Daily Archives: April 6, 2012
Hurry Up and Wait . . .
In case you missed it, I posted yesterday’s blog a couple of hours ago, so I’m now caught up. Be sure and scroll down to read yesterday’s blog.
I was up about 7 this morning so we could have coffee before I tracked down the Gate Guard Services people.
About 7:55 I walked over to the office and found Jamie, the local supervisor, outside in his truck. After talking for a few minutes he directed me into the office to talk with Lori. Lori gave me the phone number of Patty at the main office in Corpus Christi.
Coming back to the rig, I then called Patty . . . and got Lori again. She laughed and said she forgot to tell me that until the Corpus office opens at 9, all calls are routed to the office here at Whitsett.
When we got here yesterday, Terry, the guy who got us settled in, said things had changed and we would have to drive the 90 miles down to Corpus Christi to complete our paperwork and fingerprint cards, and take our Level II Security Guard Test. I was hoping to be able to do that today once we talked to Patty. But that did not work out.
Lori called me about 8:30 and said Patty had told her to go ahead and give us the paperwork to fill out and fingerprint cards to bring with us. She also said that the Corpus office was closing at noon for Good Friday, and they were now handling new hires on Tuesday and Thursday.
So we were in a holding pattern until Tuesday.
I wanted to do what we could to expedite things, and when I ask Lori if we could go ahead and get our fingerprint cards done up here, she said the only place around was over at the Sheriff’s Department in Floresville, about 45 miles northeast of here.
So, after calling the Sheriff’s Office to double-check, Jan and I headed out about 2pm, first to Floresville, and then into San Antonio for dinner and some shopping.
The fingerprint cards only took about 15 minutes and then we were on our way. As far as Floresville, I’m not sure what was going on, but they seemed to be having their own diesel gas war there. Most stations in the San Antonio area have diesel for $4.05 to $4.10, or even $4.15, with a few places at $3.99,
But the HEB station in Floresville was selling diesel for $3.55, and the Wal-Mart had it for $3.57. WOW!
They even had semi trucks in line. As far as I’m concerned though, the 90 mile round trip would probably eat up any savings on the price.
Bummer!
For dinner we wanted to eat at the Magic Time Machine on the north 410 Loop. It’s probably been 30 years since we’ve eaten here, and we were glad to find it still open. We’ve also eaten at the one in Dallas, and the one that used to be in Austin before it closed.
The concept is kind of unique. The wait staff are dressed up as characters from movies, television, and literature.
The place is a warren of little nooks and crannies, a maze of alcoves, hidden rooms, and cul-de-sacs. You can very quickly end up going in circles.
In fact it’s easy to get lost, and almost impossible to find the restrooms without help. But when you ask a waiter or waitress for help, they grab you by the hand and lead you back and forth through the restaurant, loudly announcing that this is the Potty Train and anyone else that needs to go, can hop on board. Sometimes you’ll see an string of 5 or 6 people, all holding hands, being lead to the restrooms.
So it’s a good idea to “go before you go”, so to speak.
And of course, they don’t have a salad bar, they have a “salad car”. A 1952 MG TC. “Soup in the front, Salad in the back.”
We saw many characters, like Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Alice in Wonderland, Tinkerbell, Pinocchio, Supergirl, Thor, and below, Ariel, the Littlest Mermaid.
We had the beautiful Diana Prince, who fights crime in her secret identity is Wonder Woman.
And Jan seems to have a real admirer in The Joker.
Personally I like the Jack Nicholson version better.
Our meal was really good, and well worth the trip. Hopefully we won’t wait another 30 years to visit again.
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Thought for the Day:
Things are more like they are now than they ever were before. – Dwight D. Eisenhower
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