In which Jonathan cherishes carlessness
Sunday.
The night before, I discovered that I would not be able to get home after church (church is 40+ minutes from home, and further from work). I would be working Sunday, so I made a plan with Ben. After church, we endeavored to carry out this plan: he dropped me off at a bus stop, from which I would be able to ride into town to get to work.
What we did not know was that no buses ran there on the weekends. I discovered this after a short while, and called him. No answer. Uh oh.
Not only was I in a town where I had no car and no bus, but my cell phone battery was dying, and I *had* to be at work in ninety minutes. I called Maddie, who lived in that town, to see if she had any ideas. As I was talking with her, another call came in on my phone: my mother. I couldn't call her back then, as my battery was dying, but I knew it was about my grandmother. Saturday night, I found out from my sister that my grandmother was not doing well.
Lovely day so far, which was only made better by the measly four hours of sleep I got the previous night. Accidental caffeine overdose. And graphophilery.
So I'm tired and sleepy, stuck, and thoroughly enjoying the sunlight in the afternoon. Call me crazy, but I felt calm.
After a few minutes of nearly being stuck for hours in Sterling, Virginia, someone got in tocuh with me, and I was able to get me to where I'd be able to be at work on time. Good stuff. I found out later that my grandmother died. Not unexpectedly, though.
Monday.
About 25 minutes after closing time, a woman entered the coffee shop looking for coffee. We had already shut down the registers, but there did happen to be some old coffee in the pot, so we just gave her a cup. She appreciated this, and offered to buy us a drink at the nearby Mexican restaurant. This was Cinco de Mayo night, of course, so the Mex place was where the party was hopping. My coworker (hereafter EB) and I were not particularly interested, but we did eventually finish closing up, and we poked our heads in over at the Mex place. She wasn't there. But we stayed for a bit, and then set out in search of... something. Barhopping, apparently. I wanted to seek out a live band and enjoy that sort of thing, but we found no place where there was a live band, except places that were 21+. Oh well. The Spanish restaurant/bar was decidedly not celibrating Cinco de Mayo.
We settled at one restaurant/bar for a while, and around 12:08, I decided that I had better head home. I was already quite tired, and didn't originally intend to spontaneously go barhopping after work. EB said, no, stay a little longer. Til 12:20. Okay, fine.
I stayed for a bit, and we started talking with someone from Bolivia. At around 1, I left for real. ...to find the metro closed. Yeah, that's right. I have no way to get home. I went back to the bar, where EB was fortunately still seated. He said he'd drive me home, and then took it back. He hadn't had that much to drink, but enough to be a little tipsy and not up for driving. Great, I thought.
We went to his apartment, which was within walking distance, and sat and watched TV - something I didn't particularly enjoy. Eventually, he drove me home, and I got in aroud 2:30. Woo hoo.
Wednesday.
Wednesday is a non-working day, because it is a Caregroup day. CG is a small group of college-age people from church. We get together weekly and discuss life, God, and how the two connect. There's also some singing and praying and snack food. Well, Mimi and I go to different CGs, so she dropped me off in Ashburn, where I was later met by Becky. Mimi said, "I'll call you when I'm done with my stuff and I'm ready to pick you up."
But because this story is included in this entry, you can guess what happened.
After sitting in Becky & Nate's house after caregroup until about 12:40 am, I decided that it might be good to call Mimi, just to get an idea of how late she was going to be.
"Hey there."
"Hi."
"Where are you?"
"...in bed..."
"Oh, okay. I was kinda wondering if you were still going to pick me up."
"...OH NO! I'm so sorry! I'll come out there. I'm getting dressed right now..."
So I was "stuck" in Ashburn for little while, or would have been if Mimi had made it to sleep before I called. Fun fun fun. Fortunately, Nate's fam is gracious and it's not the end of the world that I was sitting in their living room until 1:10, although Becky *did* have finals the next day.
