Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Pop: Chapter Two

    Don't get me wrong, I like driving.  However, nothing will get me to drive into downtown New York during morning rush.  No, not any more.  Once, a few weeks after I moved her, I had to take Sam into the city for a meeting with some attorneys.  I thought that an hour would have been plenty of time to make the meeting.  I had already driven into the city a few times, and I thought that I wouldn't have a problem this time either.  Huge mistake.  I wound up being over fifteen minutes late.  At least I called ahead about the delay.  Since then, I never drive myself downtown whenever I have an important appointment.  Hence, Cheri is the one driving this morning, and not me.
    I still drive everywhere else though, even into the city when time isn't an issue.  I mostly keep to the suburb around the house though.  I get lost fairly easily if I'm not careful.  I wandered into Connecticut quite a bit those first few months here.  I didn't realize just how close to the border we were.  At least I discovered a few great shops and dining spots.  Once, I tried to find a special antique book store again, only to wind up a mile or two from the Massachusetts border.  On the New York side.  Still not sure how I got that mixed up.  
    Things got easier once I stopped using my old car.  It was pretty much a goner by that first fall.  I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did.  I was able to get a brand new one, with a great deal and all of the features.  I keep it in Lexington though.  At the other house.  I try to make it back at least once or twice a month.  Mostly on weekends and school breaks.  Or when there is a must-see UK game.  Hard to pass some of those up, especially when I can get one of the gang back together to go with me.  
    Once, for this really pathetic basketball game against Tennessee,  I managed to get the t...
    "Mr. Burton, toll ahead," Cheri breaks me out of my woolgathering.
    "Sorry.  Wasn't paying attention."
    I pull out my phone and open the toll app.  A quick swipe, and we can rush on ahead.  Sure, I could opt for the pass, but it is so rare that I take this way into town that going by the trip is just easier.
    "You would think that these highways would be paid off by now, but no.  New York just finds ways of taking money from commuters any way they can for as long as they can."
    "Sound practice, there.  NYC makes a lot of dough from these fares, whatever Albany doesn't get for themselves.  We just do what we gotta do." Cheri comments as she pulls into the next exit lane.
    Cheri is a native New Yorker, one of the reasons why she is so good at getting into downtown so quickly.  Not all of the service's drivers are.  Many are transplants like me, still learning the traffic flows and nuances needed to get around.  I'm lucky she's my driver today.  This is actually her side hustle, as she is a full-time college student earning her business degree.  A week or two earlier, and she would be in class and someone else would be trying to get me to my interview.
    If I had been driving in today, I would be using one of the family's other cars, instead of my own, being out-of-state and all. Using, it would be my dad's Barretta.  Not the same model year as my mother's, older in fact, but maybe a little bit cooler because of it.  Even though it is old, it has been kept in pristine shape, upgraded with every modern convenience possible.  Yes, even a navigator.  I obviously don't use it.  Enough, use it enough.  I just wish it wasn't so bright red.
    Sam doesn't touch it, though.  He prefers the electric "thing" instead.  All but insisted on learning to drive on it.  Don't see why.  It was going to be for our sister for her twenty-first birthday, before she dropped out of college and run off.  Sam was the clear choice to take it over, once he got old enough.  He'll be taking to college with him.  Good riddance.
    Don't get me wrong.  I am actually quite environmentally conscious.  I just think that the internal combustion engine is just better than the blocky electric monstrosities that are being shoved down consumer's throats.  Any benefits to the earth are all but negated by their horrid design mistakes.  Why Sam's mother even chose something like this for her daughter is beyond me?  I'll have to ask . . .
     "Chris.  Toll!"  Cheri breaks into my thought again.

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Pop: Chapter 23b

    Of course, we called Dad immediately.  He didn't sound too concerned over the phone, but with him, one can never be that sure.  He w...