Everybody was Kung Fu fighting...

I didn't leave the house on Friday until 2:00. The Tallad3ga traffic was already building up, with cars lined up waiting to exit. It didn't hold me up as much as the 5 miles of road construction a little further up the road. They'd shifted the lanes, so the surface was tilted in several areas. I hate that shit when I'm doing 80 mph and I'm surrounded by either cars, big trucks, or concrete barriers. OK, I wasn't able to do 80 there. And Alabama roads suck ass. It's sad when the bridges are a smoother ride than the highway.

Donna had plans, so Scott and I went to dinner (and beers) at a Mexican bar/restaurant that was kind of a college/hippy/yuppie hangout. I blurted out the story about my sister. We'd been talking about my niece and how she's trouble waiting to happen, but I said that was nothing.

On Saturday morning we went shooting. Yes, we did. I'd forgotten to bring my gun as I'd meant to, but was able to shoot Scott's 9mm and his .45. Donna has a .38 with a shorter barrel than mine, so I was not interested in that. Mine kicks enough. I want a 9mm now. I actually shot really well until I got tired of shooting and started shooting under the target. I tend to aim low anyway to counteract the recoil, and we'd been there over an hour. It got crowded, and there were two large (and I mean LARGE) black guys to the left of us who were on their cell phones and kind of rowdy and otherwise distracting. The noise and the crowd started to get to me, and the place was pretty small with barely room to turn around behind you. We had lunch at Cvrry in a Hvrry, then went to L!nens N' Th!ngs where we always like to browse. After that we went to a movie rental place, where nothing blew my skirt up. What does it say about the movie industry when every new release was just "eh"? And they're making movies so much longer now, that I would be even less inclined to go to a theatre without the ability to pause. Scott made salad and spaghetti (meatless for me) for dinner, and we hung out until we all got tired. Yep, we're boring. We didn't even play pool.

I left there around noon on Sunday to get to Dad's with about two hours before I'd need to leave there to beat the race traffic. Of course, when I left a little after 3:00, the race was halted because of a 25 car wreck, but still. We just ordered pizza for lunch, looked at their yard and talked about what flowers we should plant in our flower bed, and otherwise chit-chatted. Hoepfully I gave him enough hints to get me a 9mm for my birthday. Rug3r or S&W, please, and a rubber grip with a clip extension. After telling my Dad he was a sissy, he finally relented and let me drive him to get the pizza. I reached down to turn the A/C down as we neared a red light and he did the ol' "they're stopping up there" à la my father-in-law. I see it, Dad. "Oh, I didn't think you were looking. I can't ride with you without telling you how to drive!" Don't ride the brakes!!!

On the way home this asshole in a gold minivan tried to hit me, over and over again. We were lined up in the left lane passig some trucks and I had nowhere to go. They fly up behind me and I'm thinking, "Where the hell do you think you're going?" And then their front end disappears and lowers as they slam on the brakes within inches of me. And then they did it at least twice more before I got the hell away from them. If they can read lips, they'll know just what I think of their driving 'abilities.'

I took yesterday off to, uh, recover. I actually did a bunch of laundry and filled the new bird feeders and caught up on my message boards and email, and otherwise lounged around. I was extremely lethargic after lunch, and attributed it to the PMS. That was probably a factor, but I soon discovered it was 80 degrees in the house. No wonder. This A/C in the day and heat at night shit seems wasteful, but I can't open the windows yet. Just going outside to fill the bird feeders while Jeff was cutting grass was enough to send me into a coughing and sneezing fit.

And now our TV has crapped out. Thursday night it went black for a couple minutes, then came back on. It still had sound, but a black screen. Friday morning it did the same thing, but never came back. Crap. I just gave away an older Z3nith that is probably still working. (B, you still got that TV?) Jeff called one place that said that the picture tube had probably gone out, meaning we need a new TV. I'll probably call a couple more places, and hopefully take it somewhere to make sure. It's worth it before we spend hundreds of dollars on a new one. I wish we could afford an LCD, but they're $3K and up. And Jeff wants a huge one, 50 inches or so, whereas I don't want larger than 40". The living room isn't that big, jeebus. Hopefully the fridge will hang on for a while longer.

After talking to my brother and sister-in-law about my sister, I looked on WebMD about bipolar disorder. Turns out it can be genetic. I'm sure I've known this, but through wishful thinking and/or forgetfulness, well, I put it out of my mind. Her parents do think it's a possibility. The more urgent concern is whether or not she's pregnant. Apparently she lied about when her last period was after being quizzed by her mom after the whole unprotected sex admission. As if she doesn't have enough problems. I would hope that despite their holy holiness, they'd let her abort or put up for adoption. The lady at the group home said she would look for any signs.

She called both her mom (not home) and her Dad last Thursday night, but not me. The conversation with her dad was not good. I'm not sure what that means exactly. She's also reverted to her "Minnesota accent" which she picked up while she was there, meaning the local accent, as well as "soft and sweet." She had picked up a "street thug" (as her mom calls it) accent before going to the group home. I think she used the former accent or demeanor when I spoke to her two weeks ago.