September 2011
Dear Friends and Family,
As your iPhones or Androids or whatever you own may have told you, it's September! For most of my life, September has always meant to me the start of the school year, and so that would always carry into my newsletters. However, I've realized that I am no longer in school and no longer have that to talk about. So I guess I have to talk about something else.
Now that I have left my student days behind me, I have noticed that my types of problems have changed to what I guess would be considered adult problems. I used to worry about getting my papers turned in on time and now I worry about getting my bills turned in on time. I don't have to worry about any professors giving me an F but I do have to make sure that I don't get any late fees from Southern California Edison. A big mishap for me used to be my pencil breaking during a final exam. Now I own a bit bigger and bit more expensive equipment that, unfortunately, also breaks.
Coming home from a recent retreat in Palm Springs, my mom and I were just driving along down the 60 without a care in the world, when all of a sudden it seemed like there was, inexplicably, a helicopter flying directly above us. If only I could have looked up through the roof of my car, I was sure that I would have been able to see the blades of the copter right above us, like a scene from some recent action movie. Maybe a rogue CIA agent needed to jump out onto the roof of my car to evade the agents searching for him and get to safety. If that was the case then sure, I would happily lend my vehicle as a landing pad for him, as long as he didn't cause too much damage. You know, I did just have my car washed.
However, I never did see that helicopter above me or hear the rogue CIA agent land forcefully down on my car. I did see, however, the truck behind me move into another lane and then, speedily after that, a billow of thick black smoke rise from my car that did not, I believe, result from a sniper's bullet. Quickly, my theories of a helicopter suddenly vanished as the smoke billowed up and a moment of quick panic set in. However, somehow I was able to get over the four lanes of traffic without blowing up, which I considered quite good. I wasn't really in the mood to blow up that day. Upon exiting the car, we quickly discovered that all of the previous hubbub resulted not from some government conspiracy, but rather, more mundanely, from your average flat tire, the sound of which striking against the asphalt created my helicopter noises.
I guess our vacation couldn't end so peacefully after all. This, I realize, is much worse than a pencil breaking during a final. Fortunately, our peril did not last for too long. We weren't even off the phone with AAA when this white truck pulls behind us. Wow. That was fast, we thought. But it wasn't AAA at all, and hopefully it wasn't a roadside serial killer either. We had already escaped blowing up and now I really didn't want to fend myself off from him and his chainsaw or whatever his weapon of choice was. Again, I found that my imagination had run away with me. The truck contained not a chainsaw wielding murderer, but rather a car jack wielding service man from the Riverside County Motorist Aid Services. So although he wasn't exactly a knight in shining armor, he sure became one to us that day! Thanks to his help we got home safe and sound so I could write this letter to all of you my dear readers. I bet he didn't know that he would change my tire and give me writing material. Needless to say, I hope that my driving adventures are a bit more boring from here on out. I sure don't make enough money to be having car problem stories every weekend.
I hope that all of your Septembers go by much more smoothly than my drive home from Palm Springs. Enjoy the end of your summer and remember that fall starts on September 23--sooner than you think. However even though summer might be ending, I don't think the warm weather will end until November at least. So no need to start unpacking the sweaters just yet. Thank goodness for the California sunshine! Happy September everyone!
Signing Off,
Joy Jasmine Ellis
The Lowly Office Aid
Mr. Tire says, "I'm sorry Joy, but I just couldn't help but take advantage of the comedic irony by popping myself on the way home from your relaxing trip. Nothing like a little stress to end the vacation!"
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