Strange things you're not used to

[Jeraly 4]

I have like 10 canvas bags that I've been using for several years. Most of them I got when I used to work for a software company. Any conference that we had we always got a canvas tote bag to carry away all our swag Each bag can carry about 5 - 2 litre bottles of pop. If I had to use the grocery store plastic bags for those, they usually only put 2 bottles per bag, and double bag 'em, so that I'd end up with 20 plastic bags every time I did shopping if I happened to forget to bring my bags with me.

I even take them now into clothing shops and K-Mart and Wall Mart. I get strange looks, but I really don't give a shite

Wow - you have good baggers... we get one bottle per double bag.. If I get a choice I tend to ask for paper as they can be recycled and get packed better as well!!

Other things I am not used to are the evil bugs and dirty feet

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

I'm with you guys on the bags, I got some very light bags that I leave in my handbag (purse) all the time, and I have some heavier shopping bags that I take with me when I know I'm going grocery shopping. Any plastic bags I end up taking home, I generally use as bin liners or something. (Although I prefer to buy biodegradable bin liners).

The thing that I've noticed is that most of the sole traders and single businesses (not chains, or small local chains) tend to only be found in those nasty strip malls. I can see now why people would want to go to the big malls to the nice shiny places. The rents must be so high in those malls that the sole traders can only afford to be in strip malls. I really hope to be able to find good local restaurants, coffee places etc. But I can see why people here pass them by.

[Ontarkie 15,022]

Oh ya bugs they got some really big spiders here and they freak me out. I miss the nice frozen ground in the fall to kill all the buggies.

Edited August 2, 2008 by Ontarkie

[Gemmie 142]

But that's in Texas, right?

Nowhere in the North East? Please?

[MissStacey 1]

Oh ya bugs they got some really big spiders here and they freak me out. I miss the nice frozen ground in the fall to kill all the buggies.

I hear ya. There are so many bugs and creepy crawlies here in Louisiana.

Also- I took Cooper to a local dog park and there were fleas everywhere. I have never had to deal with fleas before. Cooper gets the treatments every month and I know he is ok and won't bring them home. It freaked me out though- I came home and scrubbed myself in the shower because I felt icky. Now I am turned off about going back there. I hate to see Cooper miss out- he loved it there and now he has to suffer because I am neurotic.

[Reba 2]

But that's in Texas, right?

Nowhere in the North East? Please?

You'll be fine in the North East for half the year. Winter time kills most bugs, so you'll have 6 months with bugs, and 6 months without.

Generally speaking though, the bugs aren't nearly as big and deadly up north as they are down south here.

[melusine 5]

lol i already had to kill a couple of black widow (you know the spider that can basically kill you) and saw 3 tarentulas so far ! creepy !

as for groceries i am using my old loblaws giant bags....very very convenient, sturdy and big and everything.

i just love them

[melusine 5]

another note... about supersizing food.... it fits me !

i can then get 2 or 3 meals out of it ! make things cheaper overall

[Jeraly 4]

Ewww - I haven't seen any black widows and I didn't realise there were tarantulas here...

[StillThePrettiest 4]

I think I still haven't told my 'enormous huntsman spider landing on my head while driving' story, have I?

[Ontarkie 15,022]

omg if you do post a warning first so i can avoid the story it will have me freaked out way too much

[Gemmie 142]

Ditto!

[*julez* 124]

I, on the other hand, would like to hear that tale, StP!

[English Muffin 59]

I, on the other hand, would like to hear that tale, StP!

Me too. Fire away!!

[StillThePrettiest 4]

:lol:

***WARNING DULY POSTED***

ok, let me start by telling you that huntsmen spiders look like this:

they're just ENORMOUS, and while they're not dangerous in any way, finding that one has seemingly spontaneously generated inside your house and is now balefully lurking in the shower recess can be a bit of a heart-pounding moment... and they're common in Australia

for some reason, you hardly ever see any that are much smaller than that... they just appear, fully grown

anyway, on this particular day, a Sunday, I was dressed up and on my way to work, as my school was having an open day... I was travelling at about 60km/h in the middle lane of three lanes of traffic, along the beachfront at Brighton-le-Sands, if anyone knows Sydney (it's on the shores of Botany Bay)

so I was driving along, when I suddenly felt the lightest bit of pressure on the front of my head... I had a fringe back then (bangs for yankees ), and as I looked up I could see the hair pressed down and... something... just in my line of sight

and I don't know how, but I just KNEW what it was, so I took my right hand off the wheel, and brushed quickly upwards, and then looked over to the passenger seat, and there was this MONSTER of a bloody great huntsman just crouching there

I don't know how I didn't crash, but I didn't; I changed lanes twice in quick succession and dived down a side street, leapt from the car, grabbed a magazine or something from the back seat and brushed the ####### out onto the road, and then sat in the driver's seat with my heart pounding like I'd just witnessed a murder

and then I had to get back in the car and go to work and stand in my classroom and talk to parents for four hours

it wasn't funny at the time... good story though; I don't know how many times I've told it

and, believe it or not, it was BIGGER than the one in the picture