Staines Misery! Kingston Not So Bad! (Blog 316)

Yesterday I was really bored, so I planned a mini shopping trip. I was slightly fearful about driving the lengthy if not massive (massive for ants I mean… and me) three mile journey to Staines as I hadn’t been there for a good few months, (or rather countless thousands of seconds which is how people like me see it). I was worried I’d end up driving around aimlessly in search of the car park. Thank God I didn’t, in fact the drive was nice and easy. No Satnav! When at the ticket machine, someone asked me why she couldn’t get a ticket and I explained why with perfect clarity. (In the end). If that wasn’t cool enough, I wasn’t the only person she asked for help, there was someone else there. Yep, I ‘won’ the ticket helping. Full of optimism I then walked towards the CD shop. These were my exact thoughts ‘I wonder if I’d be surprised if the CD shop has closed down. No, let’s be positive. I WILL be surprised if the CD shop closed down.’ As I got to the establishment a minute later, I found the pessimistic and rejected views were right. >:( As I’m perfectly sane now, I can say with complete certainty my thoughts didn’t cause the shop to declare bankruptcy. Just a coincidence. If I was 15 again however, something fishy would be going on.

Not to worry, hot chocolate and cream from Starbucks! Very nice. Even better, the cream flowed into my mouth nicely. You may remember I’ve always hated cream that ‘swims’ away from me (not literally though, again I’m sane) but not an issue at the time. It was a shame how the cream was gone so soon, but I was too embarrassed to ask for a top up. Never mind. I got more drink than I wanted, but would the excessive supping that I felt strangely obliged to continue lead to problems? That would be found out later. I also bought myself a muffin for when I got home, which I hoped would fill the void, but in the end, it didn’t really. Next in Staines, I bought some hash browns from Subway, but that time to enjoy when I drove to and walked through my local high street about to browse the charity shops. Was the void filled, then? Maybe a little, but again, not really. For whatever reason the hash browns tasted like cookies a little and sugary, but maybe that was because I placed them right next to my muffin whilst driving. Perhaps unfairly, I was thinking ‘these hash browns aren’t as good as I remembered them.’ But of course, I’m a hardened hash brown veteran now, even a pro you could say, so I know exactly what is and isn’t good quality. :O

In the charity shop I spotted five potentially interesting albums. One I had already, but my old case was cracked, so I bought a replacement. The purchase didn’t have a CD in it which obviously would be annoying for most people, but not for me - Not necessary! Soon after getting home my brother phoned me up to say he wouldn’t be visiting me and my dad as planned because he had Covid! Dear God! How much sensory deprivation do I have to put up with?? But on the plus side, it’s good he didn’t go to the fair as was discussed at the last minute, as he could have been a super spreader!! After hearing the news and in desperation, I decided to go to Kingston and get a CD there. But before that business, let’s give a brief summary of the albums I just bought and ponder if they belong in my collection. (Well not a summary of the one I already own, there’s no point in that). First up is the band ‘Ok Go’: No! Next up is Finley Quaye: Actually, not that bad. I’ll have to come back to that one and give it another listen. The CD case doesn’t always open properly, so I’ll have to be careful with that. Next is The Crusaders: Sadly not a power metal band which what I was expecting. Nope, not for me. Next is Texas. No, way too girly. Ok, not the best £2.50 I’ve ever spent, but not ALL bad.

On a completely unrelated note, I watched a Youtube video about scorpions, and the subtitles said (I’m not that deaf, I just like words along with vids, sometimes) ‘Usually this scorpion’s sting isn’t a treat for humans.’ I bet! Ok, let’s leave for Kingston’s high street by foot, by train and by foot again… … … I’m back! So, naturally when rambling in the town I took one wrong turn taking up an extra 10 minutes of my time, but after that? Navigational perfection. In the CD shop I was still feeling particularly empty, so I decided I should get not one but two CDs I’d never heard of. Doing so did make me feel slightly better, to be fair. I was told I had to pay £19.99 and with confidence I was thinking ‘No, no, that would be £19.98.’ Luckily I didn’t say that though, as one of my CDs cost a good penny more than I thought. Phew. Again, the walk back to the station wasn’t without its flaws, but it wasn’t truly terrible. Actually, I think it went rather well. And I only had to wait for a train for about 5 minutes! Had I missed it, I’d have to wait an extra hour! Yes!

In an act of rebellion, I peeled off a price tag and stuck it onto a train seat. What made the act all the more hardcore was the fact I knew CCTV was watching me. Cool as a cucumber. At home once more, I checked on Amazon to see how much my CDs were worth, and it seems I got ripped off by a few pounds on one album, and I made a saving of 91p on another. But on the plus side, no waiting for orders to arrive! My albums got 4.5 stars, but that’s basically meaningless as pretty much all CDs on Amazon get that precise score. You know what? To make the day as super duper and non-sucky as possible, I think I should listen to the albums later. Nice to look forward to things, right? Before hand I could go on a lovely walk. A lovely walk on my own, but hey. Because of the sugar overload caused by the large and partially unwanted hot chocolate, I’m feeling just a little bit sick, but not enough to bother me. I guess my problems hinted at earlier aren’t too bad, but I felt the need to create a sense of drama. On another plus, my knees aren’t so bad anymore! Minimal pain, despite the hardcore pounding they often get! Blog over! Bye!