It's 8 o'clock. Do you know where your home is?

Well, no drink for me today. Had this been a Starbucks and not a Caribou Coffee, it wouldn’t be such a problem. However, I don’t have the time, money, or stomach to try all their different drinks of nonsense. I just want a Vanilla Bean!! Seems like a reasonable request. A guy who lives in my apartment said that there was an honest to God Starbucks somewhere in these parts but I think this is the stuff of legend. Anywho…

I’m growing tired of having to make twice-a-day trips to Wal-Mart and Target to get stuff I need for my place. I live slightly out of town so it’s not like I can just pop in and get something. This alone has grown very heavy on my soul. For such a small town, I have to do too much damn driving.

Speaking of driving, I got pulled over yesterday. Hooray! My first day of living here alone and I get pulled over by an unmarked black cop car. They are very tricky, it seems. My crime? Speeding going 42 in a 30. This, however, need some explanation…

On the way into and out of town, the city has these gradual speed restrictions. From my apartment into town, you start on a highway going 55, then it changes to 45 for 1/5 of a mile until ending at 30. I missed the two VERY small speed signs and just kept going. I explained to the officer that that was fair enough but I had literally moved here two days ago and am just getting used to the town. He asked if I had moved up here for school and I said “yes.” He went back to my car, saw my clean driving record and out of state plates, saw pity on me, and let me off with a warning. He was actually very nice about the whole ordeal. He wished me a nice day and drove off.

As I sat there collecting myself I suddenly came to the realization that this isn’t my town. I don’t know the ends and outs and I’m just getting adjusted to the place. It made me quite homesick. I longed for Saint Joseph, the land of milk and honey! Where I can dance around in sunny, leafy glades all day without a care in the world except which tree I was going to sleep under and which bushes and shrubs would provide my meals. It seems that paradise is, indeed, lost.
Do have a bright note! Last night while I was taking a small smoke break, I spoke to a guy who had moved in the same day as I who was from Kansas named Darrel. He is a nice chap with quite a few things in common of myself. We exchanged numbers that night and today he accompanied me as I ran my daily errands around town. It’s nice to know that I have a friend in the apartment. So things are looking up.

Well the nice ladies behind the counter are eyeing for not buying anything so I must retreat out to my car for a smoke. It’s quite pleasant this evening anyhow. Now I just wonder if I have anything to do in town before I go home. Hmmm….