Okay, so I'm going to come across as a total geek again, but I really don't care. Earlier this morning I went out to learn a route to a gas station in my area. There are two of them that are fairly decent, however I chose to go to the one that was a little farther away. It proved to be totally worth it! The snow was frustrating, but I managed to do everything without falling, (which I consider a major accomplishment in itself), and traffic cooperated with me too, accept for the idiot drivers who thought it'd be really fun to honk their horns as they drive by. Here's a tip for my sighted readers. If you're driving, and you happen to drive past a blind person, please, please don't honk your horn!! It's incredibly distracting, not to mention the fact that when you're trying to focus on crossing a street or whatever, it scares the living crap out of people. People do this, partly, I think, as a way of telling a person that they can go, or other things, but it's just NOT a good thing to do.

So anyway, I got into the gas station. I didn't actually need to pick up anything today, but I did need cash. I was really hoping that this particular station had an ATM that I could at least learn to use over time. I was completely thrilled to learn that, not only did they have an ATM, but it just happens to be a talking one! For some crazy reason, known not even to me, I've been carrying around a pair of headphones with me. So, I pulled them out, plugged them into the jack on the front, and was immediately greeted by the voice of the ATM machine. For the first time ever, I was able to completely independently withdraw cash without having to have someone read me the screens. There's a $1.50 service fee associated with using the machine, but if I can do it on my own, to me I'll pay the service fee! I've heard about the talking ATMs for several years, but I've never actually had the opportunity to use one. Needless to say, I was definitely thrilled. It was also kind of nice to get out and walk a little bit too, even if there's enough snow around here to ... to ... Well, there's just a ton of snow and I'll be really happy when it's all gone. Only one more week of February, and it'll be March. March in Wisconsin still isn't the most predictable month, but it does mean spring, and I can handle that.

And, the countdown is still on for masterofmusings's arrival on April 4th. 42 days, which, for you Hitchhiker fans has an even more interesting meaning. GRIN!