Adventures in Arlington
Allow me to preface this blog post by saying that we traveled a LOT in September. From Wednesday 9/15 to Wednesday 9/27, we drove to the following locations in chronological order: left Katy for Arlington, NW Fort Worth, Trinidad, Arlington, Trinidad, Athens, NW Fort Worth, Katy, NW Houston, La Porte, NW Houston, Trinidad, Ennis, Katy, Arlington, Plano, Katy. We traveled over 1900 miles. According to Google Maps, that is about 1 day and 12 hours of driving. I could have driven to Boise, Idaho, and then some - glad I didn't though. My poor car.
So.... the reason for all this hooplah in Arlington is Brent is testing with the City of Arlington for firefighting. He is still moving along in the process, so say some prayers for him. Now, while I would love to talk all day about the process and my crazy amount of traveling further, this blog post is dedicated to our ADVENTURES IN ARLINGTON.
FULL-POSTERIOR
The first day we were in Arlington, Brent and I headed to Tarrant County College for his CPAT orientation (Physical Ability Test - click the link to watch a video of what they have to do). There was very little for me to do while I waited for them to finish so I wandered around the Fire School building, found a super secluded locker room, contemplated having a solo dance party, but decided to head to the car to try and watch a movie on my laptop. I couldn't get the movie to play properly, so I instantly began to regret my decision until... let me give you a little back story here.
I was parked in the corner of the lot up against some hedges that were, oh let's say, 3 feet high. On the other side of the hedges was a big shade tree and a large open area. There was a cute family hanging out under aforementioned shade tree and enjoying the lovely weather - a mom, most likely the wife of another fire recruit, and her 3 kids (girl, age 5-6, boy, age 3-4, and girl, 1-2). Now back to to the "until"...
Apparently the little boy needed to potty, and apparently, mom assumed no one was sitting in their car. She promptly sent the little boy on the other side of the hedges to take care of business in, what she thought would be, private. So, as I fidget with my computer, I notice a movement to my left. There, right next to my driver side door, was the young buck unbuttoning his pants and smiling at me. Societal courtesy immediately told me to turn my head and act like I did not notice... only curiosity as to what IN THE WORLD he was doing got the best of me. 20 seconds later I decided to look up and see if he was still there. WOW. He sure was. Directly to my left was a young child, pants around his ankles, white butt gleaming in the sunlight, shirt pulled up, leaning into the bushes peeing without hands (they were holding his shirt up). Hmmm, didn't see that coming.
OOPSIE DAISY. SORRY DAISY.
Prior to Brent's practice CPAT, and after an early morning hour and a half drive from Trinidad, TX, Brent needed to use the restroom. We stopped at a gas station near the practice CPAT site and Brent went in while I stayed in the car.
Not 1 minute later, Brent comes out of the building, walking rather quickly, with a look of terror on his face. I said, "that was quick" to which he replied, "let's get out of here now."
Apparently, the bathroom door at this gas station didn't lock well because, much to his dismay, he walked in on a woman using the restroom. Worst part was she was mortified - when he accidentally opened the door, she covered her face and screamed, "oh no, oh no no no!" Oops.
IF YOU CAN'T TAKE THE HEAT..
As Brent was doing his practice CPAT, he and a few others in his group noticed one of their team member lying on the ground. They went over to tend to him, stood him up, and asked if he was ok. Being a guy, the automatic answer is something like, "yeah, man, I'm fine", so that's what they got.
Not 10 seconds later the guy begins falling face first towards the concrete. Lucky for his face, Brent and another team member were able to catch him before he face-planted. An ambulance was called and he was tended to and hauled off. Scary.
PURCHASE WE NEVER WOULD'VE MADE
Brent and I enjoyed the retail pleasure of the Parks Mall while in Arlington, and anywhere there is a Barnes and Noble, my husband must visit. We had finished selecting our merchandise in Barnes and Noble and waited in line to check out. While we were waiting, the girls behind the counter were having a jolly good time looking through a book, cackling and all sorts of giggles. When the cashier realized we were waiting, she acknowledged us. The other girl told her colleague that she would leave the book on the counter for the cashier to look at later.
We were checked out and promptly headed to the car. Once we were on the road, and had managed to avoid the dangers on the road (see next story), we decided to go through our purchases for the day to see what the damage was. As Brent was digging through the B&N bag, he suddenly had a very confused look on his face. He then pulled out a small, square shaped book titled, "People of Walmart: Shop & Awe." What in the... check the receipt... nope not on there... why do we.... oooooh
It appears that our cashier accidentally slipped the book - which must've been what was causing both B&N employee such delight - into our bag. Lucky us, we ended up with it and got MANY good laughs from the People of Walmart. If you've never heard of it, you should really check it out... lucky for you, you don't need to buy the book - they have a website: http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/. Do enjoy.
DRUNK PIOLÍN
On our way back to Trinidad along a highway in Dallas, a black Ford Explorer began veering into my lane and almost hit me. I honked and stepped on my break, and was able to avoid a collision.
