All For Naught
- Michael Jay Tucker's explosive-cargo
- 5 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Okay, last time, I had us finally in Winfield. Judy was in her apartment. Martha and I had gone to bed in the hotel. The following day, we were able to transfer to our AirB&B -- in fact, one located in the same house in which Judy rents her apartment, except it is downstairs.
We spent the rest of the week helping her deal with some issues. We are, for instance, trying to get her to move to a first floor apartment -- if we can find one. I also did some cleaning of her place. It needed a bit of sweeping and vacuuming. And her vacuum cleaner needed unplugging. And...we found out her cats had fleas.
We found that out because I’m one of those rare people who get bit extra often by fleas. I don’t know why. I just do. They take one look at me, start singing “The Big Buffet,” whip out a fork, and dive right in.(1)
Mumble. Complain. Kvetch.
But...I said there was one last punchline to this story. Here it comes. Get ready.
About the photos: First, a photo of the big mural on the edge of town that proudly announces that you are, in fact, in Winfield. We did not, sigh, see this at three in the morning when we drove in. Second, one of the brick streets in Winfield. Third, a photo of Martha and David at a park here in Georgetown in early fall. See where he gets his good looks?
You remember that the reason we were so determined to get to Winfield, by Monday, was that Judy absolutely, positively had to meet with her boss? Remember that? And that was the reason we took the bus rather than flying? And, then, when the bus didn’t work out, we rented a car and drove like maniacs? And we ended up in the middle of a hail storm in the middle of Oklahoma? Remember that?
Well...
On Monday, we found out that Judy’s boss had gone on vacation.
For a week.
He wasn’t there.
Somehow Judy hadn’t gotten the memo on that.
So...
Everything...the whole thing...the bus trip...the car rental...the driving in the night...enduring the hail storm...
Had been utterly, completely, totally, and maddeningly unnecessary.
And, finally, a short video showing my actual reaction upon learning that Judy’s boss was, in fact, somewhere far away and that we needn’t, after all, have hurried.
I don’t speak Yiddish. I’m not Jewish. But I think the time has come to express myself in a language which is not English and which is more eloquent on the subject of pain. So...
Oy.
But...there were a couple of silver linings. Or at least copper ones. First, I got this story out of it. Second, and more importantly, Judy also got a story out of it. It’s definitely worth a read, and you can do so here:
It *is* behind a soft paywall, but you can get a free account just by signing up. Then, hit the above link again and you’ll be able to read her tale of daring do on buses, rental cars, and hail storms. (Also, please glance at my footnote #2 below.)
And that, finally, brings our story of the Great Winfield Disaster to an end.
Except...
Well, you know me. I’m a verbose narcissist. So, I’m going to do one more little column on it. Kinda as a coda.
So, stay tuned.
More to come.
Footnotes:
1. The Big Buffet is by Eric “Two Scoops” Moore. It is a fun and catchy novelty song. You can see him singing it here: https://youtu.be/Yb62cdLlslA?si=qNRYPXhxN_5D7fmU.
If you’re interested, there’s another Buffet-themed song, “The Ballad of the Big Buffet,” by Clyde Bauman performing as his fictional comic character “Mylo Hatzenbuhler,” https://www.farmboymusic.com/.
2. When you read Judy’s story, you’ll notice that she has us staying the night in Dallas. As she admitted to us later, that didn’t happen. We drove directly from the car rental place to Winfield. She told us she’d been so tired after our late night ramble that she confused our stay in Ardmore, OK, on the way *to* Texas with our time in Dallas on the way back.
Still, everything else in the story is factual. Except I don’t come across as half the idiot I felt like I was.
~mjt
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~mjt
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