I took the day off from work today since Ted had an appointment at the VA hospital in the Twin Cities. Of course we had to stop at one of the bike shops before the appointment! We still arrived at the VA about two hours early so Ted check in and we both sat and read our books. I was glad we were in and out of the hospital lickity split. Have you ever been to a VA hospital? It's a very interesting, but also sad place. You'll see all kinds of Vet's with many long-term disabilities....that's the sad part. Then there's the funny ha, ha situations. It never fails, I always have a funny story to tell when I come back from visiting the VA.
So today, there was a older man in the waiting room that was talking so loud that I could hardly read my book. Yack, yack, yack, he just wouldn't shut up! I'm assuming he finally found another man (bless his soul) that he could talk to, so he was telling this man all kinds of stuff. Like I said, he was talking so loud that I pretty much heard all the conversation. I remember at one point my husband nudging me when the man started talking about his "crazy" pills he was taking. Then he proceeded to talk about how he had this pack of wolves that comes to his house every day. He said the alpha-male will come running to him and he has to brace himself because the wolf will knock him over! Yeah, ok. He said the wolf is good to him and he is good to the wolf. Not sure I knew what he meant. Oh that's not all. Then he started talking about his 35 cats that hang around his house. I just love to go to the VA! These men are just craving some attention because our society has forgotten them and what they sacrificed for their country, especially the Vietnam Vets.
Please do me a simple favor. The next time you see a veteran in passing, please smile at them, with eye contact, and say hello. You will make their day....trust me!
PS. This wasn't so good news today. We stopped at Sam's Club in Bloomington. When we were ready to leave the parking lot, Ted started backing up and was ready to go forward, when this other guy, who was talking on his cell phone, proceeded to back up into us. All we heard was a loud crunch!!! The guy gets out of his van (still on his cell phone) cussing and telling us WE backed in to him. To make the story short, we called the Police and waited about 40 minutes for an officer to show up. The other guy had no damage to his van and we ended up with a broken tail light and back bumper that is pushed out some. What a bummer. The police will not write out an accident report anymore, unless the damage is over $1,000 or if someone gets hurt....geez.After our horrible afternoon, Ted treated me to a special pizza place in Hudson, where they make brick-oven pizzas. The pizzas are small so we ordered two. Oh boy were they delicious. This place is called "Brick's Neapolitan Pizza."
Guess what? It started snowing again last night and we woke up to another 3 inches of snow this morning. This time the winds picked up so the snow was blowing around and falling off the trees in big chunks. Kitty was all hyper this morning as she sat and watched the snow flying around and hitting the window. Annabelle gets all jumpy and active since she thinks it's playtime when snow starts whipping around. It didn't help either because the little sparrows kept flying into the sliding glass door and making kitty jump....she was in her "feline glory."
I have to say it was a lazy morning. I spent several hours on my computer researching Pugsley bicycles, which are made by Surly. The Pugsley is known as the "tractor" bicycle. Look at those tires...they are huge! These bikes are great for riding in snow, sand, or riding trails where the terrain is rough. The big tires make you feel like you are floating as you ride. I would really love one, but they are pricey. If I had a Pugsley, I could winter ride around Tainter Lake for sure...I'll keep dreaming.
