The man cut me off and then gave me a one fingered salute to which I responded with a series of curse words that might have burnt the skin off of his face had he heard them.
Given my window was closed and I said them as I passed by I am certain he didn’t benefit from the education I gave him.
That is not why I made a three point turn but he must have wondered because he stopped his car in the center of the street and waited for my approach.
I didn’t say, honk or do anything to acknowledge his presence because there was no point and my new car is all of three weeks old.
It is my first hybrid and thus far I am very happy with it. I like it much more than the previous car and I am grateful because I wasn’t enamored with that one.
It wasn’t a bad vehicle but it felt like a downgrade from what I had been driving and that irked me. Didn’t matter that the payment was affordable or that it met most of my needs, it felt like I settled for less.
Anyhoo, that doesn’t matter as it is done and now we’re on to something more satisfying.
The Post It Note
One of the boys in the photos above is going to a 5 AM shift at work tomorrow so the elder one put up a Post-It to remind him it is supposed to be 20 degrees when he leaves tomorrow.
Depending on how things roll out in the morning he might remember that and even if he doesn’t two steps out the door will remind him as will his car.
He has a relatively short commute so by the time the seat warmers and heat kick in he’ll almost be at his office.
Don’t know if the Post-It is necessary and given someone’s philosophy on letting others learn from their mistakes one could say it wasn’t.
But there aren’t many times when the opportunity to write that note is available so one does as one does.
Some of the photos from the shot above come from the LA Auto Show and were taken about a decade ago.
The idea that one day he would be behind the wheel of his own vehicle and making the payments on it was something I knew was possible but it seemed so far away as to be a dream, not to mention I had a significant height advantage.
He is about my size now and we talk about buying property and what car he might want to drive at some point in the future.
Some conversations feel surreal because he is barely into the working world and just starting his career while I am working on trying to figure out how to begin to wrap mine up.
I make a point to tell him that wrapping things up doesn’t mean it is imminent and that there may be a decade or more left but there is no doubt I am on the tail end.
If things go as I wish it won’t be that long before I get to decide if I want to keep working or not. So we talk about ways that might enable him to have some of these choices at an earlier age than I will.
Still I remind him that life happens and things impact you in ways you cannot plan for or foresee. I share two that I believe added at least five years, if not more to my run.
Been a little while since I went to visit the kingdom. Been a while since I started asking questions about it and thinking about it in present terms.
Thought about making some unilateral decisions and mulled over whether those are sensible, reasonable and logical.
That made me laugh, because so much of it isn’t connected to things that are scientifically based. Sometimes you have to use both heart and head.
Been told by others that certain decisions were made because they are connected to industry standards and scoffed.
They asked me why I met their words with derision and I said they lacked substance.
“Industry standard isn’t an answer. It is a non specific, non descriptive expression used by those who cannot explain the rationale behind their actions.”
I was told to be cautious about who might hear me say that and I shrugged my shoulders.
“If there are consequences for speaking the truth in this situation I will face them. Pressure can be applied in multiple directions. The person who thinks they are in a position of power doesn’t always come out ahead. We all answer to someone.”
****
I am driving down George Bush towards Plano and can hear someone softly singing along to Numb and wondering if I feel a knife being twisted in my ribs or if it is indigestion.
Takes a moment to realize that it is just a memory.
It’s from two cars ago during a time before the pandemic when my father was still alive and I wondered if I was going to figure out how to pull an ace instead of a joker.
A lifetime later I am almost afraid to write that I think I found that ace because you never know when that joker might show up again.
But the benefit of experience is the knowledge that you handled it once, twice or thrice and can do it again.
That is worth something, now isn’t it.
