Footlongs! Nacho cheese fries! A heart attack! March 31, 2008

Two weeks later, and Dand I finally have our apartment to ourselves. Lacy came in for a few days, of course, and the boys (Matt, Rob, Pershing and Jake) crashed for a full week.

I had to work 8 days straight right after Lacy left, so I didn’t get to spend as much time with the boys as I would’ve liked to. Lucky for me, they saved all the really fun activities for when I could actually enjoy them. Some highlights:

• Drinks
• Smash bros.
• Drinks
• Snacks
• Ron Jon’s
• Drinks
• Ocean
• Footlongs with chili, onions and coleslaw
• Drinks
• Medieval Times
• Drinks
• Ocean
• More footlongs
• Hibachi
• Cigars
• Drinks

And that about sums their trip up. It was a lot of fun and really great to have some friends around again. There were six of us occupying a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, but it wasn’t ever a problem. The ocean was pretty cold, but the weather itself was great. Our plan of attack was to run into the water, Baywatch style, splash around like little kids until we were too tired, then get out and bake in the sun for a little while. On their last night in town, we took them out to get some hibachi. We had the slowest bartender ever, but the food and chef were both great. While we were waiting to get a table, we wandered over to a tobacco shop and got some post-dinner cigars. After stuffing ourselves on seafood and rice, we went down to the beach for an evening smoke. It was an excellent end to a week good fun and great company.

In other news, one of the cats (I’m almost certain it was the new guy) ate my last pair of contacts and my prescription expired. Enter: vision insurance. I can get an eye exam for only $15! That’s insane. My parents don’t have vision insurance for whatever reason, and exams are usually $100 or so. I also get a discount on contacts, glasses and sunglasses. Anyway, that’s what I’ll be doing tomorrow. Whoo!

I feel like I have cotton balls in my throat March 10, 2008

Which is better than the alternative, I guess…

Seriously, though, my throat is killing me.  I’m just glad I have health insurance, otherwise I’d be in a sad, sad state.

Other than that, things have been pretty good, although I’m starting to get bored with the TV shows we have on DVD.  I need some suggestions for new stuff to rent from Netflix.

Lacy is supposed to be coming for her spring break, and I’m really excited.  For some reason, Dan just doesn’t get excited about the same things I do, such as the new Sephora that just opened. Lacy appreciates that sort of things.  Dan doesn’t even know what Sephora is. Oh the joys of married life.

Crash has been really sick lately, and I’m worried about her. The vet just keeps saying she’ll be fine, but I’m not so sure that’s true.  Dan said he doesn’t think she’ll live that long.  I don’t appreciate that, and I hope he’s wrong.

Anyway, I need to medicate before I go to work.

My turn! March 7, 2008

I’ve thought of something else that I dislike about Myrtle Beach. Maybe dislike isn’t quite the word…but the situation is definitely disappointing.

In Columbia, if a person lives close to MU campus, he or she can literally walk or ride a bike anywhere worth going. I loved it, and I rode my bike pretty much everywhere. It was my primary mode of both transportation and exercise. All you had to do was hop on the MKT on a pleasant fall day for a beautiful ride through backcountry and forest. Myrtle Beach would be the perfect place for such activity: It’s flat and the weather is always great. However, people seem adamantly opposed to sharing the road with cyclists, and there are no bike lanes in sight (the 400 feet of bike lane by the Wal-Mart does NOT count.) Another problem is that to get anywhere worth riding, you have to take a highway, which is not only dangerous but also illegal in the state of SC and I think a lot of other places, too.

I have an awesome bike, and I want to ride it. I think I’m going to try taking it out on a lesser-traveled back road on my next day off (which won’t be happening for 7 more days. Ugh.)

Another observation: MB drivers are bitter. I know, everyone complains about the traffic where they live. It’s too slow, there’s always a jam, the drivers are stupid, etc., and blah blah blah. But bitter drivers? I think that’s a little different. I seriously think that year after year of tourist season has taken its toll on their southern hospitality. There no courtesy wave for letting someone out in front of you. Actually, there is no getting let out in front of other people in the first place. I think Dan and I might be the only people who do that out here, and when we do, the person behind us looks like they might have an aneurism. I don’t know what the deal is. I guess they just get tired of ignorant visitors clogging the roads. Maybe things will be better for us once we get our SC license plates.

On a side note: It’s raining today, and I have the scooter. I really hope it stops before 3:30.

I have come to realize that… March 5, 2008

no matter how many personal documents you bring with you or how many phone calls you make to ensure success, you will never, ever be able to walk into a DMV anywhere and and actually accomplish what you set out to do.

Armed with my: Missouri driver’s license, birth certificate, marriage license, proof of residency, social security card, passport (just to make sure) and some other junk, I set out on the scooter to go to the DMV and get my SC license.  Yeah, not happening.  Turns out, I need a new SS card because I got married.  I called ahead of time specifically to ask if I needed a new one before I went up there, and they said no.

Nice thing about the SC DMV: They have a little table where you go to check in and ask questions so you don’t have to wait in line for hours before you find out you can’t do what you came to do. That was nice.

Anyway, since I was in the area, I decided to lunch at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville.  Yeah, you heard me.  They have a bunch of different kinds of specialty margaritas, of course, and the food was pretty good.  I don’t want to waste words trying to explain a pretty indescribable experience, but let it suffice to say that I will be taking you there if you come to visit.

So, that’s how I spent one of my days off.  I don’t have any big plans for today.  I’m mostly just dreading the 8-day work week I have ahead of me, which starts tomorrow. Gah.