When I was just a sawed-off tadpole of a boy, my mom used to tell me, "Son, there's two kinds of smart in this world -- plain smart and book smart." I got this line a number of times, usually by way of comforting me when the tree fort I built collapsed while my brother's towered proudly like some sort of arboreal Taj Mahal. Apparently, I lack a little bit of the "plain smartness" that might let me pitch a tent more quickly, work on a motorcycle without repeatedly breaking bolts, or just avoid setting down laptop computers on stove burners. Still at it, Ma!
A slow day on the Odyssey, so you might be wondering how come it took us so durn long to write it up. You'd have a point. You'd also be annoying us, so just stop it. We started off early, driving Calvin and Rosalie to the airport for their appointed flight back to San Francisco to meet Vince and Jen. Things went off without a hitch on the way to the airport, Kristanne dodging Otto in and out of the apocalyptic Boston traffic like the seasoned veteran that she is. Actually, she has become a bit too much of the grizzled Boston driver for my liking. She's taking her newfound aggressiveness to places it doesn't belong, like, say, the Amish Country in Pennsylvania. You should have seen her cutting off horse-drawn buggies and cussing out Mennonites in German. Not pretty. Needless to say, I'll be driving until she regains her head.
Where was I? The airport...yes, yes. Unfortunately for us, our return trip from the airport was not nearly as trouble-free as the drive out. With a single-minded mania that I have previously seen only in rabid dogs and the Grateful Dead, Kristanne laboriously caught up to and passed an entire funeral procession, shaking her fist at each participant for, as she said, "driving too damn slow on the freeway." "They had it coming," she said later. "And you can quote me on that."
Unfortunately, in her slightly overzealous pursuit of automotive justice, we missed our exit. The consequences of road rage, alas, are usually not felicitous ones. After an hour or so of aimless meandering, we eventually found our way back to Chuck and Lisa's. Kristanne promptly fell asleep with "The Rockford Files," while I contented myself with sipping coffee and clipping my toenails. "Extreme Telecommuting," indeed.
| Eventually, Chuck and Lisa came home, full of vim and vigor, ready to go to Acadia. However, Kristanne and I seemed to be radiating a force field of torpor, and Chuck and Lisa were sucked in, as you can see there at the right. We settled for ordering take-out Chinese and watching the all-star line-up on NBC's Thursday night. Boy, those folks on "Friends" sure give me a giggle. They're good looking, too! |  |
Worn out from such a tough day, we eventually slept, the better to prepare for tomorrow's early-morning departure to Acadia National Park in Maine. See you then!
Total Miles for 7/24 = About 40