---
Gantt charts on the way.
The night before, I discovered that I would not be able to get home after church (church is 40+ minutes from home, and further from work). I would be working Sunday, so I made a plan with Ben. After church, we endeavored to carry out this plan: he dropped me off at a bus stop, from which I would be able to ride into town to get to work.
What we did not know was that no buses ran there on the weekends. I discovered this after a short while, and called him. No answer. Uh oh.
Not only was I in a town where I had no car and no bus, but my cell phone battery was dying, and I *had* to be at work in ninety minutes. I called Maddie, who lived in that town, to see if she had any ideas. As I was talking with her, another call came in on my phone: my mother. I couldn't call her back then, as my battery was dying, but I knew it was about my grandmother. Saturday night, I found out from my sister that my grandmother was not doing well.
Lovely day so far, which was only made better by the measly four hours of sleep I got the previous night. Accidental caffeine overdose. And graphophilery.
So I'm tired and sleepy, stuck, and thoroughly enjoying the sunlight in the afternoon. Call me crazy, but I felt calm.
After a few minutes of nearly being stuck for hours in Sterling, Virginia, someone got in tocuh with me, and I was able to get me to where I'd be able to be at work on time. Good stuff. I found out later that my grandmother died. Not unexpectedly, though.
Monday.
About 25 minutes after closing time, a woman entered the coffee shop looking for coffee. We had already shut down the registers, but there did happen to be some old coffee in the pot, so we just gave her a cup. She appreciated this, and offered to buy us a drink at the nearby Mexican restaurant. This was Cinco de Mayo night, of course, so the Mex place was where the party was hopping. My coworker (hereafter EB) and I were not particularly interested, but we did eventually finish closing up, and we poked our heads in over at the Mex place. She wasn't there. But we stayed for a bit, and then set out in search of... something. Barhopping, apparently. I wanted to seek out a live band and enjoy that sort of thing, but we found no place where there was a live band, except places that were 21+. Oh well. The Spanish restaurant/bar was decidedly not celibrating Cinco de Mayo.
We settled at one restaurant/bar for a while, and around 12:08, I decided that I had better head home. I was already quite tired, and didn't originally intend to spontaneously go barhopping after work. EB said, no, stay a little longer. Til 12:20. Okay, fine.
I stayed for a bit, and we started talking with someone from Bolivia. At around 1, I left for real. ...to find the metro closed. Yeah, that's right. I have no way to get home. I went back to the bar, where EB was fortunately still seated. He said he'd drive me home, and then took it back. He hadn't had that much to drink, but enough to be a little tipsy and not up for driving. Great, I thought.
We went to his apartment, which was within walking distance, and sat and watched TV - something I didn't particularly enjoy. Eventually, he drove me home, and I got in aroud 2:30. Woo hoo.
Wednesday.
Wednesday is a non-working day, because it is a Caregroup day. CG is a small group of college-age people from church. We get together weekly and discuss life, God, and how the two connect. There's also some singing and praying and snack food. Well, Mimi and I go to different CGs, so she dropped me off in Ashburn, where I was later met by Becky. Mimi said, "I'll call you when I'm done with my stuff and I'm ready to pick you up."
But because this story is included in this entry, you can guess what happened.
After sitting in Becky & Nate's house after caregroup until about 12:40 am, I decided that it might be good to call Mimi, just to get an idea of how late she was going to be.
"Hey there."
"Hi."
"Where are you?"
"...in bed..."
"Oh, okay. I was kinda wondering if you were still going to pick me up."
"...OH NO! I'm so sorry! I'll come out there. I'm getting dressed right now..."
So I was "stuck" in Ashburn for little while, or would have been if Mimi had made it to sleep before I called. Fun fun fun. Fortunately, Nate's fam is gracious and it's not the end of the world that I was sitting in their living room until 1:10, although Becky *did* have finals the next day.
---
Gantt charts on the way.