Bad day, part 2

The red and blue lights flashed. I looked in the mirror, and there was a cop behind me. Not going the other way, not passing me, but behind me. After me. "I'm screwed." I thought. I looked for a place to pull over, but there were no parking lots, so I stopped at the side of the road. The officer trained his spotlight on my side-view mirror, lighting up my face. I got my wallet out, rolled down the window, and waited for him to walk up.

He asked me for my driver's license and proof of insurance, which I handed to him immediately. He explained his reason for pulling me over was that I was weaving on Center Ridge Road, which I wasn't, but it's their catch-all reason, and impossible to prove otherwise. He also asked why I pulled into the gated driveway of Gale's Garden center. I explained that I had offered my acquaintance a ride home, but that she declined. Then I made a three-point turn in the drive and headed home. He asked me if I knew the woman, and I said that I did. I didn't mention that I had watched the end of the ballgame with her at Mitchell's. He asked where I was going, and I said "Straight home, just down the street." He asked if my address was correct, which it was, and he asked if I was able to operate my vehicle safely home. I told him that I felt I was, that I had a few beers while watching the ballgame, but that I felt safe to drive home.

Then he said, "Mr. Carter, just do one thing for me. I'd like you to say the alphabet, forwards, for me." I replied, "Ok". Then my mind went blank. Holy Crap! How does the alphabet go!? How does it start? I remembered that there was a song, but I wasn't going to sing the alphabet to him. My heart started racing, so I reached over and shut the radio off, which made the officer chuckle, and bought me a few seconds. I went back in my mind to second or third grade, to the room in the elementary school, where there was the alphabet poster above the chalk-board, showing the proper way to write in cursive. I started with "A", and read across, but once I got past "C", I was rolling, and sped through it.

He asked me again if I felt that I was able to safely operate my vehicle home, and I said, "Yes sir, I do." He told me to go straight home, and drive safely. As he left, I put my seat-belt on, rolled up the window, then went straight home.

I had been drinking beers that night during the game. I ate a big dinner, the drinks were spaced out over the evening, and I hadn't gotten hammered. While I felt safe to drive, and didn't feel impaired at all, I'm not sure I'd have passed a breathalyzer test, with the current maximum of .08%.

I lucked out that night.

Bad day

Yesterday was one of those days that I should have stayed in bed. They say bad things happen in threes, and they all happened yesterday. Katie hurt her leg. The Tribe lost game 5 of the ALCS, and I got pulled over after the game.

Katie's been sick lately. When I got home from work on Wednesday, I was in a hurry to meet some friends for dinner and beers. Katie had crapped all over the living room, so I put her outside while I went out, just in case there was more crap on the way. When I got home, three and a half hours later, (that's 4 to 7:30), the neighbors had taken her, and left a note on my door. I was rather ticked off about that, so I cleaned up the poop, then went to bed. I guess the neighbors got tired of her, because they put her back outside. I heard her barking around 10:30 and brought her inside. So I've got two questions. One, is 3.5 hours too long to leave a dog outside, considering the time frame (It wasn't even dark when I got home)? Two, am I out of line to be angry with the neighbors for taking her?

Anyway, that was Wednesday. When I got home from work on Thursday, there was more crap spread around the house and Katie's hind-end looked like she'd played sit-n-spin in it. She definitely needs a haircut back there. So I gave her a bath, cleaned up her butt, and took her outside to dry off and play. We were playing tug-of-war, and other such doggie games when she caught sight of three deer crossing the street, heading north to the woods. My gosh, she was off like a bullet! Full speed chasing those deer, down at least two, maybe three houses! I went to get her, and noticed that she was limping. She had re-injured her hind legs. Poor doggie, she's an old lady now, not a young'in anymore, and while the heart may be willing, the body can't follow. I carried her home and put her on my bed then I went to watch the Indians/Bosox game.

The game wasn't much fun. Beckett was unassailable. (My hat's off to him, btw) I had a couple of beers and some dinner, but left Mitchell's after a few innings to look up a barmaid who is now working elsewhere. Leah now works at McGinty's for reasons of her own. I enjoyed gossiping with her, since the Tribe wasn't getting the job done. At the 7th inning stretch, I left and went back to Mitchell's to catch the end of the game. There, I ran into two friends, Bob, and Camille. Bob is an electrician I've worked with in the past. Camille is an attractive woman who I see up there from time to time. The three of us watched the finale, when Camille and I decided it was time to go. She left first, and I was not in the mood to listen to Bob explain why the Tribe lost, and what they should, or should not have done, so I followed her out. As I got into my truck, I noticed that she was walking home. I drove up to her, rolled down my window, and asked her if she wanted a ride home, but she declined. So I looked for a spot to turn around, saw a driveway, and pulled in. There weren't any cars coming, so I backed into the street and headed home. I was about a mile from home when the cop his his lights.