Weekend Warriorship: How I Survived a Weekend
So a few years ago, a weekend was planned with some trepidation. It seemed simple enough. I was going to visit my parents at their home in my home town. I would be taking my mother grocery shopping and then I was to plow up a good bit of their yard (their house sits on about an acre of land). So no problem right? Not so much.
First of all, I took off work Friday so I would plenty of time to do what I needed to do and make it back home Saturday night to see my girlfriend who is amazingly understanding about me having to visit my parents. So, just to get things going I leave early on Thursday because it is always hectic getting everything around for a longer stay with my parents. Should I take just the laptop, laptop and 24" monitor or ditch the laptop and take my Mac Pro which is heavy, bulky but so much more fun than my PC laptop (Windows 7 is not my favorite by any means). So, being tired from the craziness of work and after work activities, I just grabbed the laptop, some clothes, a couple of books in case I get really bored and off I went.
Now, the trip down to my home town is usually uneventful. This time was very different. I started off and decided to something to eat so I popped into a burger joint and had a nice relaxing time with a cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate milkshake. As I was leaving I started listening to some podcasts I had downloaded about article marketing which is one of my favorite topics these days. So I am cruising along oblivious to the world at large when I suddenly notice a police car on the right of the highway. Thinking nothing of it since I was only going like 70 MPH in a 65 MPH zone but as I look back I notice him on his way with lights flashing and gaining on me. Once I had recovered from the shock of it all I go ahead and pull out a pile of papers from my glove box since I remembered seeing my insurance card in there a few days before. I pull over and wait for the inevitable but this was no ordinary stop. First, the officer is so, very young. But I figure, okay, overzealous highway patrol I get it. He then asks me to exit my car and join him in his car. Weird so I am now on my guard about what may be going down soon. He starts by asking me if I have anything illegal on me so I respond sheepishly, no nothing illegal. I had keys, my iPod and billfold so nope nothing illegal. Then he asks me to get into his car. So I oblige. He then asks me the following, do you have cocaine? No. Do you have methamphetamine? No. Do have marijuana? No. Then a question I wasn't entirely prepared for. Do you have large sums of cash in your car? Really? No, I do not carry cash anymore. Oh, and he also asked if I had any prescription drugs. Of course, the answer is no although I had to think about it a little since I do have an iron supplement for my anemia that was an over the counter product so no, no prescriptions. He informed me he was only giving me a warning ticket this time. Relieved I muster the courage to ask how fast I was going? He said 70. Okay, 70 MPH in a 65 MPH zone, while technically a violation is not usually grounds for being stopped but at least I did not receive a citation. Once on my way and not a little frazzled, I call my girlfriend who thought the questions were a little over the top so at least it wasn't me thinking this was just a little strange. I didn't think I looked like a dangerous type who would deal drugs but I guess currently, they are looking out for 50+-year-old middle age guys in black HHR SS's. Always learning something new.
Now, the rest of the trip was pretty routine. I entered the house talked to my dad, then my mother then took a look at the tractor. I start it up to take it for a test run then clean out a container they h.ave so it can be properly locked up. The next morning I waited around to take my mother to get her groceries. You have to understand I have 2 brothers who live here but instead of them, she decides to wait until I come down, a 3-hour drive so I can take her to a grocery store. Imagine how special I must feel. Once the grocery store ordeal is over, I started working on the plowing. Everything was going quite well until I decided to let the tractor rest and yes I was needing a break after being at it for 3 1/2 hours. Once I had rested up a bit, I mean let the tractor cool down I expected to get back to it, expected is the keyword. Long story short, the engine will not turn over, I pull my car out in the field where the tractor is and try to jump-start the tractor, not happening. Pulled the battery out of the tractor to charge it with my parent's trusty battery charger. The battery has given up the ghost as it were so I delivered the bad news to them and informed them that a new battery would solve all of our problems so they produce a credit card and I was off to buy a new battery. So old battery out, new battery in and we are back in business. So, I get the rest of my plowing completed.
