Lemons

Today was great--I drove to Bothell this morning. I left a little late actually, and still made it up there in 1 hour! I also had to give a presentation today on Lice, and OTC products to treat lice infestations. It was the best presentation I've ever given...not a whole lot of fidgeting, "ums", "likes" or stuttering! We even got out early today after having a pretty cool discussion on finances.

Unfortunately, at 3pm on a Friday, people like to hit the road, just like me. I spent 1.5 hours on the freeway, no AC in the car, and my car was overheating. I blasted the heater to try to cool the car a bit, only to find myself sitting in a puddle of my own sweat. I only drove 40 miles in that 1.5 hours, and my car decided to die right in the middle of the freeway. Luckily, some nice guys helped me push my car across 3 lanes to the shoulder of the busy freeway. Another good samaritan pulled over and backed his truck up probably 200 feet to get to me, just to ask if I was alright or if I needed help. The cops didnt even pull over like that! This place is definitely no Oregon. I spent a good amount of time talking to my parents who were freaking out, and finally, decided to try and start up the car. It started, thank goodness! I just feel bad for the Volkswagen Jetta parked 0.2 miles north of me that had to get towed...Could this be some kind of testament to the engineering of old Volkswagens? I'm sure the manufacturers wouldn't be too happy about this coincidence.

I carefully got back on the freeway, got off at the next exit (about a mile south), and parked the car in the lot of a shopping mall. Thinking I needed to let my car sit some more and wait for traffic to die down, I decided I would enjoy the AC inside the mall and see a movie. Unfortunately, none of the movies I was willing to pay for started until 7 (it was about 5pm), so I walked the mall like so many adolescents before me. I bought a book at Borders, and noticed the smell of sweat and funk lingering around me. I walked carefully around the mall, careful to avoid people and spare them the pain of my stink. I not only looked like melted death...I definitely smelled like it...or worse. I found a Bath and Body Works, and carefully "browsed" the store, using the most potent and pretty smelling tester sprays they had. I thought this was helpful...but the stink lingered...I am still unsure of what exactly smelled on me.

I perused Target a little and got some ink for my printer, along with a sports drink and some printer paper, parked my butt on a bench in the middle of the mall, and read until 730. I decided at that time that it was probably safe for me to venture home in my poor car, and I finally got home at 820. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed in the fact that I wasnt able to go to bed at 5pm like I had hoped.

And now, here I am...just typing away my complaints. I just hope this makes me sleep better. Day 13 of work tomorrow...then I'm driving down to Portland. Great timing, huh?