Jack Bauer Style

The following takes place between 9AM and 9AM Wednesday thru Thursday, Jan. 4&5:

I awoke at 9am to head north for a series of meetings along the I-5 corridor, speeding like a brushfire. First stop was to meet the Mom, having lunch at T.G.I. Fridays. I arrived around noon and had a nice, large meal courtesy of a gift card she'd received for Christmas. Then, near 2pm, I rolled on over to an old friends place for a little catching up. We've known each other since undergrad years and somehow managed to keep in touch. Good times. Polance and I hung out and chatted and watched some spy movie, James Bond style, and all that jazz. And then it came time for my largest drive of the morning. Up to South Seattle to meet another old friend before she leaves the States once again for life in Japan. And just as I was leaving, I get a phone call.

It was my special someone. She sounded a little depress-ci, so I needed to make sure she was doing okay before I took off. We talked for awhile and it turns out that she was just a little bored and needed to talk for awhile. No worries. We chatted and by the end of the conversation, she sounded worlds better. Then, I was in the car and on the road again not long after.

I arrived at the coffee shop where I would meet my old friend ahead of schedule. We talked a bit and decided to head to Capital Hill and check out a place called The Baltic Room, a bar and night club I'd visited during my days as a Seattle local. So, I stopped to get some gas when I noticed that my head was bleeding!! I'd gotten a haircut in Portland after meeting the Mom and before meeting Polance. The guy must have nicked my scalp and it had scabbed over in the hours since because I seem to have scratched off the dried cover while heading to the gas station. I felt something wet in my hair and when I checked my hand, it was red with blood. I didn't panic, guessing it was from the haircut (what should I really have expected from a cheap and quick hair place anyway?) and i just continued on to the station. When I arrived, Paula, my pal, called and when the conversation had finished, I noticed a streak of blood running down the phone. Ewww! Like a scene from a horror movie, I'd gotten a paper towel to mop up my head and it turned red as well. The cut was a tiny little thing, but it was just dripping at a rapid pace. I couldn't even feel the cut but for when I washed up in the Arco bathroom it stung just a bit.

In sum, got a band-aid on the spot and that concluded the issue. Shortly thereafter, we went to that lounge spot I mentioned and chilled for awhile. We reminisced and caught up and all and left around 1:45AM. At that time, I checked my phone and noticed thirteen missed calls. Yet my "received calls" menu only showed one name: The special someone. So, I called her to see if she'd really called that many times. No answer. I left a message, not understanding why my phone only showed one missed call but told me there had been thirteen. Then, dog tired and sleepy as all that I dropped Paula off at her house and proceeded to find a nice place to park my car and crash. I checked the phone a few hours later and noticed four more missed calls. Again, the special someone but this time she left a voicemail as well. Unhappy, apparently with my questioning how many times she'd called, she sounded frustrated and upset. Well, I didn't want her to feel left out or ignored, so I called back but the phone was off. Then I made a tough decision: I would head back to Eugene right then. It was around 4AM when I left and I'd estimated it would be around 8:30AM when I reached my destination.

A long, dark and tiring journey ahead and one energy drink in the cup holder to help me get through. Cruise control and open road; my headlights the only source of light to be found on long stretches of highway. I rolled through the beginnings of rush hour in Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR at 6:30AM and thought about stopping. But the light of day had just begun to arise and I felt a bit of energy with it. I made it back to Eugene on schedule and surprised my special someone and told her not to feel guilty. She had been upset, but didn't want me to do something so risky. But I was up for it. Tired as I was, I felt that I had come as far as I could and if there had been any more to go, I would have needed to stop. But, as it were, I ran out of energy just as I reached my destination. It all worked out. And so there I was, back home and greeting my someone and then off to bed and headed for dreamland all within a 24 hour period.

Rollin' like Jack Bauer.