A cat lies awake when it sleeps
Well, I packed my truck and left. First stop, home through Milwaukee. I left the Cities at 5, and aroung 8:30, got hungry, so I stopped off in Black River Falls to dine at a Burger King.
I ate from the value menu and read the local newspaper. Having been awake since 3AM, the adrenaline was cooling down and my vision blurred. I drove further down 94, but by 9:30, I couldn't stay awake, and I pulled into a hotel parking lot; pulled the truck into the darkest corner of the lot, wrapped myself in blankets (20 degree cold doesn't making sleeping in a truck fun), tossed my quilt over myself and the driver's seat (to capture the heat), pressed my pillows against the driver's window, and slept. I woke up once at 11:30 because of the cold, once at 12:16 because I thought I was rested, and finally at 1:40AM.
I drove on, and in Madison, stopped to fill the tank and use the restroom. By the time Milwaukee was within an hour's distance, I noticed a State Patrolman behind me, lights ablaze.
He told me I was going 75MPH in a 65, and was there any reason for that? I told him I didn't know, as far my speedometer (and driving habits) go, I was at 60, if I ever did go above 55. I don't think he really had anything, because he nodded, then looked at my license:
"Where's your glasses?"
"I don't need glasses."
"Contacts?"
"I don't use those."
"Says here you have a restriction."
Well, shit, that was before I had my Lasik done. Who thinks to update the license on grounds for not needing glasses? He left me off with a warning on both counts, with the provision I have to go to the DMV, get a new license, and have them fill out a form and send it the State Patrol HQ. Thank you for wasting 30 minutes of my time.
I finally arrived home at 4:30. It's always nice to arrive home and find your keys don't work in the lock. I rang the doorbell, my mom let me in. The house...doesn't smell like home. It feels alien, like visiting some other distant relatives. I slept 'til noon.
I made the social rounds with those who were expecting me. The same old "let's drink here Friday", "let's eat here Thursday", the same old everything, because the same dive bars and budget diners are new and exciting to me 5 months later.
My...arrangements in Indianapolis fell through a few minutes ago. I will scramble for a contingency plan. Perhaps I will walk the Earth like Cain or the Incredible Hulk.
I think I made a mistake. But I left that "hellhole" (as it was once coined), and I do feel better for that. Now I'm back in the same old fireplace. "Only for a few days to catch-up", I tell everyone.
"Only for a few days to catch-up", I tell myself. Out of the frying pan, into the same old fire.
I'll figure it out. There's a trick to it, to life. It's easy, there's a trick to it; you do it or you die.
---
I had nothing but Jenny Lewis purring at me the entire drive.
I ate from the value menu and read the local newspaper. Having been awake since 3AM, the adrenaline was cooling down and my vision blurred. I drove further down 94, but by 9:30, I couldn't stay awake, and I pulled into a hotel parking lot; pulled the truck into the darkest corner of the lot, wrapped myself in blankets (20 degree cold doesn't making sleeping in a truck fun), tossed my quilt over myself and the driver's seat (to capture the heat), pressed my pillows against the driver's window, and slept. I woke up once at 11:30 because of the cold, once at 12:16 because I thought I was rested, and finally at 1:40AM.
I drove on, and in Madison, stopped to fill the tank and use the restroom. By the time Milwaukee was within an hour's distance, I noticed a State Patrolman behind me, lights ablaze.
He told me I was going 75MPH in a 65, and was there any reason for that? I told him I didn't know, as far my speedometer (and driving habits) go, I was at 60, if I ever did go above 55. I don't think he really had anything, because he nodded, then looked at my license:
"Where's your glasses?"
"I don't need glasses."
"Contacts?"
"I don't use those."
"Says here you have a restriction."
Well, shit, that was before I had my Lasik done. Who thinks to update the license on grounds for not needing glasses? He left me off with a warning on both counts, with the provision I have to go to the DMV, get a new license, and have them fill out a form and send it the State Patrol HQ. Thank you for wasting 30 minutes of my time.
I finally arrived home at 4:30. It's always nice to arrive home and find your keys don't work in the lock. I rang the doorbell, my mom let me in. The house...doesn't smell like home. It feels alien, like visiting some other distant relatives. I slept 'til noon.
I made the social rounds with those who were expecting me. The same old "let's drink here Friday", "let's eat here Thursday", the same old everything, because the same dive bars and budget diners are new and exciting to me 5 months later.
My...arrangements in Indianapolis fell through a few minutes ago. I will scramble for a contingency plan. Perhaps I will walk the Earth like Cain or the Incredible Hulk.
I think I made a mistake. But I left that "hellhole" (as it was once coined), and I do feel better for that. Now I'm back in the same old fireplace. "Only for a few days to catch-up", I tell everyone.
"Only for a few days to catch-up", I tell myself. Out of the frying pan, into the same old fire.
I'll figure it out. There's a trick to it, to life. It's easy, there's a trick to it; you do it or you die.
---
I had nothing but Jenny Lewis purring at me the entire drive.