… bouncing around in a Wrangler for the last three hours, even trying to sit down on the cold metal chair that serves for computer work, I still feel like I’m bouncing around some god-forsaken back road in that kidney-shakin’ machine!

(God I love it!)

(I’m never giving it back)

(ok, yes I am)

I was getting worried because my check to the MVA for my car registration renewal hadn’t gone through my bank even though I’d mailed it close to two weeks ago. I love Online Banking because I was able to check - not one minute ago - my balance and saw that indeed, it posted tonight, leaving me with a balance of less than $10. That’s okay - I’ve got tip money from the week and a paycheck at work all destined for the bank tomorrow.

(This post contains spoilers for the book - be warned)

I finished The Historian early Friday morning. I have to say, I was dissapointed. The good guys catch up to Dracula, and he’s all “Booo! I’m going to turn you into vampires!” and then he gets shot with a silver bullet and dies. It seemed like the author was writing, then realized she had to send the book into the publisher the next morning and just ended it super quick. Anyway, although the ending was dissapointing, the first 600+ pages are still a hell of a read and worth the investment of time & money.

At work today — er, yesterday — I was listening to the OTL Show on 105.7. Anyone else listen to it? Anyone else notice that during the news segements, Josh Spiegel cribbed every quote related to the London attacks from Andrew Sullivan?

… told you.

(And I should mention that either my buddy Scott or his fiancee pointed out the resmeblance to me. I was a little tipsy at that point so I don’t know which one…)

In Annapolis, at an ice cream parlor overflowing with penguins and super-sized medium cones of, uh, ice cream, the following flag was displayed on the wall.

I venture a guess that it is either the flag of Ann Arundel County, or the flag of Annapolis. But … what do I know?

The first thing on my agenda - after a nice, long, warm shower - was to head over and take care of the dog I’m looking after for the next few weeks. Pulling up in front of their house I was stuck by the complete lack of presence of their trashcans — my instructions had been clear: the trash co. would be by for the trash in the morning, when empties, I would move the cans to the rear of the house. Eh. Except they weren’t here? Thieving trash company employees? Argh! Talk about a heart attack …

Anyway, the dog was, as always, super friendly and eager to relieve himself. I was also relieved to find the trashcans - empty - on the patio. After letting the dog poop and pee, it was off to work for me.

The last few Friday days have been slow. Not neccessarily “make no money” slow, just “in at eleven, out before two” slow.

Not today. And I can tell you why — because Gary was out sick. I don’t know what he’s sick with, but the last time he missed work it was because he got piss drunk and decided to walk home then passed out halfway there into a patch of poison ivy.

Today was busy. And not just busy - it was fucking busy. Every line was flashing, there was a line of people out the door, it was just a mess. Luckily, we had two veteran insiders to keep things going as smoothly as they could (although they were doing a lot of cussing), and the new kid earned his cred today keeping a cool head on the subline and busting out as much prep as he could, to boot.

For Zap and I it was non-stop on the road, no sooner would we walk in the door then we were back out it. I left on my first deliveries at 11:30, and I got back from my last a little after two. In two and a half hours I took twelve deliveries and two re-deliveries (remakes or forgotten food). I also made a wopping $70, which surprised the hell out of me — two of my orders tipped shit: a $3 on a $139 bill, and a $2 on a $78. But most folks, I think, were aware that we were super busy (because we, uh, told them we were) and were grateful not to go out in the rain and that — clearly — showed in their tips.

I of course was anxious to get out of work so I could bust ass down to Annapolis. I wound up leaving at 2:30 … one of the nice things about not having Gary in the store is that James and Mark just let me do my thing, namely the dishes. Once done with that, the new kid and I finished up slicer prep and I was out the door.

I wound up leaving Timonium a little after three. I decided to take the Jeep since the day wound up being gorgeous - the sun came out early afternoon and it got nice and warm. Picking up the Jeep, I met both of the Jeep owner’s neighbors. Nice enough folks, although both claimed responsibility for moving the trash cans around to the rear of the house. Anyway, the radio was warning of delays on 695 west, so I decided to take 695 east and link up with 97 that way. Geographically, its a bit longer of a route, but there was literally no traffic. I’d left the top up because - meh - I was afraid it would start to rain again.

It didn’t.

Annapolis was a lot of fun. Caught up with Scott, then the three of us - me, Scott, his fiancee - went downtown for dinner and a walk down to city dock. It was great to see them again, and I’m a fool for allowing it to be so long. Later, back at the apartment, Scott and I watched THX-1138 and I tried to engage his cats in play. Yeah, they weren’t going for it.

I left Annapolis a little after 10:30, eager to get back to walk the dog again, but a wrong turn (took route 3 off of 97) wound up delaying me to the point where I finally got back to Timonium at about a quarter of midnight. There was some guess working in getting all of the Jeep’s lights off, and the dog was again super happy to go out.

So, I got home and figured I’d update my blog. I’ve got photos - including one of RICHARD NIXON! Alive and well …