Hick's Quest For Big Tips

Our drive to Oklahoma to visit The Pony took 9 hours. Hick was planning to stop by Bass Pro Shop in Springfield on the way home. That would have added at least an hour to our trip, by the time he drove across town, browsed, and drove back. Probably more like 90 minutes. As you might imagine, I was not keen on the idea.

Hick said he needed some metal tips to repair three fishing poles that he'd bought at the auction, and wants to sell at his Storage Unit Store. Big fishing poles, for big fish. He said that Walmart has tips for the regular poles, but not for the big ones. I figured that a city the size of Norman, Oklahoma, would likely have a store that sold fishing supplies. We tasked The Pony with searching for one on his phone.

He found Jones Bait and Tackle, in Midwest City. It's on the way to Oklahoma City, where Hick wanted to go on Thursday. It's only about 25 minutes from Norman. So...after dropping off The Pony's Rogue for a new set of tires, off we went, taking Hwy 77 instead of I-35, for the scenic route. We were within five miles of the bait shop, according to our Garmin, when the weather deteriorated.

This was at 10:47 a.m. But still, the weather was fine for driving. Just a little dark. That "good" weather didn't last long. The rain slammed A-Cad's windshield, and our phones kept going off with weather alerts. At least mine, and Hick's. Go figure. The Pony, who LIVES in that area, got no alerts. Maybe he needs to update his phone or something. Anyhoo...the alerts were for flash flooding. We soon saw why. The roads were running with water. Storm drains built into the side of the sidewalks could not keep up with the downpour.

The Pony and I begged Hick to pull over. I couldn't see a thing out the windshield, even though Hick had slowed down, and had put the wipers on HIGH after three requests. Hick said, "I WILL pull over, Val. As soon as I can see a spot where I can turn in." Yeah. Visibility was that bad.

Finally, Hick made a right turn, and then a quick left, to put us on the parking lot of a lumberyard. The rain slammed into my side of A-Cad, but at least we could see stuff out the windshield now. Then I made the mistake of glancing out my own window.

"That's just great. Of ALL the places you could have pulled off, you park us next to a giant tower that's going to fall over and crush the car!"

"Val. There was nowhere else."

"Right across the road! It's a freakin' WALMART parking lot!"

"I couldn't see what was on that side when I was driving."

Meanwhile, the wind was blowing so hard that A-Cad was a-rockin'. Hick got out his phone, to look at the radar.

"We're right in the middle of it."

"I don't feel safe here. This is scary! Now there's HAIL! We're going to get hail damage on THIS car, too! Go pull under that tree."

"Val. It won't help. The tree doesn't hang out over the parking lot."

"If you pull sideways over three spaces, it will cover part of us. It will at least slow down the hail. This is not safe."

"Well, you ARE about 20 minutes away from the Tornado Capital of the World...Moore, Oklahoma."

"You're not helping, you know! I think you just made that up! I know there was a big tornado in Moore, but I don't think it's the tornado capital."

"Here. I'll park under the tree. Will that shut you up?"

"I doubt it. But at least we won't be where this tower is going to fall."

So we parked closer to the road, and watched cars hit the big lake of water that came halfway up their tires. They really slowed down then, but mainly because the water splashed up like a breaking wave over their windshield. After about 20 minutes, the rain slowed enough that we could go on up the road to the bait and tackle shop, less than a mile away.

Hick got his fishing pole tips for $3 apiece. More than he wanted to pay, because he says he can get the regular ones at Walmart for $.75.

"Well, you forget that Walmart doesn't have the big tips, and I'm not spending 90 minutes on a detour to Bass Pro."

"Yeah. I need them to fix my poles so they'll sell. I'll still make money off them."

We headed to Steak N Shake for lunch, but aborted the trip to OKC, due to the weather. Which was sunny in Norman. As The Pony said, "This was a long way to go for just the tip..." I don't think Hick caught on to that reference. (And if you didn't, don't ask me!)

The floor of Steak N Shake, those little black-and-white tiles, was so slippery that I could hardly stand. In fact, it was worse in the restroom, where even gripping the handicap bar on the wall, my feet started to slide in opposite directions. I had to sit back down (on the toilet, people!) and try again. Since I'm I was a physics teacher, I know all about keeping my center of gravity over my base of support. I managed to get upright without falling down. What a calamity THAT would have been! Nobody would come looking for me, and I'd be flopping around on that questionably-clean bathroom floor of Steak N Shake like a hog on ice, unable to stand up. I held onto the walls like a beginning ice-skater on my way out of there.

After a tasty lunch of burgers and fries and the dregs of The Pony's caramel turtle fudge shake, we headed back to sunny Norman, where Hick went Goodwilling, The Pony and I reminisced in A-Cad, and then we all headed to Riverwind Casino to try our luck again. Which turned out to be better than that of the previous evening for me.

That's foreshadowing, people! To let you know that a casino story is imminent. It isn't about the money...