I took note of the Explorer with a PIOLÍN radio sticker on the bumper, cursing him in my head as I do all who cross Hillary on the road. This was some kind of Explorer. It looked like it had been to hell and back and in a few accidents along the way - all busted up here and there and a tailpipe that was mere inches from dragging the ground. Automatically, I wanted to stay far away from this ding-dong.
I then noticed that he wasn't driving well at all... he was veering in and out of lanes, almost hitting other vehicles on the road, and driving at very irrational speeds (60 to 80 to 75 back to 80). He was drunk, or at least on some illegal substance. I got over as many lanes as possible and put the pedal to the metal. Yes, I will admit, I was speeding like a mad woman, but Brent and I wanted to get away from this driver under the influence. What an idiot.
MICROTEL DREAMS
Brent and I, very tired of spending money on gas and hotels, decided to try and find the cheapest hotel we could and our final night in the Dallas area. We came across a Microtel in NW Fort Worth, which was incredibly close to Brent's next testing site. It was.... gosh, the words escape me.... it was... meh.
First things first, we go to check in (we made reservations in advance)... "There is no record of your reservation," says the desk clerk. Brent and I frantically begin checking our phones for the confirmation number. "Oh, you know what? Here it is. Looks like we forgot to put it in the system." We booked this one day in advance - sorry we didn't give you enough time.
So, we're checked in and we head to our room on the third floor. This hotel has the slowest elevator I've ever ridden! We get off on the third floor and are immediately hit with an interesting scent. In my opinion, it smelled a little like a dormitory and a little like a nursing home. Lovely. Our room, although the sign on the outside of the door labeled it a Non-Smoking room, smelled like a smoker's delight that was attempted to be covered many cleaning agents.
Our room itself: lovely (note the sarcasm). First of all, I want to know who picks out decorations for hotel rooms. There is always some hideous pattern on the carpet, drapes that complement one of the colors in the hideous carpet, and stark white linens. Lucky for us, this room also had a early 1990s style brass-framed beach print on the wall.
The hotel had the slowest "high speed" internet connection I've ever witnessed. The room also came with a lovely window seat that overlooked the parking lot and freeway - you just had to look through a cruddy screen. We were missing one drawer, one door from the closet and towels, which we had to request twice before we actually got them). We weren't missing everything; in fact, we had duplicates on some things. 2 phones - one that did not work and one that only sort of worked - and 2 irons - all set for an ironing fest!
We had an overactive A/C unit, which only had 2 settings: FREEZING COLD or off and warm. The best part of the room, however, was the HUGE mirror hanging behind the bed (I am talking an entire walls worth of mirror). Not really sure why this was necessary, but Brent and I could only imagine - ick.
So.... the reason for all this hooplah in Arlington is Brent is testing with the City of Arlington for firefighting. He is still moving along in the process, so say some prayers for him. Now, while I would love to talk all day about the process and my crazy amount of traveling further, this blog post is dedicated to our ADVENTURES IN ARLINGTON.
FULL-POSTERIOR
The first day we were in Arlington, Brent and I headed to Tarrant County College for his CPAT orientation (Physical Ability Test - click the link to watch a video of what they have to do). There was very little for me to do while I waited for them to finish so I wandered around the Fire School building, found a super secluded locker room, contemplated having a solo dance party, but decided to head to the car to try and watch a movie on my laptop. I couldn't get the movie to play properly, so I instantly began to regret my decision until... let me give you a little back story here.
I was parked in the corner of the lot up against some hedges that were, oh let's say, 3 feet high. On the other side of the hedges was a big shade tree and a large open area. There was a cute family hanging out under aforementioned shade tree and enjoying the lovely weather - a mom, most likely the wife of another fire recruit, and her 3 kids (girl, age 5-6, boy, age 3-4, and girl, 1-2). Now back to to the "until"...
Apparently the little boy needed to potty, and apparently, mom assumed no one was sitting in their car. She promptly sent the little boy on the other side of the hedges to take care of business in, what she thought would be, private. So, as I fidget with my computer, I notice a movement to my left. There, right next to my driver side door, was the young buck unbuttoning his pants and smiling at me. Societal courtesy immediately told me to turn my head and act like I did not notice... only curiosity as to what IN THE WORLD he was doing got the best of me. 20 seconds later I decided to look up and see if he was still there. WOW. He sure was. Directly to my left was a young child, pants around his ankles, white butt gleaming in the sunlight, shirt pulled up, leaning into the bushes peeing without hands (they were holding his shirt up). Hmmm, didn't see that coming.
OOPSIE DAISY. SORRY DAISY.
Prior to Brent's practice CPAT, and after an early morning hour and a half drive from Trinidad, TX, Brent needed to use the restroom. We stopped at a gas station near the practice CPAT site and Brent went in while I stayed in the car.
Not 1 minute later, Brent comes out of the building, walking rather quickly, with a look of terror on his face. I said, "that was quick" to which he replied, "let's get out of here now."
Apparently, the bathroom door at this gas station didn't lock well because, much to his dismay, he walked in on a woman using the restroom. Worst part was she was mortified - when he accidentally opened the door, she covered her face and screamed, "oh no, oh no no no!" Oops.
