...and here's the story:
My friend SB was coming to Boston to take part in an event put on by an organization she belongs to. I, of course, as the 'Host Country' so to speak, was going to provide all the transportation for her.
On the day of her arrival it was mid-morning the first time I looked at my watch and said to myself,
"I have time."
Her plane wasn't scheduled for touch-down at Logan International Airport until 2:40 pm and it was then just about 10:00 am. Figuring on about a 30 minute ride into Boston I figured I had about 4 hours, right?
Right.
It had been about 3,000 miles since my last oil change, and I had plenty of time, so I took a little drive down to Valvoline and had them change the oil, check all the fluids -- just let them do the thing they do. Why not, I had the time.
I got home and checked my watch again, then sat down at the little home-made recording studio I have in my room and started working on a recorded narration I was doing for one of the District of Wonders podcasts. I had done a bunch of work on it before, but there had been sort of a technical glitch (read that as a sinus infection wreaking havoc with my voice during the first attempt at this) and I was starting again, basically from scratch.
But hey, I had time, right?
Right.
Soon enough it was 1:00 and I trotted down to clean my Jeep a bit. There was a little bit of fishing gear in there (and you can read that as seven spinning rods that go with me everywhere once the summer starts, plus a whole cargo area full of tackle, a broken-down 8' fly rod...) that I wanted to get out of the way to make room for SB, her luggage and the like.
It needed to be done, and I still had plenty of time, right?
Right.
Once I was done with that, and all the stuff was out of the way, I suddenly had an unrestricted view of just how dirty the interior of my Jeep really was. Normally, I guess, I just don't notice it. Jumping in to go to work, out when I get there, in to go home... you understand. During the course of everyday activity it kind of faded into the background and became part of the scenery. Now, though... yuck.
This was kind of embarrassing... I had to do something about this. I ran in the house to grab the Clorox wipes from under the sink, the paper towels from the counter top, and the vacuum cleaner from the upstairs closet. I dragged the whole bunch out to the driveway and got to work, attacking the dirt with vim and vigor.
I knew it was 1:30 when I started my little cleaning project, but like I said it really had to be done, and besides, I still had time, right?
Right.
One wash, wipe-down and vacuum later the Jeep was presentable... but I was not. It was 2:00 as I was finally putting the vacuum cleaner back in its upstairs closet, but I really needed a shower. It was just a 30 minute trip in, and touch-down was in 40 minutes... plus she'd have to disembark so that gave me a little more time. I can do this, I thought as I kicked aside my heap of dirty clothes and cranked the water on in the shower.
Besides... I still had time ... right?
Right.
I showered, dressed, got my stuff together, grabbed a water to drink on the ride, and was going out the door at 2:18. I was running a little bit late now, but like I said before SB would have to disembark. I also figured that if she called to say she was on the ground and I told her I was right outside the airport and driving in she could just relax and walk out of the terminal at a leisurely pace and I'd be there in moments to pick her up at the curb.
Then, just as I was putting on my coat the phone clipped to my hip buzzed.
"Hi," said SB, sounding chipper for having just gotten off a plane. "I'm here, but I can't find you. Where are you?"
My jaw dropped, and I sputtered. She was 20 minutes early. At least.
I am the White Rabbit.
Welcome to my life.
Sorry, SB.
Talk to you later!
P.S. - I know, I know, I sort of said SB was in this one. And she is. She has three very important lines!
TTYL!
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