The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good: Mike and I played as a duo at The Blackthorne staff holiday party the week before Christmas. We had great time playing, and seeing the staff be able to enjoy themselves while not working was a very cool thing. We left at night’s end extremely tired, but glad we had such a good night.

The Bad: Even though it was nearly 2am, I still had to drive 50 minutes to Reston to drop off Mike, then another 40 minutes back to my house. Mike feel asleep after 5 minutes on the road, so I was on my own in trying to stay awake.

Loud music… check.
Occasional self-slap to the face… check.
Window down to have cold air remind me how much I hate winter… check.

Roughly 45 minutes into the drive, I was using all the energy I had just to stay awake and keep my truck between the buoys. Must…. stay… on…. road…

The Ugly: It is a natural reaction to slow down the instant you see a cop with a radar gun on the side of the road. It also tends to snap you out of your driving coma when you see those flashing blue lights behind you. As my truck came to a stop and Mike was waking up (thanks to me poking his leg and a few loud swear words), I noticed a street sign right in front of me: The Algonkian Parkway?? Where the hell am I? That is not a road that was anywhere between the Blackthorne and Mikes house!? Before I had a chance to process what the hell was going on, the cop was asking for my license and registration. I was virtually sleeping approximately 30 seconds ago, so it was a high priority to convince the officer that I was in no way under the influence, overly tired, or anything other than a supremely polite and law abiding citizen. Which is why my first words of “Good afternoon officer” probably didn’t sound too intelligent at nearly 3am in the morning. While he was running my background check in his car, I had a chance to gather my senses. Apparently I had missed a turn about 5 miles back. I’m pretty sure I would of kept going until I woke up in Pennsylvania if it wasn’t for the cop.

$116.50 later, I officially got my second speeding ticket of 2010. I suppose that is not a bad price to pay to stay awake and avoid a crash. But I think I’ll try Mountain Dew next time.

Leave a comment