It's Sunday evening already. I'm blogging earlier than I normally would because, after 7 p.m., tonight belongs to Lost.
Yes, I'm that much of a television nerd that I planned my Sunday around this evenings TV. In my defense, it's a big night for Lost- the last episode ever. I think given how much entertainment and puzzles it's given me since it aired, it deserves a proper send-off.
I shall sit down tonight and watch it with the puppies who I am hoping will sleep through the actual episode which is 2.5 hours and doesn't start until 9 p.m. Before that is a 2 hour special that basically honours the show and recaps everything that's happened. Or something like that anyway.
I haven't spent the whole weekend planning for it though. I spent most of yesterday cleaning my house since Saz is coming to stay next weekend. I also did some grocery shopping and bought a new TV as well as a stand for it. No, Captain Monkeypants has not come into the money- she just promised herself that when she got her tax refund, she was going to move into the digital age and actually buy a LCD television.
I bought it from Amazon.com and it should arrive Wednesday. I'm quite excited although I'm sure hooking it up might be a wee bit daunting. We'll see.
So, yesterday was a busy day. Today has been too. I spent much of it outside, sweltering in the sunshine. I mowed the garden, pulled some weeds, planted the last of my vegetable plants that I grew from seed, baked sausage rolls and bathed the puppies.
The latter did not go quite as well as I'd have liked since the puppies hate baths. They're small enough that the kitchen sink works quite nicely. Today, Rory decided that when I was bathing Sookie and she couldn't see her sister that I clearly was inflicting some awful punishment upon her. She proceeded to whine and cry and act like she was terribly wounded. Then, when it was her turn to be bathed, Sookie decided to whimper and cry and act like she was terribly wounded. Then when they were both done...they ran out into the garden, rolled in the grass and chased each other without another whimper. Strange puppies....
I also went to Walmart today. I think I've mentioned that I'm not a big fan of Walmart. When they first opened, like so many other people, I was enamoured with its cheap prices and easy-to-find..stuff. Then as time passed by, Walmart became far less friendly and cheap and eventually became the Evil Walmart that Destroyed Small Town Businesses and Then Became More Expensive than Kroger and Target- at least in my mind. These days, while Walmart does have some good deals, most of the time you can find the same grocery items on sale at Meijer or Kroger for the same price or cheaper. As for the non-grocery items, I find more and more that Target is better value and it's a lot more convenient.
Not to mention, Walmart have recently taken to remodeling the inside of their stores. Have you been in one like this lately? There's absolutely no rhyme or reason to the organization. You're in the kitchen stuff one minute then in crafts and then back in Kitchen. Also, there is tons of empty space between the aisles and it looks like a ginormous warehouse. That might be the idea but, let me tell you, when you're in a hurry and you need to dash in for two items, a ginormous warehouse is not where you want to go. You want to go somewhere where you can a) find the items because they're logically organized and 2) will not cause an asthma attack because it's so damn huge, you have to sprint from one side of the store to the other if you're unlucky enough that the two items you want are far apart which, I find, is most of the time.
My second complaint is actually not just towards Walmart. Today, I needed to buy some Claritin-D for my allergies. Over time, I've gone from being a casual seasonal sneezer to someone who wakes up with red, itchy eyes, a stuffy nose and a need to sneeze every two minutes and they're not the nice, dainty little sneezes... they're the ones that make puppies want to hide.
Here's where I say: Thank you, Crystal Meth Makers for making us allergy-prone people's lives so much more complicated.
I hate Crystal Meth Makers as a group. I don't think I know any personally. I hate them not only because they tend to be the less-intelligent members of society or the ones who have no grasp of reality but, also, because they need allergy medicine to make their stupid drug.
This means that because they were going and buying all the pseudoephedrine-containing products to make their drug, the government had to find a way to stop them. Now, everyone, not just Crystal Meth Makers has to jump through hoops just to buy a box of Claritin or Sudaphed that actually works.
Oh, I know- you can still buy the basic Claritin and other allergy medicines from the shelf because they don't contain pseudoephedrine but the thing is...they really don't work that well. They might curtail the sniffles or the sneezes a little but they don't stop it. It's like putting a band-aid on a badly bleeding cut- sure, it stops the bleeding for a bit but eventually, it's going to be useless.
So now, we all get to show our ID's and have them scanned whenever we buy allergy medicine from behind-the-counter. If we exceed our limit, we can be arrested. You might think, oh, this is just a 'soft' law but, let me tell you, they do arrest people. Take little old Sally Harpold- a grandmother of triplets from Indiana who was locked away in Clinton, Indiana where she was caught buying two cold medicines within seven days. Sadly, she wasn't even buying them for herself- one was for her husband and one was for her daughter. She was charged with a class-C misdemeanor, which carries a sentence of up to 60 days in jail and up to a $500 fine. Her record is potentially able to be expunged of the crime if Harpold pays the court costs, stays clean for 30 days, and presumably comes to terms with “her problem.”
This isn't a joke. It's a news story that I first heard on the radio and then researched because I didn't believe it.
This is one of the reasons I hate Crystal Meth Makers. Poor old Sally Harpold didn't know the law and now she's being treated like she's a Crystal Meth Maker even though all she did was run two errands for her family.
I know it's not the pharmacies' fault that they have to get our ID and report us if we exceed the limits of our pseudoephedrine allotment. It just seems to be that the law isn't always working the way it's supposed to an now it's not possible to have a super quick trip to a pharmacy- it involves digging out your ID, having it run through the computer and waiting to see if you're allowed to buy the medicine.
I suppose it's not that big of a deal, it's more of an inconvenience that the stupid members of our society are the reason we all have to comply to laws like this. I respect the law and all that but every now and again, you have to wonder if it's really doing anything. I mean, I'm not a crystal meth dealer but surely all it would take is asking some of your clients/friends/family to go and buy their allotment of pseudoephedrine for the month and then having them hand it all to you. It doesn't take a genius to figure out ways round a law like this which is probably why there's still a huge problem with crystal meth labs and the consequences that go along with them.
Ah, well...such is life. As I said, it's not Walmart's fault but I'll blame them anyway because I always leave there in a bad mood. Half the time I go in one now and then leave because I can't find what i'm looking for and its easier to go elsewhere.
Still, today, I did get most of what I needed. It turned out to be a nice productive Sunday after a nice productive Saturday. Those are sometimes the best kind of weekends even though they're not what some people call relaxing. For me, that's a different form of relaxation- at least it doesn't involve sitting at a desk, staring at a computer screen and dealing with office politics.
I hope you had a good weekend too. I'm off to start my Lost evening and find my puppies.
Happy Monday!
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