As weekends go, this was one of my most interesting but not as fun as some. Now, I am hoping my week will be less stressful given the weekend but at least I have survived to live another day.
First of all, I took off work Friday so I would plenty of time to do what I needed to do and make it back home Saturday night to see my girlfriend who is amazingly understanding about me having to visit my parents. So, just to get things going I leave early on Thursday because it is always hectic getting everything around for a longer stay with my parents. Should I take just the laptop, laptop and 24" monitor or ditch the laptop and take my Mac Pro which is heavy, bulky but so much more fun than my PC laptop (Windows 7 is not my favorite by any means). So, being tired from the craziness of work and after work activities, I just grabbed the laptop, some clothes, a couple of books in case I get really bored and off I went.
Now, the trip down to my home town is usually uneventful. This time was very different. I started off and decided to something to eat so I popped into a burger joint and had a nice relaxing time with a cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate milkshake. As I was leaving I started listening to some podcasts I had downloaded about article marketing which is one of my favorite topics these days. So I am cruising along oblivious to the world at large when I suddenly notice a police car on the right of the highway. Thinking nothing of it since I was only going like 70 MPH in a 65 MPH zone but as I look back I notice him on his way with lights flashing and gaining on me. Once I had recovered from the shock of it all I go ahead and pull out a pile of papers from my glove box since I remembered seeing my insurance card in there a few days before. I pull over and wait for the inevitable but this was no ordinary stop. First, the officer is so, very young. But I figure, okay, overzealous highway patrol I get it. He then asks me to exit my car and join him in his car. Weird so I am now on my guard about what may be going down soon. He starts by asking me if I have anything illegal on me so I respond sheepishly, no nothing illegal. I had keys, my iPod and billfold so nope nothing illegal. Then he asks me to get into his car. So I oblige. He then asks me the following, do you have cocaine? No. Do you have methamphetamine? No. Do have marijuana? No. Then a question I wasn't entirely prepared for. Do you have large sums of cash in your car? Really? No, I do not carry cash anymore. Oh, and he also asked if I had any prescription drugs. Of course, the answer is no although I had to think about it a little since I do have an iron supplement for my anemia that was an over the counter product so no, no prescriptions. He informed me he was only giving me a warning ticket this time. Relieved I muster the courage to ask how fast I was going? He said 70. Okay, 70 MPH in a 65 MPH zone, while technically a violation is not usually grounds for being stopped but at least I did not receive a citation. Once on my way and not a little frazzled, I call my girlfriend who thought the questions were a little over the top so at least it wasn't me thinking this was just a little strange. I didn't think I looked like a dangerous type who would deal drugs but I guess currently, they are looking out for 50+-year-old middle age guys in black HHR SS's. Always learning something new.
Now, the rest of the trip was pretty routine. I entered the house talked to my dad, then my mother then took a look at the tractor. I start it up to take it for a test run then clean out a container they h.ave so it can be properly locked up. The next morning I waited around to take my mother to get her groceries. You have to understand I have 2 brothers who live here but instead of them, she decides to wait until I come down, a 3-hour drive so I can take her to a grocery store. Imagine how special I must feel. Once the grocery store ordeal is over, I started working on the plowing. Everything was going quite well until I decided to let the tractor rest and yes I was needing a break after being at it for 3 1/2 hours. Once I had rested up a bit, I mean let the tractor cool down I expected to get back to it, expected is the keyword. Long story short, the engine will not turn over, I pull my car out in the field where the tractor is and try to jump-start the tractor, not happening. Pulled the battery out of the tractor to charge it with my parent's trusty battery charger. The battery has given up the ghost as it were so I delivered the bad news to them and informed them that a new battery would solve all of our problems so they produce a credit card and I was off to buy a new battery. So old battery out, new battery in and we are back in business. So, I get the rest of my plowing completed.
As weekends go, this was one of my most interesting but not as fun as some. Now, I am hoping my week will be less stressful given the weekend but at least I have survived to live another day.
Comments
Post a Comment