Today was an okay day, but tomorrow is not going to be very fun having to take this monster in for propane, but hey, it’s the only way to have hot showers and use the stove and then heat when we need it. It’ll be the only time we’ll be glad we don’t have a 40’ RV! Driving something that’s 20x10 is bad enough.

Anyway, we went to the storage place today to drop off a few more things. While we were at it, we got water and I gave the girl there the unwanted incense.

We stopped at the mail place to mail all my mail. Already we’ve received our new bank cards and checks.

Before we left, we decided to move the rats out of the truck and into the screen room. They appear much happier there. They’ll be cooler in the daytime when they can get more air circulation. At night we’ll cover them with a sheet.

Tom acquired a rash that we’re pretty sure is from the Tide laundry detergent we bought at the Laundromat, so we got our own free and clear All. It’s cheaper that way anyway.

After the storage and mail place, we went to the Chinese restaurant, then to the grocery store. Besides a few days’ worth of food, I got another notebook. It will be used exclusively for story-writing. I decided to start another story in it to work on little by little when I get bored, while I work on my current one on the main PC, whenever I get the chance to use it. I still don’t want to do an Oregon-based story until I’ve been here a full year.

Tom found me some Jiffy Pop which I was beginning to think they didn’t sell in Oregon. It wasn’t as good as microwave popcorn, but it was popcorn, and it’s nice to have every now and then.

Someone left a 12-pack of Pepsi under their cart in the parking lot, so I got a free 12-pack.

The next stop was the Laundromat, and again, I’m amazed by how chatty the people are here. I spoke with a retired woman named Pat and a woman around my age named Shaun.

Poor Pat and her husband have it worse than we did when we traveled as they’re waiting on a whole new engine! She and her husband just retired and drove cross country from Maryland. They’ve been stuck in a Best Western for a week now. I asked if it was noisy. Not surprisingly, she said it wasn’t.

Shaun, who’s always lived in Oregon, amazed me when she told me she thought I weighed 110 pounds!

We talked mainly about the places we’ve been to. Both were quite creeped out at the desert creatures I described that we’d encounter in Maricopa.

When we were discussing how it’s no fun to be told what to do with your own land, Pat told me of a place someone lived at that makes this place seem like we have total freedom here. They could only mow their lawn at set times, they had to make sure their neighbor was up first, they couldn’t put their trash out the night before, they had to pull their trash cans in as soon as they were dumped, etc.

Anyway, poor Shaun locked her keys in her truck. Tom and some other guy tried to pry it open to no avail, so she had to wait for someone to rescue her with a Slim Jim.

We were all laughing our asses off when she first asked me if I knew how to break into trucks and I said, “Sorry, wrong criminal history. I was only a prank phone caller.”

Anyway, Tom’s trip to the temp place wasn’t that great. They told him to call every morning at 8:00 to see if they have anything, but of course, he can only wait so many days, which means he’ll have to fill out applications at the Work Connection.

There is good news, though, and that’s that the minimum wage here is $7.05 an hour rather than $5.15 like it is in Arizona. That’s way cool! With that, we could have $100 a month to spend on whatever, but as I told Tom, once I get the most expensive dolls if I can get them without the headaches and hassles, I’m going to cut my spending money back to $50 a month because I want to get in the house!!! The custom-made dolls I decided on are Hispanic Alexa, black Shani, redheaded, cornflower-eyed Becky, auburn-haired, green-eyed Jamaica, and blond, blue-eyed Mandy. I still may one day get either SW16 Bailey or an Indian version of her.

Our last stop was Dairy Queen for Blizzards. There were these two little kids there that were so Arizona-like and totally out of control. They were running around screaming like crazy. The parents themselves couldn’t have been a day over 18.

At one point a biker approached them to lecture them about not teaching the kids manners (something no one would dare do in Arizona!) and the mother simply said, “My son’s only 3 years old.”

Yes, she should be disciplining them, but had I been her, Mr. Big Bad Biker would’ve been in for a rude awakening! I’d have totally cussed him out and told him to mind his own goddamn business and if he wanted to fight, I’d be ready. The kids really were little monsters, though, screaming like hyenas. I was thrilled when they finally left.

In general, the people here, both young and old, seem a lot more relaxed. Arizona restaurants can really be quite a circus, yet even though the Chinese place was crowded, it wasn’t a zoo-like riot. They were all adults, though, as Oregon doesn’t seem to have as many kids.