IF YOU CAN'T TAKE THE HEAT..
As Brent was doing his practice CPAT, he and a few others in his group noticed one of their team member lying on the ground. They went over to tend to him, stood him up, and asked if he was ok. Being a guy, the automatic answer is something like, "yeah, man, I'm fine", so that's what they got.
Not 10 seconds later the guy begins falling face first towards the concrete. Lucky for his face, Brent and another team member were able to catch him before he face-planted. An ambulance was called and he was tended to and hauled off. Scary.
PURCHASE WE NEVER WOULD'VE MADE
Brent and I enjoyed the retail pleasure of the Parks Mall while in Arlington, and anywhere there is a Barnes and Noble, my husband must visit. We had finished selecting our merchandise in Barnes and Noble and waited in line to check out. While we were waiting, the girls behind the counter were having a jolly good time looking through a book, cackling and all sorts of giggles. When the cashier realized we were waiting, she acknowledged us. The other girl told her colleague that she would leave the book on the counter for the cashier to look at later.
We were checked out and promptly headed to the car. Once we were on the road, and had managed to avoid the dangers on the road (see next story), we decided to go through our purchases for the day to see what the damage was. As Brent was digging through the B&N bag, he suddenly had a very confused look on his face. He then pulled out a small, square shaped book titled, "People of Walmart: Shop & Awe." What in the... check the receipt... nope not on there... why do we.... oooooh
It appears that our cashier accidentally slipped the book - which must've been what was causing both B&N employee such delight - into our bag. Lucky us, we ended up with it and got MANY good laughs from the People of Walmart. If you've never heard of it, you should really check it out... lucky for you, you don't need to buy the book - they have a website: http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/. Do enjoy.
DRUNK PIOLÍN
On our way back to Trinidad along a highway in Dallas, a black Ford Explorer began veering into my lane and almost hit me. I honked and stepped on my break, and was able to avoid a collision.
I took note of the Explorer with a PIOLÍN radio sticker on the bumper, cursing him in my head as I do all who cross Hillary on the road. This was some kind of Explorer. It looked like it had been to hell and back and in a few accidents along the way - all busted up here and there and a tailpipe that was mere inches from dragging the ground. Automatically, I wanted to stay far away from this ding-dong.
I then noticed that he wasn't driving well at all... he was veering in and out of lanes, almost hitting other vehicles on the road, and driving at very irrational speeds (60 to 80 to 75 back to 80). He was drunk, or at least on some illegal substance. I got over as many lanes as possible and put the pedal to the metal. Yes, I will admit, I was speeding like a mad woman, but Brent and I wanted to get away from this driver under the influence. What an idiot.
MICROTEL DREAMS
Brent and I, very tired of spending money on gas and hotels, decided to try and find the cheapest hotel we could and our final night in the Dallas area. We came across a Microtel in NW Fort Worth, which was incredibly close to Brent's next testing site. It was.... gosh, the words escape me.... it was... meh.
First things first, we go to check in (we made reservations in advance)... "There is no record of your reservation," says the desk clerk. Brent and I frantically begin checking our phones for the confirmation number. "Oh, you know what? Here it is. Looks like we forgot to put it in the system." We booked this one day in advance - sorry we didn't give you enough time.
So, we're checked in and we head to our room on the third floor. This hotel has the slowest elevator I've ever ridden! We get off on the third floor and are immediately hit with an interesting scent. In my opinion, it smelled a little like a dormitory and a little like a nursing home. Lovely. Our room, although the sign on the outside of the door labeled it a Non-Smoking room, smelled like a smoker's delight that was attempted to be covered many cleaning agents.
Our room itself: lovely (note the sarcasm). First of all, I want to know who picks out decorations for hotel rooms. There is always some hideous pattern on the carpet, drapes that complement one of the colors in the hideous carpet, and stark white linens. Lucky for us, this room also had a early 1990s style brass-framed beach print on the wall.
The hotel had the slowest "high speed" internet connection I've ever witnessed. The room also came with a lovely window seat that overlooked the parking lot and freeway - you just had to look through a cruddy screen. We were missing one drawer, one door from the closet and towels, which we had to request twice before we actually got them). We weren't missing everything; in fact, we had duplicates on some things. 2 phones - one that did not work and one that only sort of worked - and 2 irons - all set for an ironing fest!
We had an overactive A/C unit, which only had 2 settings: FREEZING COLD or off and warm. The best part of the room, however, was the HUGE mirror hanging behind the bed (I am talking an entire walls worth of mirror). Not really sure why this was necessary, but Brent and I could only imagine - ick.
PRICELINE NEGOTIATOR BRENT
We also visited Six Flags during one of our trips to Arlington. During that trip, we decided there had to be a better way to stay. Brent tried the Priceline Negotiator, and it was AWESOME. He got us a SWEET room at the Crowne Plaza Suites directly across from Six Flags for $60 a night. I told Brent, he should be the new face of Priceline...
Our trip to Six Flags was, of course, a blast. The weather was beautiful. We rode roller coasters all day long; something I hadn't done since Junior High! We really enjoyed it!
I think that’s all folks…
