Jump, Jiggle & Jig at Jack in the Box

Today was Errand Day. First the post office to mail an internet sale I overlooked and should have shipped yesterday. Wait! I forgot the package. Turn car around and get package from house and while I'm at it grab a book to read because I'll probably have a wait at the tire store and will need something to do.

Back in the car...arrive at post office but change my mind when I see the size of the line-maybe I can stop on my way home. While at the post office I have a short but pleasant conversation with a retired gentleman who was trying to understand the property tax papers he just opened. I looked at ours yesterday so was quickly able to point out the part he needed to send in and then tore the tab off for him. He asked if I exercised a lot as he thought I looked to be in good shape. How sweet!

Next the Social Security office. I intended to do this stop yesterday but forgot my marriage licence. SS is just left of the post office but I forgot and make my usual right turn. Turn car around in Feed and Seed store parking lot and head back to Social Security office. As I get out of the car I see several women sitting on the ground outside the door. It seems unusual until a woman passing me on her way out explains there is a hour and a half wait. Well, I have to come back for the post office anyway, I can stop here again later. (Note from second visit....I stopped at social security office on the way home and talked to the woman who works security/front desk. She explained that because of the amount of fraud going on I could not do the necessary paperwork here nor can I mail the papers in but that I'll have to drive to Phoenix and deliver the papers in person). Ugh!

OK back to today and on to Fletcher's for an oil change and check for the slow leak in my tire. Oops...there's Fletcher's on the other side of the street-but it's too late-I've missed the driveway. Find a place to turn the car around again. Make my way back-but wait! There is our bank (the fourth place on my list of places to go). Might as well catch the bank while I'm here.

Jose is on the phone when I enter so I wait on a black leather chair and glance at the headlines on a five day old newspaper. Old news. I met Jose last Friday when my husband and I made a special trip together to the bank to add my name to his accounts-but alas I forgot the marriage license so we could not do the transaction. Jose assured me that since he had talked with my husband I could come without him next time provided I remembered the marriage license. Armed with my paperwork and ID I enter Jose's cubicle and note as I listen to him click computer keys that the advertising poster hung on his wall is all in Spanish except for the name of the bank. After examining the marriage license he explains that he will have to put my maiden name on the account and change it to my married name once I have my new name registered through the Social Security. As he is explaining the benefits of the the bank credit card they are offering me I chuckle when he says, "It might come in handy on a rainy day"....a rainy day?....we're living in the desert here! Jose apologetically explains that I'll need to take the papers home for my husband to sign and return them tomorrow then my debit card will be issued in 7-10 days. OK so now this is going to end up being a four trip task before all is said and issued.

On to Fletcher's...after waiting for several minutes at any empty counter a service man emerges from the garage, takes my keys and asks what color my car is (my favorite car ID question-I know the answer to this one, unlike the more probing questions such as the size of the engine or what was kind of oil is currently being used). The nice man explains it will probably be two hours and he'll call my cell phone if they need me.

OK...so now I'm hoofin' it. There are two other businesses within walking distance-Home Depot and Jack in the Box. Perfect, since I have to return some plumbing to Home Depot and am feeling the need to fuel my stomach soon. I head to Home Depot first and make the return then walk through the garden center eyeballing all the plants and wondering what would be good to plant in my two large terracotta pots I hauled from Michigan. Knowing I can't buy anything now due to my car-less-ness and feeling growing pangs of hunger urging me on, I make my way across the parking lot to Jack in the Box. I've been hankering for a fast food burger for some time now...ever since Pensacola, Florida some five weeks ago. As I calculate the time since my last hamburger fix I realize this may be some type of record for me. It's my first time eating at a Jack in the Box and I order the cheapest combo and mix a drink of Root Beer and Dr. Pepper so that I'll be able to sleep tonight. I ask the young girl behind the counter if I can have an extra tray mat so I'll have something to write on. Well, here's another good thing about the two hour wait...I have time to write a blog and don't have to feel guilty about the list of jobs at home that I could be doing instead of blogging. I settle in the cowboy seat (a corner seat that allows me to see the entire room including the door to the outside-it's a teacher habit I can't seem to break). I quickly chill to the point of discomfort as the air conditioning is cranked high. Muttering about being too cold, I gather my things and go outside to look for a table but to my chagrin find nothing but parking lot and a few shade trees. I scout out an open parking space that is out of the flow of traffic and has some shade-take up residence on the curb and then quickly relocate when I notice I'm sitting near a busy pathway of small red ants. Finally settled in the shade, on the curb, in the parking lot, I take up pen and grease soaked place mat and eagerly jot down my adventures so that I can share with you.