Staines Part Five Googol (Blog 394)

Staines has been visited again by me a ridiculous amount of times now, as shown by the above title. Fittingly, googol is a silly sounding name (why not go further and call it a wibblybibblyboo?) and I’ve shopped a silly amount of times. The sheer size of the number suggests the amount of visits wouldn’t even be possible, but here we are. It’s sounds like a hellish existence doing the same thing over and over again to the point you become supernatural, but I like it. Naturally I had to drive to the place before shopping there. Whilst I can repeat various activities 1,00,000,000,000,000,000,000s of times I can’t yet arrive at places without leaving for them yet. That’s the next big skill I’m working on and it’s a toughie, some will say it's a waste of time. Anyway, on my travels I found that the local roundabout has finally been FULLY finished. I like the way there’s a little hump on it - a nice twist. Refreshing even, I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen such a road. It should happen more!

When in the town’s car park, a lady told me that she couldn’t use the ticket machine. Ah a rookie error, she didn’t read the sign properly. Sunday is different to the other days in that it has different parking ticket rules. She didn’t have the right amount of money. On the plus side, she let me get a pass before her to see if the machine was working properly. (It was). I didn’t screw the machine out of any cash like I did last time, but going early was a good feeling too. Not amazing, but a noticeable boost. Like drinking a cool bottle of water on a Summer’s day. Again, not FANTASTIC, but certainly satisfying. The first thing I did after that business was buy a present for my niece. ‘Wow, that was the first thing you did? You really do have your priorities sorted out. You’re an angel.’ Oh, you’re too kind. However, as explained a while ago, I like to save the best shops until last so I have something to look forward too. Sorry, niece.

What did I get? As her main present is going to be a pet cat, my dad suggested I get something cat themed. A thoughtful father? It does sound thoughtful, but catty presents aren’t hard to come across, as I found one almost straight away. When you think about it, when you hear someone say a relative is going to get a cat, and someone then thinks ‘hm, what should I get? I know, a cat themed gift!’ that actually shows LESS thought than usual. The next shop I went to was the CD store. Now we’re talking. Perhaps more interesting than that was me seeing someone I haven’t seen since about the age of 16! A fellow mental patient! ‘Oh, I’m sorry to hear that…’ No, no, that makes it better. Interestingly, I have seen half or maybe even more than that of all my fellow patients now in my local area. So statistically that has to make Staines the most mentally ill region in the whole of England!! :D

Saving the very very best till last is of course the milkshake. I mean yeah. Wow. I would have tried a shake that I hadn't had before, but I noticed that there were only two ‘premium’ shakes. Why have a lesser shake when you can have the best, even if it's more of the same? And it was the best or at least one of them. Maybe 7bone has the best milkshake I’ve ever had, but you need a mobile phone to buy from them. You know when you turn your computer on and it takes ages for your folders to show on the screen, and you always think all of your files have been deleted? If I carry a mobile on me, I feel that sense of dread basically all the time. Ok, ok, the fear does die down, but it doesn’t fully ever leave me. Moving on, when leaving the cafe I saw a guard or whatever who didn’t move a single millimetre for a good few seconds. I thought he was a very detailed statue! Only after a fair amount of concentrated staring did I realise he was actually a human. Lol. That was the trip out basically, although I did get to view the new roundabout from a new direction on the way back. Great hump! Bye!