Pugilism and Telephony
8/9/1

I was hit. Another human hit me, struck me with their fist. This doesn�t happen. I�m an adult. I don�t get hit. And this wasn�t some misguided teen female who thought it was a bonding issue or something, this was a late 30s adult female.

Now, we can always chalk this up to being possible playfulness, but that�s if you take it out of context.

Let�s call her Striker.

Striker was holding one of the babies at church and I went up and tried to interact with the little baby. Things did not go well and the child cried. When Striker handed the baby back to it�s dad, she turned, reared back, and punched me rather hard on the shoulder. She then, scowling, told me that the baby crying when she was holding it was a bad reflection on her.

I still don�t know how to deal with this. I�m not struck anymore.

Sure, in high school, a certain jerk that ended up in prison later, used to single me out and pick on me. I�m not sure why either. I think because I was not one to fight. I�m not really a pacifist, but he generally only made big talk and would hit me, on average, only about once a week.

[Actually, I do remember why he targeted me, since I had been to �alternative school� a few times and any mess-ups on my part would mean I would be suspended.]

Violence stresses me. On to a different subject.

At the grocery store chain Kroger�s, there are these little cards you have to use to identify yourselves so you get better prices. When the cattle that carry them got them, they told Kroger who they were and where they lived so that Kroger could track them and use this information.

Most privacy statements state they will never sell your information, however, agreements with those who get the names tend to use the word �share�.

However, though Aisai and I have a card, we never filled out a form. Brilliant. But now, I�ve lost my card and Aisai is the only one with one of these Kroger Cards. Ha, until last night.

Last night, while Aisai was talking to a friend from the horse stable she used to work at, I bought the few items we went in to buy. Since I had spare time, I asked the guy if we could get replacement cards.

The only data which went on the new thing was that these were replacements and my last name, which, though not really common, there are quite a few around. So we still have stealth cards.

My last name is actually rather uncommon, and it is odd that there is a man with the same name as I have living in the same city. However, his middle initial is L where mine is G. He also has kids who play tee-ball, and I get phone calls from members of the team at times.

Today I�ll have to buy a calling card. Well, I don�t have to do it today. But I need to get one since Powertel doesn�t reach into Louisiana.

Hey�but we got that thing in the mail telling us that Powertel had been bought out? This could be handy.

In any case, when Aisai and I went to Tampa last September, her mom, sister, and brother in law went to Williamsburg, VA. I bought a $5 calling card over the internet and they used the hotel�s long distance charges. We both made the same amout of calls, but our bill was only $5.50 (fifty cents each call out) plus the cost of the calling card where they had a phone bill of over $50.

I need to find out who Powertel is now.

Also, when we are down in Louisiana, I really want to visit the Tobasco plant. I got brainwashed by a product catalog that I had at home. There is entirely too much merchandise with the Tobasco logo on it.