Usually I'm around a little sooner, but... I got called in for a midnight shift a couple of nights ago and then after not sleeping much (if I sleep too much in the day after a midnight shift, God only knows when I'll get to bed at night) I got called in for
another midnight shift. So it's been something like 72 hours with a handful of hours of sleep here and there and I didn't want to post at work since I had something in mind that required my home laptop. Any way, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! So I'm a little loopy from lack of sleep, so if this is a little weirder than normal... that's why.
The rain is coming down in sheets, and it's going to keep
doing that ALL,,,DANG ,,,, DAY
I've always wondered which is worse; rain in sheets or cats and dogs. Cats and dogs living together!
But Smidgy has had the Atlas on her lap the entire morning, looking at it; You could say the weight of the whole world is
on her lap, well, at least the weight of the United States plus
Canada is on her lap,,,,
hmmm, mayve it's just the weight of Charles Atlas on her
lap,,, must reconsider this,,,,,
She's got the whole world, on her lap.
She's got the whole world, on her lap.
She's got Canada and the States on her lap.
She's got Atlas on her lap.
Everybody! Sing it with me, now! Oh, boy... I really need sleep.
The more i thought about it the more sense it made,
so I took my macho ego, put it in the glove box and got out
of the driver's seat so we could switch places.
Kudos. Most men couldn't take their ego and... well.. shove it.
She went inside the gas station to ask for directions.
Yes, there are some things that men cannot do. This is one of them. After sliding the ego into the glove box, asking directions would be asking too much!
We felt like the Griswolds.
Oh? Were the sub sandwiches wet, by any chance? You know... From the rain...
Feeling useless, the Chucky book now sitting on my lap I
couldn't believe how sore I was. Yesterday took a lot out
of me, and all morning my entire body was just a complete
knot, and my tailbone was killing me from hunching over and sitting too rigid, I guess.
Hmmm, I'm not driving, hmmm.
You know what's coming, right?
After Diane was finally able to release the wheel where her hands had been at the ten and two o'clock position, she agreed. Yes, she's a "go by the textbook" type driver,
Actually, Diane's book is a liitle dated. Now it's 9 and 3 with shuffle turns instead of hand over hand.
I'm
usually steering with my knees.
Hah! Rookie! When you start steering with
one knee, then we'll talk.
As we sat there, once again at the storm's mercy, the sirens started going off!
No, I don't mean a passing ambulance, or a passing squad car or even a Good Humor truck was going by,,,,
I mean the "Run for your lives, the sky is falling, the
bombs are coming, the Martians are here, and Dakota
Fanning is going to spend the next 2 hours screaming" type of emergency air raid sirens.
Don't you wish Tom Cruise, instead of jumping on a couch, would've jumped on her vocal cords? Okay, maybe that's a little harsh... but then again, so was her screaming... Say, maybe they could use her screaming
as a siren. That would get people running!
What they actually said, was, a tornado was spotted just outside Carrolton, and is heading this way, should be here in 5 to 8 minutes!
Torrential rain (okay, so which is worse, torrential, sheets or cats and dogs), tornados... We're seeing a couple of the horsemen of the apocolypse here aren't we folks? What does our intrepid duo do? Why go to Disney World of course. Where else would
you want to be at the end of the world?????
I got out and yelled into the rain, "Hey, don't forget the flash
floods and the mud slides!"
Atta boy!
(he says while cowering under the basement stairs)
"Come with me if you want to live!"
See this is what happens when you come late to the game. McDisney already beat me to it!
Ten minutes later we are still there, and I don't know what I'm looking at coming from the northwest, but a huge dark mass appeared to be heading this way.
Before I could even get out of the car, Smidgy came back out.
She hadn't seen this mass approaching, she came out because suddenly, the rain had really slowed down, it was
really kind of freaky the way it did it so suddenly.
I looked at the all glass MiniMart, then up at the sky and decided that what ever it was selling I don't want any, and she got in and we took off.
Now, with her still driving, I'm watching behind us.
After about 5 miles, I can't see that dark shape anymore, and we relaxed some.
Never did find out if it was a false alarm or just what.
http://carrollton.11alive.com/news/news/80411-ef1-tornado-confirmed-cherokee-county
It was back to just pouring now,
Check. Pouring < sheets... Hey! It's a start!
Then the rain would come back gangbusters!
Okay, now I'm really lost. Is gangbusters more or less than sheets?
What if it's a gang of cats and dogs? Is that better? Or worse? My head is starting to hurt. Ooh, quote opportunity: "My brain hurts!"
Seemed like a nice town, I've always like towns where the cars pull in and park on the main streets on the diagonal.
Me too! It just feels like 1950's and car hops and soda pop.
It was barely drizzling now, and though the sky was still a solid
stratus cloud, I knew we had been successful in our "Flea from Lee, the Storm out of the Norm."
Norm! How's life treating you, Norm? Like a hurricane treats Nebo, coach.
The old lady behind the counter said she kinda remembered
us, and gave us what she said was "Her LAST room".
Wow! You guys were sure lucky to score that last room!
She brought stuff in from the car, I went and did the important stuff, like go and fill up the ice bucket.
Everybody's gotta have priorities.
Okey dokey, the much heralded picture I forespake of.
Forespake? Sounds like something that is usually taken care of at birth.
Well under other circum... circumstances, a bris... brisk examination of the fores... forespake word would be in order... but not now. I have a TR to circumci... disect... politely comment on.
It was just as emptty on the other side, I had no idea how
this would work out today booking a room, this WAS Labor Day remember.
Never underestimate the sheer volume of the walk up hotel clientele.
The Great Inn Hotel and Gator hatchery. Just sayin'...
That night we had the other halves of our foot long Subway
sammiches that we each ate half of last night in the Knight's
Inn.
So, Griswolds... I mean Nebo and Smidgy, were they wet?
On the front page is an article on the 18 car smash up on
rt. 75 yesterday afternoon. Turns out that the "Road not Taken" was the "Road we shouldn't have taken", which we didn't.
Sounds like somebody was looking out for ya.
Man, she's got great ears when it comes to hissing.
Well, she has lived with
you all this time, ya know.
I gave my estimated time of arrival at 1:15, thinking to myself I think I can beat that a bit, I always intentionally fudge on the late side a bit so I'll feel better when I beat the time.
That's exactly what
I do!
Back on the interstate, we pass under an overpass with a big
sign off to the side saying, "Kangaroo Gas."
Ya know. I got nothing for that. It kinda stands on its own, no?
Heading south on interstate 75 at now 8 in the morning,
we are both in a quiet state of torpor.
(dang, I always wanted to use that word, finally found a reason)
I am pleased that you were able to find a reason to use the word, "dang". Congratulations, sir.
It was just a reflective period I think for us,
With all that rain, there will be puddles. With puddles there will be reflections. So that works. But I digress. Go on.
With that dear readers I'm going to leave you, back soon!
Thanks for another gripping update!
Oh, by the way, here's a little something to help with the rest of the trip.
I'm starting to become my parents... never thought I'd live long enough to tell stories that started with "about 20 yrs ago....." or... sometime between when the dinosaurs died and they invented cell phones.... 
So we just continued following them down a one lane country road past woods and fields and Civial War historical markers. A lonely gas station/mart was finally a welcome site to catch up and plan. By then, we were already in Georgia, and no way to turn around. So we went on. Never saw so many miles of nothingness!! Anyway, obviously we finally made it home, about four or five hours later than it should have been. 
hard at work that day - when I hear stories like this (taking a different route and advoiding an 18 car pile up) it certainly makes me believe in divine intervention! 
