Woke up at 7:10 A.M. Grabbed a bowl of cereal, but I was almost out of milk!!! It was a pretty dry bowl! Threw some coffee on the pot as I knew this was going to be a rough morning for me. Took a shower, then headed out the door. I ended up stopping at a garage sale on the way out to the ranch. I also had to stop and get some gas. No need to get stranded again!
I was at the ranch at 8:15, and we made the 45-minute drive out to pick up some hay. I'm not goin' to lie, I really enjoy physical labor. I was the man on top of the hay stack, just throwing the bales down to the trailer. It wouldn't take long to get a pretty chiseled body doing this type of work! It IS work!!! I imagine the bales are around 60 pounds or so, and between two of us, we ended up throwing 143 bales down to the trailer.
We hauled all of the bales back, losing two out of the truck along the way. They just weren't strapped down very well. Both were actually in good condition, one having landed on the trailer and the other one having skidded across the road at 45 MPH. No rolling end over end which causes instant destruction. The conversation was fun and lively, though, talking about everything from small engines to the "Barefoot Bandit." We had five guys in that truck.
We arrived back at the ranch around 11:00 and unloaded the bales. I also had Jobu load up some manure compost into my truck as I crawled through the crawlspace to figure out what copper pipe I will be removing next week. We had called Mom about lunch, and she made some for us, so we headed there just after noon. We unloaded the compost into a low spot in Dad's yard, then ate.
I stayed there about an hour and a half, but then I had to leave to get ready for the wedding. My plan was to drive to Decatur, pick up a bar for my man cave, drive up to Bloomington, pick up tickets for Mom's birthday, then drive to pick up my friend and then head to the wedding. Well, I found out that the bar had been sold since she hadn't heard from me. I was pretty disappointed in that...I had told her I really wanted it! GRR!!! But I now had an extra hour on my hands, so I just relaxed at home.
I finally got ready for the wedding but realized that I didn't have any dress pants at my house. I had not worn dress pants in two years. So I had to drive out of my way to Mom and Dad's house in order to pick up some pants! That made me a little late, but I had to do it. I was asked to wear pants!!!
I made the hour-drive up to Bloomington but had to stop for fuel again. Another 7-minute delay. I bought the tickets on the east side of town, the whole transaction taking about 24 seconds. I had to go! I then hurried to pick up Angie, but I knew I was going to be late. It just wasn't going to happen. I finally made it to her apartment at 4:46, just 14 minutes before the wedding. I hurried out the door, and we started to head that way, but she forgot her camera, so we had to go back anyway.
We ended up pulling into the wedding at 5:10. I was shocked to see that it was outside! And even more shocked to see people just standing around! The wedding hadn't started yet!!! Woo hoo!!! It actually didn't start for another 10 minutes, so we had plenty of time! The wedding itself was pretty brutal...archaic language spoken by the preacher, sometimes words that I didn't even know the meaning of. And it was hot. Booty hot. People were sweating all over, myself included. I couldn't lean back in my chair as that was instant sweat. So I sat on the front half of the chair the entire time. It was a muggy 94-degree central Illinois July day. And we were in the middle of it. No shade anywhere. It was HOT.
We headed to the reception after that. It was in Stanford, and I was surprised to see that an old church building had been converted into a reception hall. Hmm...that is probably a sign of the times in more ways than one. I ended up going to town on the food and drinks. This wedding had a coffee shop do the catering, so I pretty much melted when I saw that. I had two iced caramel lattes and two peach boba teas. Man, that was so good. I wish every wedding did this! I ate the munchies, grabbed a very small helping of the main course, and just sat around and let the time pass. I didn't really know anyone there (two out of 150 people), but I met a couple of Angie's friends. It was pretty enjoyable. It gave us a lot of time to talk.
We left there at 10:00 P.M. and headed back to her apartment. We talked about Africa quite a bit and then went on a walk. And as you have probably figured out by now, nothing is ever easy in my life. We were walking around a very beautiful older neighborhood. The ones where the houses are built with solid oak, the ones with hardwood floors throughout, the ones that cost an arm and a leg. Well, we were walking along the cobblestone streets, and we came to a four-way stop. As we crossed the road, a car was to our left making a left turn onto the same street that we were walking on. The streets are wide, and there is plenty of room, so there was no problem. But out of fun, I kind of nudged Angie over to the grass, then striked a classic Heisman Trophy pose as the car passed, saving her from sure destruction.
Something silly.
Well, the car ended up pulling into a driveway about six houses ahead of us. The passenger got out and headed inside. Then the car started pulling back out of the driveway as we were nearing it. Obviously, it was very dark at this point, but we had no problem seeing the car. Angie stopped quite a bit back, but I just kept our normal walking pace. We weren't going to hit or anything. Nowhere close. It was actually going to be nothing short of perfect timing! The car backs out, and we just walk right behind it as it pulls away.
Well, it backed out into the street right next to me (I'm still on the side of the road), and the man leans over and says to me, "Get out of the street, you dumb shit."
I was utterly and totally appalled. I was seriously floored. What in the world?
The car then pulled away, and I swung around to look at Angie. She had seen the guy talk to me, and she literally said, "See, isn't he nice?!" She had absolutely no idea. Well, I turned back around, and that's when I noticed the car's brake lights on. You see, the cobblestone street is split up into two parts. It's one-way traffic on one side, a large grass median in the middle, and one way-traffic on the other side. Well, I saw him start to make the U-turn.
And I just ran right across those bricks, breezed across that grass, and then stood like a pillar on the other road of bricks. I heard Angie as I bolted, "Andy, what are you doing?!" But there was just no time to explain.
The car had made the full U-turn by now, and that's when I had a huge decision to make. It was nothing short of something out of the movies. I literally had two headlights in front of me, coming right at me. I was standing firm in the middle of the road. But you better believe every cell in my ear was listening for that engine. Was it staying constant, revving up, or dying down? I honestly believed that this man could possibly run me over.
But I stayed firm.
And to my relief and amazement, the car pulled right up to me and stopped right in front of me.
"I'm sorry, WHAT DID YOU SAY"? The tone of my voice was pretty forceful but sarcastic.
There was silence. The man was obviously shocked.
He finally responded. He flipped open his cellphone, started dialing, and said, "I said how about I call the police."
What a schmuck. Really? THAT is your answer? I was disappointed. But without missing a beat, I said, "Oooooooooooooh, that's a good idea!!! Tell them I say HI!" He had no idea who he was dealing with. And frankly, a police officer could be kind of fun out here! I had nothing to hide. I don't think the man knew what to do.
But then he started to take off his seatbelt. I don't even know how to describe it, but it wasn't a surprise. I was 100% in this situation. I wasn't backing down for anything. I honestly just felt like this was the normal "next scene." So I walked over to his window, my adrenaline flowing! That's when he muttered something I couldn't hear, and then sped off. I hit the rear driver's side door with a pretty hard hit. He yelled something from down the street.
I HATE PEOPLE. Seriously, I am just unbelievably disappointed in the human race. I could go on, but I'll just leave it at that. I just don't have much good to say.
Angie was obviously confused and surprised about the ENTIRE situation, still thinking that the man had said something nice to me. So I had to explain all of that. I can still hear my "different" voice as I talked with all of that adrenaline. I was so pumped up. She didn't understand, nor did I expect her to. I did what I had to do. As simple as that.
We headed back to her apartment, having taken a very long hour walk. I was ready to be back. We stayed up for a bit more, talking airplanes, Africa, and life. I finally ended up going to bed at 2:22. She gave me her couch, although I'm pretty sure I could've slept on a brick floor with no problems. I was totally beat.
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