Retirement, Part II: DC Intermission

While I loved my trip to Los Angeles, coming “home” is always nice. I had a couple of days free, and I spent them cleaning my new car and made some time to have lunch with my ex-work peeps (vvg to see everyone).

Monday, July 9
I drove to Butler, PA for my Grandfather’s 82nd birthday. This was my 2000 Cabrio’s first real drive with me. I was pretty nervous, being our first date and all. I was a little frightened at first, but we hit it off quite well. Aside from the oil smell that’s constantly present, it was a great drive. I passed 80K so said goodbye to any thought of having even an emissions warranty. Grandpa was his normal self, chipper, but not in good shape. We’d talked about finding Uncle Bryant, but that didn’t pan out. We don’t know how he’s doing or even where he is, but someone will get in touch with Grandpa if something happens.

Wednesday, July 11
I spent a little bit of time with Aunt Belva and Leslie, but I was in a hurry to get home; Brian was coming to visit for the first time. I managed a drive by in Greensburg to spend the evening with Windie while on assignment. It’s very cool that I have friends all over the place and have the time to hunt them down and hang with them.

Saturday, July 14
Brian’s visit was shorter than expected. It’s probably a good thing, because I was in a mood and would have killed him by accident. He hung with me while I tried to get my car fixed, and we found some time to see Noriko between all of her travels too. I dropped him off at the train station at 2:00 am for a 3:15 ride back to NYC. I thought I’d be smart to take 395 out of DC, but somehow I didn’t find the 66 entrance and ended up on the George Washington Parkway where I got pulled over for driving in my lane! The officer said I was driving too close to the left and appeared to be drunk. I suppose that’s a fair assessment at 2:30 am, but after checking my license and registration, he determined that I wasn’t intoxicated and let me go. I suppose I should be happy that he’s trying to keep the roads safe. More than anything, it pointed out that my Cabrio is much narrower than I thought. The best part of all is that I honestly didn’t remember what it was like to get pulled over. I really am reliving my youth! Woo Hoo!