Hot n' Sweaty

Yes... this is what I look like after I'm done pulling the wagon to Savannah's school and back. (Wagon, you say? Click here for the back story.) Actually, in the photo to the left, I have already changed and brushed my hair. In the photo below, however... I am drenched in sweat from walking in the sun in 90-something degree weather, my face is all flushed, and my hair is soaked through with said sweat as well. Attractive, no? Not really. I do wear dresses and skirts when walking with the wagon, but usually it's tanks and shorts. Unfortunately, I haven't lost that much weight lately because I've been snacking. Bad, I know. Expending more energy causes one to get more hungry. I try to snack on things like carrots and celery, but that often is not enough.

As for the wagon, the one we got in the middle of August already broke. The capstan (I think that's what it's called) came off the top of the... uhhh... wow I'm at a loss at how to explain this. Okay, listen (or read) carefully. Each front wheel is attached to a metal pole. The pole goes through a hole in the base of the wagon. The capstan (?) is attached to the top of the pole to keep it from falling out of the bottom of the base. Capstan-type thing went bye bye. I have no idea where it went. That caused the wheel (and pole) to come out of the base when it was lifted up off the ground, like going up or down a curb for example. Most annoying. Luckily, we got a replacement plan for $15. The wagon cost about $60, so everything came to approximately $75. We got a free wagon, so we saved $45 so far. This one is green, for some reason. No trouble going up and down the curbs now! But one of the front wheels is wiggling a whole lot all of a sudden. I wonder what they would say if they knew I pulled the thing for six miles a day? I usually have the car for a day out of the week (on average) to take the kids or myself to appointments and such, so we're talking about 24 miles a week. Wow!

We have them put together the wagon at the store, since one needs a lot of tools to put that sucker together. We're missing one of the tools needed. The first time we had them do it, they messed up. They said, "Come back in 24 hours." We paid them the $10 fee for assembling the wagon, and came back the next day. Slightly over 24 hours. The wagon was not ready. They refunded me my $10, and I waited there while they scrambled to get the thing together. Ten or fifteen minutes later, the wagon was rolled out.

Now, with this replacement, again they told me, "Come back in 24 hours." I did so, and the wagon was once more not ready. The lady at customer service looked at my receipt and nonchalantly said, "They should've told you, 'Come back in 24 hours and after five o'clock.' They get real busy."

Huh??? Give me the damn wagon, ya %$#@&! Well okay, I didn't say that. They told me to come back in an hour. I was about eight miles from home in heavy traffic, and by the time I got home, it would be time to come back, so I stopped at a Bruegger's Bagels and got a bagel with cream cheese and lox. Do you know they don't call it 'lox' over here? They just call it salmon. A bagel with cream cheese and salmon. It just doesn't sound right. When I asked them for cream cheese and lox, they were like, "What? Ohhh, salmon?" Well, yeah... nova lox salmon! It's lox, what's the matter with you people? Even Cafe World (Facebook app) calls it 'lox.' See?

The other funny thing is that New York seems to be the only place you get food 'to stay.' Everywhere else, they ask you, "Do you want that for here or to go?" I go, "To stay." They just stare at me. Okay, for here, geez! I was born and raised in New York, dammit! We understand go and stay. Simple instructions, like you'd give a dog. Once you start saying 'for here,' well that's just too existential for my tastes when all I want is to sit down and eat a bagel.

But I digress. I went back to the store... in an hour. Not ready. They was some shouting back and forth over a walkie talkie. Yup, no phones. Walkie talkies. Who rang up the order yesterday? Why did he not tell the back to assemble the wagon? Get him over here and have him drop and give me twenty, etc etc etc. Give me the stupid wagon! Ten minutes later they roll out the wagon. Thank you, sheesh.

That's my story about the wagons. I'm sure none of you are reading anymore, so here's a secret nobody will ever see...

No, I have not been drinking. Good night! (or day)