Went for what is very likely my last trip to Walmart in Jennings. I mean, that’s what I thought when I last moved to Ohio and then I turned out wrong, but I can’t think of any reason why I would go back there unless it is a last-minute thing tomorrow night. And it probably won’t be. Also possible I would come back to visit, at least to visit Carrie, and maybe I’d go there under those circumstances, but the way my life’s gone I kind of doubt it.
I needed to figure out provisioning for the road, and I didn’t want something that would melt and I know most Atkins bars have chocolate on or in them. So I got a couple boxes of Quest bars. Also got some powders to add to my water bottle: caffeinated lemonade in lieu of coffee (I do not want caffeine withdrawal while trapped in a transit bus), and some electrolyte powder for later in the day because if I’m filling my bottle at water fountains and/or sinks, which is the plan, I have no idea how it’s going to taste. I would need the electrolytes anyway.
Pill organizer for my incidentals. A couple compartments have antacids in them which, I don’t really need those at this point, but if something comes up then they’ll be nice to have. The bottle they came in is heavy and I need to minimize bag weight. A couple other compartments have Tylenol and ibuprofen respectively, which I rarely use but might be nice to have. The remaining four compartments have most of my multivitamin supply (there were four tablets left when I got done and I’ve already taken one). The bottles these were all taken from will either be staying here or going out with the trash, as in the case of the ibuprofen, which is four years past its expiration date (oops) but seems to still work. I tend to take that one when my joints pick up some inflammation. Which will likely also not be a problem anymore for the same reason heartburn isn’t really a problem, but best to prepare in case.
My B12 and magnesium will stay in their bottles, but better two bottles than six. I could have gotten a second organizer because they’re cheap, but I hadn’t thought that all the way through. It doesn’t matter.
Luggage tags. Those are now set up and attached to their bags. And when I found them, I found a luggage scale. It was seven bucks and will save me more than twice that amount now that I’ll know I’m within the allowed limits. And I can keep it to use again in the future. It’s small enough.
Atkins shakes to last me my last little bit before I leave so I am not over-relying on catch as catch can. I’m in a mode of maximizing protein and minimizing carbs, except for a piece of cornbread and three fried cheese sticks I’ve had since I came to Carrie’s, and now I’ve got trail mix for the road which will be some carbs but shouldn’t be ridiculous. Just, if I feel munchy, it’s there and more “natural” than not. With any luck it’ll bung me up a little, too. I dread taking a shit on the bus. Both for me and for the other passengers. I’ll have adequate time to get it done at changeovers, so let’s just save it for then.
(It did occur to me to also grab Immodium. Probably should have, but we’ll see how things go. I won’t be drinking coffee on the road so at least that won’t be giving me the shits.)
I also got a mini SD card and honestly that was my worst individual purchase; it was about $26ish. It’s for my phone and I want to put music on it for the road. Either I will get bored or some idiot will be making annoying noises and I want to be prepared for either eventuality. The card will continue to be useful after that, as it can store photos. I don’t want to make it a permanent habit to never download my phone photos to my laptop but realistically, right now that’s not a high-priority situation.
Also got travel-size 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner. It’s labeled for men, but I smelled it in the store and it’s not bad. I’d have gotten one labeled neutral or for women if the store had had it just because old habits die hard, I suppose. It’ll do me until I can set myself up on the other end. My current bottle of 2-in-1 is huge and has a pump. I am not traveling with that fucking thing. Dad and his bloody fucking fickleness. I bought that shampoo because I thought I was staying.
I appreciated Brenda being willing to take me to the store but I gotta say, I could like her driving a lot better than I do. It worked out, though, and it was nice to have someone to talk to for a few minutes going and coming back. I’ll see her Sunday too, because she’s coming along for the drop-off.
Lala (Stanford) and I have mostly stayed out of one another’s way. My long, long experience with men in general has led me to understand that I can’t control how a guy will interpret me treating him like, I dunno, a normal fucking person and I have to be alone with him until Sunday, so I would rather not even approach that can of worms. He’s been nice enough. I just don’t take it at face value because I’ve seen how he is when he talks about Brenda and some other people. So he’s likely talking about me when he gets the chance too. The less ammo I give him, the better. It doesn’t ultimately matter because I don’t know the people he talks to and I couldn’t give less of a shit what, specifically, they think but I guess I have still not given up caring what people in general think of me. I’m closer to getting over that than I used to be. It is a whole process. I’ll get there eventually.
But he baked some catfish filets last night and made some crawfish etoufée to go with. I’ve never had the latter and wasn’t ever inclined to try it because I was pretty sure it was full of onions and peppers. Well, I was right about the peppers. I’m okay with crawfish if I don’t have to peel them so basically it was pick crawfish out of the sauce and then scrape the peppers and things off the fish and eat that too. And FYI it was a prefab mix. I’ve seen his pantry. Nothing wrong with that (other than maybe some nutritional differences) but I didn’t want to convey the idea that he’d gone to all this trouble and I was turning up my nose. It’s like Cajun Hamburger Helper. There’s not an actual lot of work involved.
Went through my stuff somewhat with The Fifth Element playing on Tubi. I need to finish up tomorrow. Just have it done and ready because I still have to do laundry and it’ll be easier to subtract if I already have this stuff mostly done.