Just another day in the burbs of LA

Sitting in the waiting room this morning...husband's auto's slightly sick, had an appointment at opening time, but the bay is crammed full of vehicles and three bodies are already at three opposite walls in the wait room; three unmanly bodies of insignificant features...I'm definitely checking out the magazine stacks.  An hour plus half later, car doc is checking out husband's wheels, a twist, a plug, a double pat, and soon it's good to go.

Earlier, managed only to upright myself in bed after 5 or 6 snooze alarm button resets, couldn't reeve up my gears above poking speed, so except for the getting dressed part of all my before-go-to-work chores, I had accomplished nothing in the way of speedily preparing myself before dragging this unwilling body, and plunking it into that hunk of junk work of art Isuzu of husband's.  Now after its check-up, the deadbeat sweet treat is parked once again in its resting place.  I still have the job calling my name...come to me, come to me, I want to ruin the rest of your day.

I reach for the fridge, but stop.  The memory of the feast I had gorged into my mouth during last night's boohoo crap out time while the remnants of a headache still simmered in my noggin, stops me dead in my tracks.  I almost barf, and choose instead just a small cup of coffee with cream.

I'm going to have to lay off the food for a few days to get over this one.

Lock the door to my little bungalow of sheet rock and plastic siding, and slide my bodacious body into that sleek sweet red-hot love on wheels, my (kiss kiss hug hug) little Toyota Solara, and fly off to my work destination.  I'm leaving LA (Lower Antioch), hooray, hurrah, bah humbug.  UA (Upper Antioch)...LA (Lower Antioch), I get confused...but I've been told if I allude to the wrong one, I'll be looked upon as low down dirtier than hog slop dog poop trailer trash...good gosh...I hope I have it right.

Out the back way on a two lane highway, speeding through tree covered country side with houses here and there, and over the bridge across that large span of cool deep blue water. 



Some days billows of fog surround me, blue herons have flown over and under me, and when water's clear and calm it's speckled with gliding sail boats.  I speed on through part of a state park and through more tree, deer, and turkey country, on past a transformer tower blanketed in roosting buzzards with a few snacking on the ground.

I'm so hoping that's not an omen of how the rest of my day is going to play out.

Freeway entrance coming up, and I'm speeding in and out of semitrailer truck traffic for a delightful ten minutes romp...my off ramp's just ahead.

Slowing down, speeding up, slowing down again, flagmen, bulldozers, oops! a highway patrol car hiding there...construction of this five mile stretch of country highway to city highway is nearing a decade to complete!!! 

I'm cruising the twilight zone of Sumner county.  Every wreck imaginable has happened on this over crowded stretch of two lane highway, most making no sense whatsoever.  One day I'm flying 10 miles over speed limit to keep up, next day I'm crawling 15 miles under speed limit to keep up.  Oh rats...I'm following a hearse.  Hearses are on the roads all the time, right???, no need to read anything into this one.  Slowing down, coming to another town, over bridge crossing an inlet of water, over the hill, and past a yellow, crumpled up, burned out tow truck dead on its side with its tires set in rigger mortis.  This isn't looking good, not looking good at all.

At last...across an ancient green expansion bridge above another inlet from the river, and since I'm already so late for work, ten more minutes added on...who cares.  Convenience store, here I come!  Checking out the somewhat toxic goodies, my cell phone's playing my song...hello?  It's boss telling me not to bother coming in, nothing's going on anyway...he seems too eager to burn up many more hours of my leave time.  Sorry, I say...ten minutes more, and I'll be at your front door...see you then.

On the bypass and out of town I go, through housing tracts and farm lands, my turn off's just ahead.  Down a tight hilly little country back road and into a hollow, the entrance to work sweet work.  Swinging out to turn and park beside the office...what the!!!, the door's wide open and the office is abandoned.  The ranger calls it ADD (attention deficit disorder), I just call it dementia, and I think I'm winning on this one.  Been going on for near a year...always announcing he's going to retire, always forgetting that he thought it or said it more times than he remembers it.

Is this rain EVER going to stop...it's been raining for days!  And yes, on my way back home at end of soggy day, the buzzards are still at it...roosting on that transformer tower, and still snacking on whatever that rather large tasty morsel is.  I speed to end another day at my shack back in LA, UA???, LA...I'm not trailer trash!

Ok...maybe I am.  Sigh.........