Tickets and Blisters

By Chris

I'm shocked Teresa hasn't given this tidbit of information up. It really thrilled her when it happened:

Phone rings in office ... it's the wife. "Guess what you got in the mail today?" she asks. .... "A pretty picture of your car on Connecticut Avenue." "Hahahaha."

Yep. It was a ticket by mail. I didn't even realize it had happened. Driving to, in and around our Nation's Capital is one of my leaset favorite things to do. But, I have to do it. Usually, very slowly. Painstakingly slowly, in fact. The place is an eternal traffic jam. But, somehow, according to this new device, I was going 43 mph in a 30 mph zone. I've heard of the red-light cameras in different places, but never one for speeding. Until now. The letter requested a $40 fine. Not bad, I guess. Far less than a real speeding ticket, I've heard. (I wouldn't know, since I have never gotten one!!). And, apparently because it was not human-issued, it can't be put on my driving record, nor reported to insurance carriers. So, the logic is, these are not reliable enough for lots of things legally, but they are reliable enough to collect $40 from you! I'm tempted to write them to say that surely that only brings my lifetime average speed in that darn place to 5 mph. Oh well. It was bound to happen. Just last week I was bragging about my untarnished history, when it comes to tickets, and my ability to talk my way out of them on several occeassions. Well, there's no talking out of this one. But, I did want to get it down for the record, that this is not an OFFICIAL speeding ticket. It says so right on the letter. You know . . no points, no insurance, small fee. Just so everyone knows ;))

And, on the blisters. Teresa was right. They were nasty. But, I have perservered. In defense of how wimpy I must have seemed, I did walk my butt all over half of Atlanta to get them and never once "let 'em see me sweat." Although I did come close to tears when I had to remove them and put them back on at the airport security line. I think I played it off pretty good, though. Of course, to me, even worse than hurting feet would be the thought of wasting money and retreating to more comfortable old man shoes. Because, my new kicks are very hip and in-style (at least, I think they are??). So, I have worn them, discomfort be darned, two times this week after stretching them out a bit this weekend.