The BDP

So as not to interrupt my own post, I will explain here that the BDP (for BrokedownPalace, a song by the Grateful Dead) was a century-old cabin that my brother lived in from sometime in the mid-1970s until sometime in the mid-80s. To say it was rustic would be putting a nice face on it.

And now, the actual, verbatim, phone conversation between my sister and me yesterday. We’ve been taking turns this week, staying with our teenage niece at our brother’s house while he is out of town.

Sister: When you spend the night at [our brother's] house, you should bring a blanket with you. I think that the one that’s on his bed now is from the BDP. It may be the same one we used when we stayed there when we were in high school [quite some time ago].

Me: Yeah, I remember lying on that mattress on the floor, staring at the hole in the floor where he’d shot the possum. Do you think the blanket has been washed since then?

Sister: Oh, yeah, I’d say it’s been washed since then.

Me: Do you think it’s been washed this year?

Sister: [long pause] Bring your own blanket.

[It was all I could do to contain myself to just this. I actually ended up writing a much longer piece, but I made myself cut it back. A longer version may appear soon in Long, Involved Stories.]

Are you SURE it's not Monday?

Today is Tuesday. The day-after-a-Monday-holiday Tuesday. Which means, for those of us who follow a five-day, Monday through Friday workweek, today was Monday. Well, you know what I mean. You get Monday off, so the following day, your first day of work that week, becomes Monday in your mind. You believe firmly that it is Monday. Sometimes this effect will last all week, making you feel like Friday is really Thursday, which becomes a very pleasant end-of-the-week surprise. 

This morning, I got a call from a person with whom I have a standing 7:30 a.m. appointment. On Tuesdays. It was 7:48, and she wondered where I was. I was, of course, at home. Getting ready for work. Because it was "Monday." It was a bad start.

So, without going into all of the details, I'll try to just hit the highlights (or lowlights) of the rest of my day.

1. Planning to spend the night at my brother's house for the next two nights to stay with my niece while my bro' is out of town. Had packed last night, but I had a few last-minute things to gather up before I was ready to go.
   
   
2. This also meant that I wouldn't be back home until after our first back-to-ESL class since the summer break. Having not yet thought about what I'd teach for that first class, I needed to do so now and pack some materials accordingly.
   
   
3. As I put my things next to the front door as I got them ready to go, I finally began to realize that the carpet was very, very, very wet.
   
   
4. My apartment had "flooded" slightly last week in this same area and in the cats' bathroom. I'd cleaned both up as best I could on Friday, before I had to leave town for the long weekend. It had smelled quite mildewed when I returned last night, but I chalked it up to last week's incident and made a "note to self" to deal with the mildew. But when? It would just be worse when I came home Thursday night.
   
   
5. This is when I discovered that the carpet had obviously gotten wet again sometime over the weekend. 
   
   
6. Began trying to sop water out of the carpet for the second time in four days. Without much luck. Decided to just leave it till Thursday night. Ick.
   
   
7. I was ready to go now. But then remembered that I hadn't set up cats' self-feeder and self-waterer so they'd be taken care of for the next two days.
   
   
8. Went to bathroom. Guess what? It had also flooded again. Spent more time, cleaning up that mess. 
   
   
9. Set up cats' food and water, and was finally ready to leave house. 
   
   
10. On way to work, decided that I was so late that I might as well stop at cell phone office to pick up my phone, back from manufacturer for repair, and return loaner phone. Took much longer than I thought it would because all of my info was not properly transferred back to my phone. 
    
    
11. FINALLY got back on interstate and headed to work. It was now well after 3:00 p.m.!
    
    
12. Getting onto I-40, I thought that the car's alignment was way off. Strange, since I'd just had the tires rotated and balanced last week. 
    
    
13. As I changed lanes, some five or six miles later, I could tell that I definitely had a flat tire. Crossed back over to right shoulder. Tire looked like it had been bitten by a gator. 
    
    
14. Went to call AAA. Had my own phone back. Battery was at 3 percent. Couldn't find car charger because I'd taken it on trip yesterday and didn't know where it ended up afterwards. Found phone AC charger. Took life in hands to get out of car and get my little box of car electronics out of trunk. I had a power inverter that I could plug AC cord into. Had to keep car running to get enough of a charge to be able to call AAA. Took awhile, which is when I noticed that the gas was very low.
    
    
15. Called AAA. 
    
    
16. It was 4:40 p.m. My office closes at 4:45 p.m. 
    
    
17. Got towed to place where I bought tires about a year ago. Michelin no longer makes the tires I bought in the size I need.
    
    
18. I DO have a spare (doughnut type)  and should have had it put on, but didn't, for a variety of reasons.
    
    
19. A bright spot: I was able to arrange a ride with Angie and Harold, who were going to be passing by the tire store soon after I called them. 
    
    
20. Now I'm home but still haven't figured out what I'm going to do about replacement tire tomorrow. Also not sure what I'll do for transportation tomorrow. 
    
    
21. I also still need to work on wet carpet/mildew in living room. 
    
    
22. And it's still Tuesday.