The Kevin and Joe Rule

I took Friday off from work and accompanied Kevin and Kathy on a trip through Rhode Island.

First of all, in case anyone is planning a trip to Rhode Island to hit the antique shops- don't do it! At least not on a freezing-cold day in winter. The wind off the water was bone-chilling, half the shops were closed, and those that were open were a waste of time.

Some of the strangeness we witnessed:

In the first shop we entered, we were followed around by an old lady shopkeeper who wouldn't leave us alone, looking over our shoulders as we shopped. Then she had us follow her outside the shop and around the corner to another shop she ran. She unlocked the front door and trailed us through a second shop.

Kevin saw one shop that looked promising on our map, but the door was locked. As we were walking away, the door was opened by the store owner so we walked back and went in. The owner was not the smartest guy I've ever met. The store was one big room and it was almost empty, except for some junk, a laptop computer (I'm sure their was some type of porn on the screen, probably involving barnyard animals), a motorcycle stuffed in the corner, and a hot dog stand. Kathy asked about the hot dog stand and the owner told us he sold vegetable burritos last summer. He lost money because the needed like 12 ingredients. This year he plans on keeping it simple and just selling hot dogs. Good luck!

We then watched a guy try to crank his boat onto his trailer. It probably would have been a simple process, except for all the ice that surround the boat and the trailer. I think the boater was crazy.

More strangeness occurred when we stopped for gas. I went in the little shop at the gas station to buy some waters and figured I'd use the bathroom while there. It was in a separate building so I asked the clerk if it was locked. He said no but handed me this big flashlight. I looked at it, then back to him, and he said, "No light." I said, "No thanks."

I told Kevin about it, but he decided to use the bathroom anyway. He walked in and asked the clerk for the flashlight, which he handed over without question. The only problem was that Kevin didn't know that bathroom was outside. So he takes the flashlight and starts walking around the store with it, going to the back rooms where all their supplies and the office was. And the clerk never said anything, he just let Kevin walk around the store with his flashlight.

I think Kathy was a little mad at me for my wise-ass comments throughout the trip, so I won't mention that she tried to kill Kevin and I three times with her driving. Nope, I'm not going to talk about the Jeep she almost pulled out in front of (this was leaving their driveway!). I won't bring up the fact that we hit something crossing one of the Newport bridges with no where to go except over the edge and in to the icy waters below. To protect my friendship with Kathy, I'm not going to talk about this.

We did make it back to Connecticut and met some other friends at Hot Rod's in New London. They make great chicken wings and now have nine different flavors. Kevin and I get a little excited when we are there. They have wings, beer, and a framed photo of Anna Kournikova in the bathroom- does it get any better? I guess once we had 96 wings between three of us.

So we started ordering some wings and the waitress came over to explain a new rule they have at Hot Rod's. She told us the price of the wings has gone up. Now only the first 12 wings per person are at the happy hour price. If you eat more than 12 per person, you have to pay full price. She continued, "Normally, I don't have to tell people about this, but I know you guys eat a lot of wings. So, I just wanted to be up front about the price." I think they should call this the "Kevin and Joe Rule."

I guess she's seen us eat wings before.

I should really look for an exercise program. Maybe something like this?