Thursday, July 23--Have you driven a Ford lately?

If I hadn’t been so tired when we arrived yesterday, I would have refused to even take the keys from the rental car agent. What the heck were they thinking, giving a pull-me-over red Ford Mustang to a sleep-deprived, lead-footed, been-gone-for-a-year driver who isn’t even sure which side of the car to get in? Never mind the fact that I have no proof of insurance to show police should the need arise, since my only coverage is provided by the credit card I used for the rental. Might as well just put a big sign on the roof asking the cops to pull me over.

After having dinner with Jenny and Mike, I drove VERY carefully behind Jim’s rental car as we negotiated our way from the Chinese restaurant, through the shopping center parking lot, towards the highway that would lead us to Mom’s house. I may have been tired, but I knew I wasn’t breaking any traffic laws at that point. So when the whoop of a siren made me look back to see flashing blue lights in the rear-view mirror, I thought my moo goo gai pan was going to make a return appearance right there. “You have got to be kidding me. What in the name of Pete could I have possibly done wrong in this parking lot!? Jim, wait…don’t leave me!!!”

Thankfully, the cop drove around me, and pulled in behind Jim’s car, with a second cruiser close behind. “Well, sheesh, what did Jim do?” Turns out, neither of us were their intended targets. They went on around both of us and screeched to a stop outside a jewelry store a little farther up in the shopping center. That was too close for comfort, and there was no way I could handle the pressure of driving that Mustang for three weeks. Before lunch today, we found the Hertz closest to Mom’s house, and exchanged the attention-grabbing muscle car for a less conspicuous Honda Accord.