Going Nuts Over Nuts

Last night we went to the grocery store. It was a Thursday night so we figured it'd be slow, we'd get in, get what we need and get out. Painless right? Yeah, not so much. First we get there and everything is moved around. They changed their entire floor plan, so I couldn't find anything. Normally I can skip the aisles I don't need and go directly to what I do. But with everything moved I had to go up and down each aisle, making sure we weren't missing anything.
Then Amy texted me. Normally I go to the store by myself, so I'll text her back while shopping. No big deal. But Marc was already impatient with me wandering around, so he gave me a hard time and told me to do it later. So I put my phone away and kept shopping.
Finally we were at check out. There were a few open, so I picked the one with the least amount of people and got in line. I began unloading the cart and about half way through I realized the belt hadn't moved. I looked up and saw the cashier moving in slow motion inspecting each item as she scanned it. I was like great, this is gonna take forever. At this Marc gives me a hard time and says to suck it up. If I can text while shopping, I can't complain that the cashier is slow. I agreed, but still wasn't happy.
Eventually it was our turn. She's talking to herself saying, "oh no look at all this, who is going to bag all this", with this real spacey expression. Marc heads down to the end and says he'll bag, she just needs to ring us up. She says ok. totally relieved. Again, she begins to move in slow motion inspecting each item as she scans. That is until she comes to the bulk nuts. I had 2 bags of nuts, in separate bags. She picks up the first bag and says, "what kind of nuts are these"? I tell her they are hazelnuts. She replies, "well I know they're acorns, but do you know how much they cost?". I told her no and again said they were hazelnuts. She turns to the girl at the next register, holding up the bag, and asks, "hey I don't know where to find these, I know they're acorns, but I can't find them listed". I said again, "that's because they are hazelnuts". The other cashier is just looking at her pissed off and says just look under nuts. She slowly turns to her screen and begins hitting buttons looking at the screen with wide eyes and gaping mouth. She then calls to another girl to come help her find the acorns. She comes over and tries to find them but can't. (Because they are not acorns!) Then the manager comes over and he takes the bag and says he'll be back he'll go check the price. She says ok, turns back to the register and shakes it off (she actually shakes) and then continues on. She picks up the next item and goes, "oh no, another bag of nuts. At least I know these are walnuts". At this I almost jump over the belt. I as calmly as I could reply, "no they are almonds". She just stares at me with a deer in the headlights looks. The other girl comes back over and says, hey, we'll just give you the shelled almonds price since we can't find the right one, and rings it up to $9.11 for almonds. Like she's doing me a favor. I again, trying to keep my composure say, "no, there's no way you're charging me for shelled almonds, they cost more. I'm not paying $9.00 for almonds". She says ok and takes it off. Luckily just then the guy comes back with the correct price and everything is rung up correctly.
It was an incredibly painful shopping experience.

Hot Topic

I've never had much luck with Hot Balm in the past. It's never really worked for me regardless of how much Ive applied. And if it did work, it started working too late; like once I was home after a hot shower. So this year I got 'hot' instead of using Marc's 'mild'.
Saturday was a cold overcast day threatening rain, so I decided it'd be a great day to try out my new 'hot' Hot Balm. Thinking I'd have the same reaction as previously I slathered on an absorbent amount from upper thigh down to my ankle. Then I put on 2 layers of knee warmers to really work up a sweat.
As I went for my pre-ride and my I could feel the slight burn, but it was nice and not too hot. I abandoned one set of knee warmers for the race, and again, it felt good, not overwhelming. Then after the race I jumped in Tom's Sprinter to clean up my leg (which I bashed into the concrete coming off the beach, leaving behind some skin). I wasn't in there for more than a couple minutes before my legs started to burn, then burn quickly turned to a fiery pain. I cleaned up my leg quickly and disembarked. As soon as I hit the cool air, the pain eased. Problem was I had to sit in the car the whole way home. My upper body was freezing as we couldn't turn the heat on since my legs were on fire.
We stopped on the way home to pick up rubbing alcohol and witch hazel. Both which I've heard removes Hot Balm. So I rubbed and rubbed trying to remove as much as possible so I could take a hot shower. Once I figured all was good I got in the shower and slowly eased the water warmer and warmer. It felt good, not burning. Then I decided to shave. HA! What a mistake. The fire came back 10 fold and nothing made it subside for about an hour.
Sunday I used very little Hot Balm. It was much better.

Weekend results:
Saturday was Beacon. It was a cold and blustery day and I was still not feeling well. But what the hell, I raced anyway. Well, I was in a race. I'm not sure you can call what I did 'racing'. I basically bundled myself up, slathered on a ton of Hot Balm and had a nice ride in the park. Sunday went a little better. I was feeling a little more like my old self and had a little spunk back. Was able to fight it out a little and managed a respectable finish.