What I have needed

A bit of background here. Jana's parents have a camper that they were going to let us use while we were staying, regrettably the heat did not work when we arrived. The heat got fixed today. After letting the camper warm up for a bit, I decided to go relax in there - to get away from the chaos. I have been sitting here reading for a bit and am finding it a bit difficult to concentrate on it. My mind is just finding it difficult to accept that work isn't going to call, or that something else is going to happen. I better get as much of this as possible, I think this is what has been missing from my life for a while, this is what I need to function properly.

Wall Drug

Wall Drug - what can you say about it... it's a small business that has made it big, it's a stop in the middle of no-where, it's a tourist trap... no matter how you define Wall Drug there is not debating that is a prolific advertiser (as billboards go). What has brought up this subject you may be wondering, well I will tell you a small story, then give you some info; sound fair?

I have been making the trip from Des Moines, Iowa into northern Wyoming for a few years now, any time of the year. Each trip is different, you never know what you are going to encounter, sometimes you will see cops every few miles, other times you will see hardly any. Sometimes things will go great, other times you will wish that you had never gotten out of bed, sometimes the roads will be busy with people on vacation, other times the roads will be practically deserted. I have found one constant, once you hit I-90, you can't get away from the billboards, advertising almost everything, killing animals, not killing fetuses (that's a whole other topic that I don't wish to get into), attractions and services along the way. Anyone who has traveled I-90 for any distance will know that many of the advertisements are for tourist traps Murdo, Corn Palace, etc. Now one of the most prolific advertisers is Wall Drug.

The last time I drove this trip (Friday), Jana and I counted the number of Wall Drug signs from Sioux Falls, SD to Wall, SD. We counted 97, that's about one (1) sign every three (3) miles. Let me tell you that can get very annoying after the first 20... Then to top things off, the two times that I went to Wall Drug , I can't say that it was anything terribly impressive, some small stores, not much for good food, and far from enough parking. Though I did get Jana's ring from there, a nice ring too.

Here is someone else's blog posting on Wall Drug: http://www.brandlovehate.com/2006/08/wall_drug_adver.html

Trip - Part one

The last couple of days have been interesting. Thursday Jana and I packed up the car (the back was so full that I could initially see out the rear-view mirror); after packing up the car we took Fozzy to the vet to stay while Jana and I are out of town. Fozzy looked so scared, I feel so bad about leaving him there, all alone. :-( After that we drove the 4 hours to Sioux Falls South Dakota. After being lost for a a few minutes Jana was able to guide me to the hotel. We had a nice stay in the hotel, Residence Inn - we had a good room, good food, and friendly staff all around. After a good nights sleep, and I mean some great sleep for me, we got up, and headed out to Wyoming.
The trip to Wyoming was mostly uneventful, Jana slept a bit, I drove, we counted (more on that in another post), and finally got to Wyoming (with only running into a bit of snow). I must say that the trip is always nerve racking for me, the whole environment of Jana's family in Wyoming is so different from anything that I have ever really experienced in my life - that it scares the brown stuff out of me. The environment is chaotic to say the least, animals all over the house (not a big deal to me), many different people; and to top it all off, I'm never sure what exactly is going on. I won't even go into the smoking thing (yuck).
Today we unloaded the car of all the gifts - took about five trips. Then we went to Wal-Mart, the only reason I went there was to hopefully get away from some of the chaos... though it was packed with people (darn it). Despite all the chaos, and noise, I do like Jana's family, they are nice people who only mean well; they have shown me so much love that it amazes me. Five days left till we leave, I'm sure I will be ready for it, get a good shower.
Now to see if I can get rid of this headache and runny nose.

Holidays

I was hoping to post this from Google Docs, but I was not able to get it to work, kept getting errors - I will have to do some investigating on that. Now onto the post at hand.
Okay, I want to rant - I do that an awful lot, don't I? :-) Well this one is about holidays. Yes, it is time for that subject again - it only seems like it was a year ago that this was brought up (not really by me, but by many many others). So why do I bring it up - because I want to put my 1¢ in, that's why. Will I have anything new and original to say - most likely not, but humor me. What got me thinking on this was this post: http://www.scott-o-rama.com/2006/12/07/how-dare-i/ , go ahead, read it, I'll wait. ... ... ... ... Done yet? Okay, good. Now that post got me thinking about all the times in the previous years that I heard people say that the winter holidays should always be referred to as "Christmas", and if you don't then you are trying to kill Christmas, or you are a Satanist.
Two things: 1) I don't celebrate Xmas, I'm not a Xian after all. 2) Many other religions have celebrations around this time of year, not just Xians. I don't see why so many Xians have trouble understanding #2* (at least here in the US). I don't care what holiday you celebrate, or don't celebrate, but I don't like people thinking that their holiday (religion) is the only one that matters, it's purely egocentric. As far as I'm concerned you can celebrate Xmas, it's your right, but I should be free to celebrate my holiday of choice. Everyone deserves respect, and demanding that people say "Marry Xmas" rather then "Happy Holidays" shows a complete lack of respect for others. I wonder how many Xians would feel if everyone started wishing people a happy solstice rather then a marry xmas - I'm willing to bet they would have a similar feeling to mine (but then again how would I act...).

Let me know your comments, that what the comment section is for after all.

* Please note, I know that not all Xians are that way, but from my perspective those good souls are few and far between.

It's been a while

Well, it's been a while since I have posted anything. I've had a rather rough last few months, my mind has been on vacation (too bad it didn't take me with it), and I just haven't been myself. I think things are getting better now, at least I remember that I even had a blog. Not much has really happened since I last wrote - good thing I didn't write and bore everyone then.
Oh well, I'm at work right now, sick and board... needing something to do, so I posted. Okay, off I go, time to find something worthwhile, and less tiring to occupy my mind.