employees were gathered outside. There were even tons of police cars, so I was thinking someone must have tried to steal something or there might have been a disturbance. NOPE!!!! The dang store was closing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm like "what the hell"!!!!!!!! I couldn't go to the pharmacy & I couldn't get any snacks. I left there to go to the little grocery store down the street from Wal-Mart. OMG!!!!!! The parking lot was packed from one end of the shopping center to the other!!!!!!!!!! I had to circle around a few times to find somewhere to park then I had to almost bribe people to get a darn shopping cart!! I waited nearly 5 minutes for this lady to leisurely stop chit-chatting with someone she knew, walk to her car then get her cart that some little girl tried to swipe from me! So anyway, I go on with my shopping only to get to the check-out line & be parked behind two people with enough grocery to last a month!!! At any rate, I waited my turn, checked out & went on my quest for ice!
I knew it would be hectic to find ice this weekend (not to mention the ice maker in my freezer would not make enough ice to last several days), so I rearranged everything in my freezer & I bought two big bags of ice this past Friday. I wanted to be sure I had enough, so I decided I'd better take my ice chest so I could fill it up. There's a little ice maker machine thingie outside the grocery store I'd just come from so I checked that one first - EMPTY!!!! There's another one a couple of miles in the other direction so I went there - EMPTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I leave there & decide to check the Sonic; they not only sell bagged ice, but it's soft & GOOD LOL!!! So, I go back several miles back toward my house (in the Wal-Mart parking lot where I'd initially gone for grocery). I pull up at the speaker-thingie to ask them for ice - NONE!!!!!!!! I sit in my car wondering where the hell I'd go next. Someone told me to check the parish maintenance facility & I'm like WHY WOULD THE "barn" (that's what we call it 'round these parts LOL) give out ice??? They are giving sandbags to people (I got those Friday)! Would they be giving ice, too? So at any rate, I head on over there. It's not far from my house but about 3 miles from where I was but I need the ice so... I get there & they don't have ice... DUDE!!! Can you imagine how pissed I am now? I'm wasting gas traveling all over town in this stupid traffic for damn ice!!! GRRRRR!!! Anyway, I remembered McDonald's sells bagged ice so I start out in the other direction... AGAIN!!! Before making it there, I ran into another someone I knew who said he'd gotten ice from the local ice house; it's before McDonald's so I figured I'd detour that way then go to Mickey D's if necessary. Let's hope this someone knows what he's talking about!
I pull up at the ice house & there's a crap load of people there already. I walk up & ask if I could get ice & they said no because no one was there to give out the ice. So, I'm thinking to myself: "If they aren't here, why the hell are ya'll standing here having a damn tea party (or perhaps it was more like an ambush LOL) if you can't get ice!!! It's hot as hell & ya'll are just standing around like it's a meeting!" Anyway, they say "someone" told them they'd be back by 2pm, but it's now 2:37 (yes, I'd been out ALL THAT TIME - from about 10am to 2:30pm)! So I left & decided to check one other place before I would settle for what I had at home. BTW - while sitting there deciding whether or not I should wait it out, I called Mickey D's & the girl tells me they have NO ICE!!!!!!!!!
I go about a mile further to a local truck stop/casino/restaurant/gas station/convenience store (yep, seriously) and there is a man standing out there with a lock, key & a girl giving out ice!!! I screamed so loud; I was so happy!!!!!!!!!! I walk up & here the man telling another man that he would need to go in & pay for they ice, come out, show his receipt then he could get ice. I immediately went inside, paid for 3 bags & got my ice. As I load the ice chest, I think about how our power goes out at the first sign of wind 50 miles away & with this hurricane bringing winds of up to 140 mph, I decided to go back & pay for 2 more bags of ice! I load up my ice chest, hop in my ride & head back home - 4 miles in the other direction!!! Phew - finally!
I get home & realize I forgot a couple of things - YAY me, right!!! I know... but when you're rushing & exhausting before you even begin, you tend to forget things! Instead of going to the other store that was packed earlier, I decide to go to a little grocery store closer to my house. MISTAKE!!!!!!!!!!! Someone damn near hit me as I turned into the parking lot! You see, the parking lot is as big as my yard LOL and it was jam packed!!!!!!!!!!! I managed to get a spot fairly quickly but I'm sure I pissed the lady off who wanted it as badly as I did LOL! I get in the store & immediately notice there is no bread - thank GOD I already bought some the other day. But even worse than NO bread was the fact that people were bumper to bumper with shopping carts... it took me an hour to get a few things because it was mass confusion trying to maneuver the cart without hitting someone. It was like the only language spoken inside this colony of hurricane-threat tortured aliens was "Excuse me!" I waited in this line for about 3o minutes, because again, the people in front of me looked like they were planning for a wedding party of 300 with the amount of grocery they had. The next thing I know the cashier says to the bag-boy, "They threatened to shut us down earlier if we didn't clear all these people out." I looked around to see who she was talking about & there's police at the door - inside & outside - and inside the store walking around. By the time I checked out, the policeman inside had cleared the aisle between the front wall & the registers & was directing "traffic"! As I approached the automatic door to leave, it was disabled & the policeman outside had to shove it open to let me out! What was even more surprising was that outside the door, were even MORE police officers AND a line of customers waiting to get in the store!!!!!!!!! It was crazy! Evidently, the store was overcrowded & the fire marshall had been there to report the problem so when the crowd didn't die down, they called the called the cops to clear everyone out! I'm so happy I went when I did because I would NOT have stayed out there in all that damn heat, then go inside the store/circus & fight with the masses just to grab a few things!
FINALLY - I GET HOME ABOUT 4pm!!!!!!!!!!! STAY TUNED FOR PART 2... (my apologies for any typos... I don't feel like checking & I don't feel like reading what I typed to check myself LOL!
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