Well, that was exhausting

We had a pickup to go to the chicken place not far from the house.  The closest chicken place has some issues, so we go to one a little farther away.  I called half an hour before the pickup, the driver was on time.  I helped Ron get ready, he wanted to wait outside and it was nice so I took him out. 

The driver was late.  "I bet it is C." Ron said.  He is the driver who is always late, very obese.  He showed up 20 minutes late, full of excuses "They made him go across town". 

BS.  I called, he was on time an hour ago.  There was not enough time for the trip he described in the time since I called.  Ron called BS on his excuses and reminded the guy none of our other drivers has this problem.  He came back with more excuses how half a dozen dispatchers are (persecuting) him because he married another driver and they are envious of his happy marriage. 

Most of my drivers are married or in steady relationships, I knew it wasn't that.  I opened the door to sit down, once I got Ron shoved in the cab.  "Oh, wait" he says and comes around, moves a HUGE bag of snacks with cold drinks off my seat and stuffs them in the center console.  That's it.  He was on time, and decided to take a little break, get some snackies and eat some, before he got us.  The man is well over 400 pounds.  The last thing he needs is a snack. 

We had a straight trip to the restaurant.  Ron was already fairly pissed and would have had no problem calling in a complaint on him.  He didn't play the "Oh, did I miss your turn?" game he likes to do, either. 

We get to the restaurant.  There is no wheelchair ramp, they moved it down the parking strip.  I push Ron over there and there is a silver car blocking the ramp.  Some strung-out white guy on crutches standing there blocking our path.  Ron asks "What's the holdup?" and I told him someone was blocking our way.  Ron demanded he move and the guy got into his car, slowly.  Then they turned on the car (a driver, plus crutches) and idled it while we waited for them to move.  I waited a good minute.  They were talking, and looking back at us now and then.  Apparently going to "punish" us for asking them to move. 

I said f*ck it and pushed the wheelchair right next to the car.  I could have easily scraped the paint, I was that close.  I could see the driver flopping around in indignation and I said "YOU SHOULD HAVE MOVED" loud enough for them to hear.  We got on the curb and went into the restaurant.  The driver went running in front of us to get in line before us.  I thought that was very rude. 

Their food delivery had just arrived, and they only had 2 staff to check it in, cook food, ring orders, and manage the drive-through.  It is understandable they were a little slow.  I had empathy, I have been behind that metaphorical counter getting ugly customers and abuse. 

Sure enough, the driver starts up with abuse, shouting at the staff, demanding to see the manager, demanding "free food ha ha", etc.  Just being a total jerk.  You can really tell a LOT about a person by the way they treat a service provider.  He kept having tantrums.  At one point, Ron said  "It's going to make her go slower" during one of the tantrums.  The driver stopped, said "What?" Ron repeated himself, and the driver somewhat behaved until he got to the counter. 

Ron and I call them shoe polishers, very demanding customers.  Happily I don't get many in the vending business but it is ugly to watch.  Sure enough, there he went. 

He wouldn't even move after the transaction was completed, inspecting his food and continuing to heckle the staff.  I finally said "Excuse me" and shoved Ron up his butt!  Not sorry! 

He had to move after that.  We placed our order.  I could see they only had a few pieces of chicken left, a few original, a few spicy.  I asked Ron if he wanted to get one (2 piece) special of each, or just one special of original.  The driver interrupted DEMANDING they fix us "fresh chicken".  We didn't have much time due to him being late. so I said that was fine, as Ron replied he would like one of each. 

By that time she had it all packaged and asked me how many biscuits I wanted.  Somehow she made 3 biscuits and two specials equal $5, a very good deal in my book.  I thanked her sincerely and sat Ron at a table (pushed his chair up to the table edge).  I went in the gas station side and got some drinks.

I am thinking of going out and running some errands tomorrow.  But I wanted some soda for the trip, plus some soda for today.  I managed to get that and some small bags of chips.  I went back to Ron, who was about done murdering his first drumstick.  Ron leaves very little on that bone. 

We hung out until the pickup time, went out and boarded the vehicle.  The driver had a bunch of bitter complaints but I notice he didn't complain about the food.  He drove so carelessly Ron actually said "You're eating, aren't you?  Please stop and focus on your driving." 

He actually had the balls so say "No, I'm not, Mr Ron" as he put the drumstick back into the bag.  He drove better after that.  We went all the way over by work to pick up a woman from "work". 

She admitted she was not supposed to leave for another hour.  She and the driver came from the same hometown (not Houston) so they talked about that.  He asked her about her boyfriend, who had died.  The driver was all freaked out by that (didn't know the boyfriend) and I said "Everyone's going to die, and no one knows when" something like that, which freaked him out even more.  He started weaving all over the road again looking for a water bottle, while on the Beltway (speeds well above 80 MPH). 

The driver took the slow road, as slow as he could, talking to her.  I told Ron later, "She was not obese, not ugly, reasonably young, reasonably attractive" so he was VERY interested in everything she had to say.  He watched her walk away and made a comment about her gait.  This is the "happily" married driver.  I was pretty disgusted, he is apparently a horn dog in addition to everything else.  Good thing I am always with Ron. 

We finally got home.  I unloaded Ron and got him in the house.  He cried for help from his room, I ran back there.  Biscuit was on the bed next to Ron, begging for treats. 

Oh, that kind of emergency.  I am actually OK with this.  I got Biscuit's special treats and gave him a few.  Then the girls wanted treats.  I treated them.  THEN everyone wanted to eat so I fed them.  I had some old, stale (I imagine, I didn't sample it) food in the girls' bowls.  I threw that out and got all new fresh stuff.  That accomplished, I took out the trash and recycle. 

I had a wire metal rack in the garage.  It was improperly installed by the previous homeowner and fell on the floor, breaking some of the brackets.  I put it out by the curb, laying in the grass, but for a change no one has picked it up.  I propped it up between my two cans, standing up.  Maybe it will get a taker that way.  I don't know what I'll do if the trash pickers or garbage man don't take it, prop it up against the fence in the backyard I suppose.  I don't have many really large items like that. 

I like the mat in the garage, it defines the area.  The cats have been clawing on it, I saw the marks, so I am not sure how long it will last.  But it looks good now.  It is easily moved around to accommodate my work. 

I am going to measure my free spot in the garage and then figure out what can fit there.  I know if I get something that requires an installation I will be hiring someone to do it.  I am not messing around with 30 bolts and strange little connectors that make no sense.  Nope.  I would rather pay and avoid all the stress.  I will wait and save up for this if necessary. 

It is hot out, I can tell because the air conditioner is running.  I don't think we will have a $50 bill this month.  But it does a good job and is cool enough. 

I did not get a nap today (and no headache) so I plan to go to bed early, get up early, run my errand.  It will do me good to get out of the house for a while.  I don't plan to buy anything, just look. 

I won't be doing a formal workout, just out walking which will be exercise enough for an "off" day.  And only 200 mg of caffeine ingested which is less than half my doctor's recommendation.