Perfect Storm

Remember that friend that I drove up to see with only one eye?

Well, I decided it would be awesome to go hang out with him again.This time with back up contacts. Several boxes of back up contacts. I triple checked my stuff; I made sure that this time, I would be prepared, and have everything ready to go. No slip ups. No stupid goofs. I was going to have a good time without proving to some little kid that yes, it is possible to walk into a sign post.

.... Not the story I want to tell today, folks. I'll need a little help in telling that one if you get my drift.

And if you don't, then here: If anyone that plays FFXI reads this blog, I need a Monster Signa. I'll tell the story if you can get me that sweet, sweet staff.

And here you thought I was going to ask for money and/or alcohol. But, I've learned my lesson after that one time...

More stories that I can't/don't want/need more money to share. Or a Mary's Horn for my bard. That sucker goes for 350k in the AH.

Anyway, I actually managed to get there without a major mishap. I then proceeded to keep everything normal (and nothing extra ordinarily stupid happened either) for that entire night. We had a damn good time, and I could see the videogames we played to boot.

Note: hanging out with sight is far better than hanging out without sight.

Now, this seems like a very cool night. I'm hanging out with some of my best friends, we're talking, everyone is smiling and laughing, and outside the stars are shining, and all of nature is in bliss at our contentment.

Except for the fact that it is not very nice outside at all. Its blowing like a freakin' gale out there. There are branches from trees getting tossed around like the toy blocks of any three year old playing Godzilla.

Did I say three year old? I meant yours truly. Three days ago. Shut up, it was fun.

The sky is boiling over with clouds, and I'm just waiting for the rain of fire to signal the end of everything. The Mayans must have messed up multiplying a three somewhere with the end of the world counter, because it sure as heck looked like the end of the world on the other side of my friend's apartment's glass door.

So, while I was waiting to be Raptured, my stomach, unimpressed with the primal fury all around the apartment, growls. And my friend, who, in hindsight, is not the play it safe type, makes a command decision.

Relimited's Friend: "Hey, I'm hungry too. Let’s go out to get something."

There was no way at all, ever, that I was rationally going into that storm out there, for anything. Not for all the money, alcohol, or FFXI rare items. However, no one ever said a hungry guy, who has only eaten a poptart in the last 5 hours is rational.

Relimited: "Sounds great. We should probably run out to the store to stock up on snacks for later too."

God, I Am Stupid Sometimes.

So, we get our stuff together. I think it was when I was finishing up lacing my left sneaker that I realized how stupid this was. We were leaving the warmth, light and relative safety of the apartment for food. And not even food we needed, but also food that we might use later. Maybe.

Queue faceplam.

So, we go out into the windstorm, fighting the elements in tee shirts and shorts for each step out his apartment complexes courtyard. Finally, after dodging flying branches, falling flowerpots and the stray cat, we make it to his car.

After dislodging a branch that has given him a new stylish dent on his front bumper, we head out to Wal-Mart to get food.

And, in what seems to happen to me every time I go to Wal-Mart, we can't find the droids we're looking for. Stupid Obi-Wan and his mind tricks...

I mean food. We get everything except several packs of ramen, and after going up and down every freakin isle, we find the ramen castle. It took up the entire side of isle 9. There were several large blinking arrows that point toward it. Heck, it even had its own spotlights and disco balls.

No idea how we missed it.

By the time we get outside, nature has gone from apocalypse blue stage, to readiness level orange. Its black out there. Not dark... black. It hasn't started raining, but we run our shopping cart back to his car, this time dodging small trees, outdoor grills, and someone's kid. He seemed like a very shifty little bugger, so I'm sure those cries for help we just lies for him to pick my pocket.

Never mind that he was flying at me.

So, we duck into his car, and drive as fast as we can over to the pizza place for food. Naturally, we both decide we want some very arcane, complicated pizzas. Neither of us, at that precise moment of pizza ordering, are thinking about the fact that we want to get one last game of Super Smash Bros. Brawl in before the world ends.

And, of course, as we're exiting the pizza place (watching a weather channel reporter across the street) he opens his box to check, and tells me,

Relimited's Friend: "They got my pizza wrong, dude; I need to go back and fix it."

We turn back toward the pizza place, when I glance at a wall of pure water headed our way. Not rain... not even sideways rain, but a torrent of water coming down as a wall. If it was rain, there would have been gaps for air. Here, there were none. I gesture back at the wall of water, and try to make some words, but my mind defies me. My friend just nods and we get in the car and speed away, neither of us wanting to try and drive in that.

This was probably more dangerous than just sitting tight and driving slow in the so called rain. I am aware of this now, but right then and there, I wanted to get back to his apartment before I got trapped by the onslaught of water. We sped down the streets, as fast as his four cylinder car could take us, ducking into his apartment (This time dodging trees, cars, and the stray building), slamming the door shut before god flooded the world again.

But hey, it was good pizza; after all, mine didn't have pineapple on it.