THINGS TO DO LIST:

1.  GO SHOPPING FOR BABY SHOWER GIFT.

2.  GO HOME, EAT, READ, WATCH TV.

NEW PLAN!

1.  Leave work.  Hear bad noise.  Immediately blame bad pavement. 

2.  Pull over.  Find flat tire on smooth road.  Sigh.

3.  Utilizing Bluetooth, call AAA.  Request assistance.

4.  End call and note ‘phone about to die’ warning.

5.  Turn off Bluetooth.  Notify husband.  Notify daughter who was waiting to shop.  Secretly rejoice that you have legitimate excuse to not cook dinner.  Ponder:  take out or dine in?

6.  Try to enter place of work, which is a school during the summer.  Abandoned except for custodial staff who are nowhere near a door. 

7.  Circle building, banging three times on every door and window just to verify that no one hears you.

8.  Hear bad noise and turn to the street.  Was that a truck or lightning?

9.  Return to car to seek shelter from impending storm.

10.  Open windows to capture breeze.

11.  Try to use laptop on someone else’s wireless.  Password required everywhere.

12.  Decide to update THINGS TO DO LIST in notebook.  Realize notebook is home.

13.  Start writing blog on laptop using Word. 

14.  Notice nearby bolts of lightning on thundering thunder.  Watch wildly gyrating power line in front of car.  Think about this afternoon’s workshop on how tornados form.

15.  Raise windows to block sudden downpour.

16.  Alternate writing with checking rearview mirror for tow truck whose driver is probably not in a hurry to hitch up a car in an increasingly violent storm.

17.  Receive call from tow truck driver who says he will be here in 20 minutes even though he reports being in Laurence Harbor during rush hour,during a storm, putting him more than 20 minutes away.

18.  Note abating rain.  Lower window to cool off increasingly warm car.

19.  Abating rain lasts 20 seconds.  Deluge continues.  Start car and air conditioning.

20.  Worry that phone will go dead before tow truck gets here.  Worry that laptop will go dead leaving me with no entertainment.  Think about how long ago lunch was and how far away dinner will be.  Fantasize about iPhone 5.  It will not discharge after 8 hours.  It will not shut down if I use the internet.  It will not be available for three months and my current model is going dead in my time of need.

21.  Find a comfortable position in which to play Minesweeper.  Somehow manage to miss the big flatbed towtruck in front of me until the driver knocks on my window.

22. Haul my 5 foot 2 self into the front seat of a truck built for a person approximately the height of a professional basketball player.  Chat with Bob the Tow Truck Guy who is exceedingly nice and earned himself straight A’s when AAA calls to survey my customer satisfaction level.  It is impossible to not love a guy who actually shows up on time in a storm and hitches up a van in three minutes or less while I wait up front perfectly dry.

23.  Get myself and my car driven to local STS where I am informed that it’s quittin’ time and they’ll take my information now and fix it in the morning.  I am now stranded.

24.  Call Karen and ask for a ride.  And invite myself to dinner.  And to sleep over.  After she brings me to Walmart to buy a clean shirt and some basic toiletries.  And possibly drive me to my morning class. Thank you Karen.