First of all, hello from my parents’ house in Stuarts Draft. This ought to be a fun weekend. I saw my friend Bergit in Charlottesville on the way down (that was a lot of fun), and then I’m spending tomorrow with the parents, then Monday I’m spending with Katie, and then Tuesday, back to DC.
The drive down here was kind of interesting. Usually I don’t hit traffic on a Saturday, but this time, the Beltway was awful. Almost as soon as we crossed into Virginia, pow. Slowed to a 10 mph crawl. Once I hit I-66, though, no problems, and except for some moderate congestion on US 29 through Gainesville, we were good. Smooth sailing right down 29 to Charlottesville. I noticed that they were expanding the Charlottesville Wal-Mart, and also noticed that an Exxon station at the corner of US 29 and Barracks Road had been demolished and seeded. Very strange seeing a vacant corner lot like that…
Meanwhile, Mom and I were talking on Friday evening, and she mentioned my springtime allergies. She mentioned them, and I countered with, “No, no, no… don’t let the allergies hear that it’s spring. Maybe we can get them to forget that it’s their time until it’s too late.” Of course, this is what happens when one leaves the more urbanized environment where I live and heads out to the country. My allergies hadn’t yet made themselves known this year. Then I got down this way where there are a lot of fields and such, and I started sneezing and started getting some nasal congestion. Not a good thing. After we all had dinner, we went over to a nearby CVS, and I got a pack of allergy meds. Zyrtec with the decongestant.
And then meanwhile, this is where the meth-heads have screwed it up for the rest of us. You get the little card for your product with pseudoephedrine. You have to give them your driver’s license so they can scan it. Then you have to sign this agreement. Then finally they actually sell you the product. It’s fairly ridiculous. I say let the meth-heads do their thing, because if they burn themselves out, then it’s survival of the fittest, and our species is better as a whole with these knuckleheads having removed themselves from the gene pool. Let me have my one box of decongestant and leave me alone. Some of us actually legitimately use the stuff, after all…