A Long Day

Yesterday was an excruciatingly long day. Granted, much of it was spent with friends, but it was s-o-o-o-o l-o-o-o-ng.

By the way, I have Gladiator on as I am writing this. It reminds me that I used to dislike Joaquin Phoenix. I think it was because he played a bad guy so well that I couldn't get past his repulsive evilness. I didn't realize it was because he's a good actor. (And he just killed his father, the Emperor. Bastard.)

In the morning, I did a bunch of shopping errands, encompassing 4 stores and a couple of hours. I don't know why it took so long. I felt like I was being super efficient, since I was working from a list and didn't dilly dally.
Then, I went home, changed, and drove south to the southern-most part of Denver to help set up for a baby shower for my friend, Ginger. Then, of course, there was the baby shower itself. It was fun. I got to talk to a bunch of my friends. Unfortunately, by the end of the shower, I was getting a headache and my stomach felt unsettled (both very unusual). Regardless, I went to meet some more friends for dinner. Thankfully, I had to the sense to eat lightly and save my indulgence for the delicious Bittersweet Chocolate Pudding. The company was good, as was the movie (see the preceding post), but I was very tired by the end and I was still fighting a headache and stomach ache. It was with relief that I headed for home.

THEN, as I was driving home, another car scraped the side of my car during a turn. It was a double turn lane and though I was certain that I was following the stripes to know which lane to end up in, the other car was not and bumped my car before swerving aside. I heard a distinct crunch. I stopped and they stopped and two guys got out. We tried to inspect my car, while they started to contend that I got into their lane. I decided to call the police for an accident report. While we were waiting, we tried to get a better idea of the damage to the car. Upon reflection, the damage appeared to be a scratch (despite the amount of noise that prompted us both to stop). Also, the guys weren't as belligerent as they first appeared. I was just starting to regret going into it all (and probably coming down from the adrenaline rush) when a police car showed up. The office took a look around, said that the damage wasn't much, so he wouldn't file an accident report. However, he did ask us our names and birthdates (the drivers only, actually). The other guy turned out to be a Mexican import who had been in the state for 5 years, and yet still didn't have a Colorado driver's license. He also gave some conflicting answers. The officer decided to call in support and told me to wait in the car, since it was cold out. I did as he said, since it seemed to be a good idea to warm up and a good idea to get out of the way. A long while later, they (the officer and the three others that showed up) ended up giving the other guy a ticket for driving without a license. I felt bad about the other driver getting into trouble, since he did stop (ok, possibly to see if his own car was damaged) and he and the other guy didn't lie to the police about who was driving (I believe the second guy did have a license). I said the first part of that to the officer and he pointed out that he was still driving without a license. He, the officer, seemed like a by-the-book sort of guy.
THEN, I was about to leave when I discovered that since I had left the lights on (and my battery is old and encrusted with some kind of battery crud), my car was dead. So I had to wait another twenty minutes or so, with the patient officer waiting behind me to deflect traffic and keep marauders away, until a tow truck came with a battery jumper. That whole experience by itself probably added an hour and ten or twenty minutes to my day.

Needless to say, I was glad to get home.