Sunday, March 26, 2006

Sunday Morning Comin' Down

I am frustrated with the lack of 24-hour food establishments here. There are two, neither local: one is Denny's and the other is a truck stop. There's a diner over in the big town but it closes at night and when it's open it's either full of college kids or their visiting relatives. DINERS AREN'T SUPPOSED TO CLOSE! I guess that one does to avoid drunken frat boys from trashing the place at 3 AM. That's reasonable. They trash the streets enough as it is.

We need a Waffle House. Not here, in my town, but in the new development near the truck stop. Or even better, an IHOP. While I'm dreaming, how about a good buffet-style restaurant? The new Chinese one by the new Wal-Mart sucks; we'll drive 30 miles to eat Chinese rather than go there again. But I'm talking Old Country Buffet or Ryan's or something like that. Preferably a place with a breakfast buffet. One can GET breakfast at Denny's, Cracker Barrel, etc. but there are no breakfast buffets in the area.

Tomorrow morning we are going to get up, get in the vehicle, and drive to a city an hour away in time for OCB's breakfast. I have a mad craving for scrambled eggs with cheese and mushrooms on top. And silver dollar pancakes, and fruit and danish and grits and stuff. Now, we're on a shopping mission as well, so it isn't a frivolous trip. I need work shoes/boots and jeans; hubby wants to price tires for both trucks, which we're going to need soon; and of course we're scoping out all the car dealers as usual.

That's what we're going for. What will happen: we'll have breakfast, head for the flea market, look at cars, lose track of time, and wind up at either Best Buy or Wal-Mart since everything else is closed. I'll try on three pairs of jeans and none will fit right. If we make it to Gander Mountain before they close, they'll have the exact pair of work boots I want, but they won't be on sale (or will be, and they won't have my size) and I'll end up writing down the brand and searching for them on the internet, only to find that everyone is out of stock. Then two weeks from now I'll walk into Boscov's and pick up a different brand on sale for 75% off and be out the door in 10 minutes. (Oh who am I kidding? It's BOSCOV'S! More like an hour, if the Auditorium is open.)

That's what ALWAYS happens, but I keep trying anyway. I like wandering around in Gander Mountain. They had these sweaters... felt like clouds... I could never afford one, but I'd pick one up and carry it around the store with me like a stuffed animal just because it was so incredibly soft and wonderful. Only time I can recall ever wanting a white sweater. Boscov's had some robes like that too. I wanted to climb in the middle of the rack like I did as a kid and just stand there feeling all light and fuzzy. Now I'm imagining a memory-foam mattress and a warm, soft chenille blanket. I have neither, but I'm so tired I think I'll let my imagination take over.

4 comments:

Chris said...

Piece of advice... get the sweater, damn the cost. Don't disallow yourself a wee bit of happiness. 2nd piece of advice: after you buy it, don't fret about it nor regret it. Just simply enjoy it.

Cheers.

CJupiter said...

Thanks... Wish I could, but they only had them before Christmas. I was not about to spend that kind of green on something for myself so close to the holiday! Maybe they'll have some this year or I'll find one cheaper elsewhere.

It's also (to me anyhow) a good way to prioritize and price-compare. Usually when I'm almost done shopping I go back through the buggy/bag and decide what I really need and what I just want, and end up putting impulse items back on the shelf. If I still think I want *whatever* the next day I look for it on sale elsewhere. Maybe it's time-consuming but I get the fun of shopping without going in debt!

Not to say I don't splurge now and then... usually on books. ;-)

fart blossom said...

We need a Waffle House ...
...but there are no breakfast buffets in the area.

Dood. You're making me hungry! And that's not good since in this country if you want breakfast... fix it yourself fool! McDonalds doesn't even serve breakfast so if you want a Big-Mac at 9am, you're in luck, you sick thing you. I did find breakfast in Prague, but you almost can't count a capital city in any country. It's like, almost not even the same country. Bohemia Bagel has a mean breakfast menu and is reasonable for the prices in Prague. Just watch out for that cheese cake. It will call your name. I don't know how it knows, but it always does... but I digress.

Food places are not open 24 hours here. Unless you count gas stations... on second thought, don't count gas stations. Most food places stay open very late but after something like 9 or 10 they close the kitchen (what the @#$#@ are they thinking?) and all you can get is beer. So I learned to drink beer.

So I guess I can relate to your breakfast dilemma. I can only say thank God for not making me a morning person. Hey, count your blessings.

Waylan

CJupiter said...

I'm not a morning person either. That's why I want breakfast at 2 AM! ;-P

I am not the breakfast fixer in this house. Left to me, we'd eat Fruity Pebbles or Pop Tarts. The Manperson does the breakfast cooking thing, I take care of the rest, it's all good.

By the way, we have a lot of bar-and-grill places that do the same.. close grill early but serve beer until the wee hours... I never did like beer very much. Guess I'm out of luck on all counts.