Red Truck Man and the drive to work

I haven't yet mentioned Red Truck Man, so I figure it's about time. I don't know his name, so I will just refer to him by the nice, big, red truck he drives. RTM parks in the same parking lot I do. I don't know where he works ... just the general direction he walks when he gets out of his truck.

Okay, the freaky-weird thing is that RTM and I get to work at the same time pretty much every day. We leave work at pretty much the same time every day. (By this, I mean at least three times in a five-day work week.) If I were more suspicious, I'd think he was following me. As it is, he probably thinks I am following him. ::grins::

So this morning, I look in my rear-view mirror on the interstate, and lo and behold!, RTM is right behind me in his shiny red truck. Wild. I wonder how long he was back there before I noticed him.

As usual, the Memphis interstate system was slowed to a crawl by ever-present construction. One particular exit is shut down with no warning ... there are just concrete barriers where a road once stood. If you're a particularly astute driver, you'll notice the tiny orange signs posted one exit early announcing a detour. If you're a normal driver, you'll miss the signs and be forced to drive way past your destination to get to the next exit.

Here's where I run into a daily conundrum. If I plan to get off at the first exit, I must navigate ghetto-fabulous projects for a couple of miles before I get to work. If I plan to get off at the second exit, I must sit in a half-mile bottleneck before traffic speeds up.

So this morning, I notice RTM signaling to get off at the ghetto-fabulous exit ... and I say to myself, "Self! I'm going to go the other way and see who gets to work faster!" So I braved the super-slow half-mile feeling pretty proud of myself. I even made it to work in record time! And as I'm pulling into the parking lot, I notice RTM has beaten me to work so badly that he's had time to park, pay the cash box and walk to wherever it is he goes. Bummer.

Now to something completely different...

Matt's home. Yay! Hope he stays for a while, but I'm trying to be philosophical about it: "There is no future, there is no past, I live this moment as my last..." etc. I made him give back my spirit bear necklace, but I haven't had time to clear or recharge it from any negative energy he might have picked up from his crazy traveling companions.

Last night, I had dinner with Betsy, a high school buddy I hadn't seen in a few years. It was nice -- lots of talk about who was married, who was divorced, who dropped out of college ... crap like that. Anna (another high school buddy who couldn't make it last night) is supposed to meet Betsy and me for sushi at Sekisui sometime this week. The one Downtown is much closer to my office, but I'll probably drag them to the one in Midtown. That location has a stream that runs through the restaurant past all the tables. And in the stream is this parade of boats, each with a plate of sushi/sashimi on its back. So customers wait for a nummy-looking plate to float by, then they grab it and chow down. Fun, huh? I should sneak in a camera and get pictures so I can show you what it's all about. :) I may even drag Matt to meet them -- he'd scare the crap out of them, and everybody needs that once in a while.

Chances are I'll post later. I'm waiting on a package at the house, so after I (carefully) rip it open, I'll have to gush a bit. ^_^ Peace, guys.