Stuff I Learned From A Bad Day In St. Paul:

• My health insurance gets me a huge discount to the Science Museum.
• All the walking has to be good for me ... right?

And that is the only thing that went my way this day.  Now, here is all the bad shit that I figured out:

• I'm still very, very bad at directions ... after I got lost on the way back to the car wash/detailing service.  I thought I was too far south, and then I realized I was on the right street.  Unfortunately I had to double back and waste about ten minutes.
• Don't ever again get sucked in by shelling out $25 more for this chip sealant/shine thingy.  I wanted to give my parents' minivan a good buffing because I scratched one side of it a couple years ago, and I think it would've been fine with the "regular" sealant/shine thingy.  It looks great from the outside, but I can't notice a difference.  (Of course, this is the first time I've ever brought in a car for exterior detailing, but I still think that's the case.)
• Buffing doesn't cover up your mistakes.  I put touch-up paint to cover up the scratches on the minivan, and even though I was told it was going to be the same exact color, it went on a shade or two darker. And it stayed that way.  You can tell where I used the fingernail polish brush that came with the touch-up paint if you look at it up close.  I think the scratches are gone, but the touching-up remains.
• When you bring in a minivan, or an SUV, or any grown-ass car for washing and/or detailing, never forget that you have to pay a premium.
• The particular place I went to for detailing doesn't give AAA discounts for detailing ... which means I don't think I'll be going back to this place -- for detailing or for washing, either.  I mean, they promised they'd call me by 3 and I didn't receive a call when I finally got there at a quarter past 5.  Fuck!
• I have to stop thinking that the Omni Theater movie has anything to do with the special exhibition I wanted to go to.  I decided to make a day of it: If I'm going to go to St. Paul to get my parents' car detailed, I might as look at the Pirates exhibit at the Science Museum, too!  But the movie had nothing to do with pirates.  It was a special Warner Bros. IMAX movie called "Under The Sea" narrated by, of all fucking people, Jim Carrey.  Was he talking out of his ass when he did that voiceover?  It was beautiful, don't get me wrong, but there were some shots of animals eating other animals.  I wasn't ready for that shit!  I covered my eyes as living creatures was about to die.  If I knew that this is the movie I was going to see at the Omni, I wouldn't pay money for it and I'd save time to see the Pirates exhibit ... not just because of the violence, but also because it was about undersea creatures.
• I guess you can't get only one shrimp cocktail even though this very fancy-schmancy French place in downtown St. Paul says in its menu that you can get only one.  Did I mention that, or did they misunderstand me?
• I mean, this was great, and I decided that I'd eat at this place because I've been wanting to for the longest time, but I thought my bill was going to be, like, $35.  It became $49.  $49!  And all because they thought I asked for four shrimp cocktails instead of one???  Again, it was great food -- I recommend the matzo ball chicken soup -- but now that I've given them half my unemployment check for the week, I don't know if I'm ever going back there again.

Oh, speaking about unemployment ... I called the state today.  They did receive my amended application, but they're guessing that they need to check it out.  At the very least it'll take till next week, possible the week after ... and there's a possibility that I'll be denied the compensation I paid into on the basis of the PCA job I held as Grandmother's caretaker.

Fuck me.  Why did I ever even go out today?

And you know what?  I might double down on my spending spree by going to a strip club tonight.  Hooray for self-destruction.