Sometimes all you can do is laugh

(Unrelated to this post, the commercials with babies that talk in grown up voices creep me out a lot)

So today was a completely unintentionally hilarious day. First, Lyday and I went to REI to get rain jackets for the big vacation. As we're getting ready to turn into the parking garage we notice that the car ahead of us is having rouble. It seems the driver forgot that his bicycle was on top of the car and the handlebars got tangled up in the 7' limit sign. Other people had to help him get his bicycle detatched. He seemed to not be able to figure out the best thing to do. First he unhooked the first wheel from the bike rack but he didn't unhook the back wheel. He was just trying to lift the front wheel to unhook it. Unfortunately the U shape of the handlebar had actually hooked itself around the sign. Really it was just funny.

Then we went to dinner. Now this is more of the you have to laugh or else be furious. We went to Applebees. Eh. Our waiter was TERRIBLE. Like I think the only worse waitstaff I've had was when Michelle, and I think our friend Janel and maybe one other person and I went to a Mexican place in Fairbanks and the waitress kept apologizing for her incompetence by saying that the restaurant was just so slammed. It wasn't. Including us, there were 3 tables. So our waiter tonight, Steve, was not just incompetent but also one of those who blames everyone else for his issues. Firstly, he was a mumbler. Half the time I couldn't understand what he was saying. We ordered an appetizer and a meal. We waited and waited and waited and waited and the meal came but no appetizer. At least once he came by and made a joke about our waiting. I'm like, dude, that's not good. If you know the food is taking forever you should be apologizing and doing what you can to make it right. Lyday's "cheeseburger" was a hamburger with a slice of cheese slapped on it, not melted like it should be. When I asked the waiter about it he blamed the kitchen and said they made him look bad but he's just the messenger you know? So at the same time I asked about our appetizer and he seemed shocked we hadn't received it yet. Although he also seemed to totally forget we ordered one which made me think he forgot to put it in altogether. And we eat. And Lyday finishes her meal. And I finish my meal, still no app has appeared. And he comes by and asks if we wanted it to go and I say no we'll eat it here. And we wait. And we wait and it finally appears. And I have pulled out my card to pay and we start eating them. And we wait. And we wait. And finally he reappears and we just give our cards without even waiting for the ticket because I figured if I have to wait for the ticket and wait for him to return we would never get out of the restaurant. So, and this is impressive because I'm not this person, when the manager walks by I caught his eye and told him how ridiculous the whole thing was - including that Steve blamed the kitchen for the food issues which made the manager's eyes widen. He gave us some gift cards. It was so bad. I think Steve's problem, quite possibly, was he was a fan of the pot.

However, as bad as it was for us, it was worse for the table next to us. There were 4 adults, it appeared to be 3 generations of men actually. So one guy ordered a bacon cheese burger. He received sliders. And then about 10 minutes later he got a side of cooked bacon. And then eventually he got a real bacon cheeseburger. The oldest man had ribs and fries. But something was wrong with them and so he sent them back. It took a minimum 30 more minutes to get his new ribs. All in all it was a bad night at the Applebees. The oldest man was quite feisty and said to his family that he would not be returning to Applebees. I mentioned to the manager when I was talking to him that their experience seemed to be terrible too.

But I did get a jacket that is light and was on clearance. It is orange and gray and a men's jacket. I found the women's "enhanced sizes" section, but sometimes I feel like my shoulders are too broad for women's sizes. When I would cross my arms in front of me it felt tight across my shoulders and back. I also bought 2 new pairs of shoes (another pair of bites and a pair of merrill hiking shoes). I am almost ready for this trip... now all I have to do is book the hotels, and figure out the buses/ trains we will be using to get around and book the tours and and and. :)