Apparently my last post was too vague. People have been calling, thinking I was in an
accident or a DWI, and since I'm NOT injured, I should correct this perception - sorry.

Upon waking up still feeling mildly inebriated from the previous night's party

(yes, I drank THAT much - even the Irish eventually hit the wall - not a good idea)

I started out making my way home, but was lured by the siren call of the local Denny's.

Once I'd finished coffee, what food I could actually eat and various levels of mockery,
I headed towards home again. However, at that point the sun was already heading towards
the horizon (yes, yes, it was that late) and between the state of my head (not good) and
the sun in my eyes (even worse), I missed my exit. Then I missed the next possible exit.
So, wondering if I should turn around or take the long way home, I pulled into a rest
stop to peruse my handy travel atlas (I am GPS free) to investigate the best possible route
at that point that would not involve taking 495 all the way around the long curve to where
it intersects 9 and 90 - ok, I could have just kept going but, hangover.

So how was I to know that this particular reststop was frequently patrolled by overeager
state troopers monitoring local criminal activity?

Russ, the overeager state trooper, pulled in and began running every plate in the reststop.
Mine came up with a suspended registration. Cause I didn't pay some ticket I don't remember
getting. No, I had no idea it was suspended - this was surprising to me. I thought all the
problems were cleared up (see my much earlier journals while I was carless).

So, Russ the state trooper, who to be fair was nice and was only doing his job (I just wish
he was doing it somewhere else) informed me that even if I was the president, I could not
drive my car home and get it fixed tomorrow. I tried. I begged. He would not be swayed
from his duty. Ok, kudos to you Russ, at least you were nice about it. However, nice or
not, he said I could *not* wait for someone to come rescue me, that the car was being towed
right then and there and I could get someone to pick me up near the tow place. My rescuer
couldn't get there for an hour and a half.

So Russ the state trooper called Russ the tow truck driver (no i couldn't make that up) who
came and proceeded to confiscate my car and my plates. Now, Russ the tow truck driver was
even nicer then Russ the state trooper and felt really bad for me. Russ and Russ said that
they would drop me off at a Dunkin Donuts a few miles from the tow impound yard, where I could
wait somewhere with heat (but, mind you, no seats as it was in a gas station convenience) to
be rescued, then I could go to the tow yard, call the company and wait until when and IF they
had someone free to let me in the yard to get my things out of my completely packed car.

Oh, and the tow cost 100, and the impound cost 20 a day starting with today, or they could
tow the car to Natick for the tow cost of 100 plus 5.50 per mile - at 35 miles from home.
Lessee - chances of my getting everything reinstated during the day tomorrow with no car and
back up to the tow place (incidently the tow place is down the street from the old Madrigal
camp in Westford) before they closed at 5 on Friday? Slim. So, that makes 5 days of impound
since the weekend is not possible. That's 200. Or, Russ could call his dispatcher and see
if they could do a slightly discounted flat rate on the tow back to Natick - and he did - and
she said it would be 250, but the car and all the stuff in it would be at my house.
No brainer. So Russ and I and the towed car drove to Natick where he cheerfully parked it
for me. Russ the tow truck driver, by the way, was a really nice and interesting person - we
had a very cool conversation - and I have his email address so I can help him find good costs
on plane fare to Australia cause he wants to go visit a good friend there. Surreal, but a
nice conversation about everything from avionics to barfights to Russ' Infamous Scratch Code
to the odd behaviour of rich women. No, really, he was pretty cool to talk to.

So, long story short (too late), I am home, the car is home, I blew my bill money on the tow
and still need to get the registration reinstated and the fines paid, and life has decided
to throw me another curve ball for the hell of it. So that's the story. I'm fine, there was
no accident, the car isn't wrecked, I'm just a bit broker then before - big shock.

There, now people can stop worrying - but thanks to everyone who did check up on me, that was
really nice of you. I've just gotten back from Zeyr's where we spent the evening playing one
of the kid's new board games - Risk Godsend - this is a cool game. It was nice of Zeyr to come
pick me up and bring me home so I could visit - sigh. But, tired now and still headachy.

Happy New Year. Oh yeah. Nite, all.