Smashing Good Time

Taking a leisurely tour of the Colorado mountains by train with my man, we were thoroughly enjoying the ride, the views, and the live music accompanying us in the Club Car.  I couldn't have managed a better first train ride for my man if I had tried - and quite frankly I had, landing a fabulous deal for the day.  But even my expectations had been surpassed.

After a wonderful day spent sipping drinks and taking it easy, we were finally on our way back, reveling in the privacy we had by being the only passengers in the car.

The door opens and in walks a railroad employee, ensemble complete with conductor hat.  He perched on the seat next to me, across from my man, D. He lit up a light banter.

He was rather excited to find out that it was D's first train ride.  He explained to us that it was his second to last day on that particular train.  He was moving to Chicago to work on a different track.

He expressed he didn't really want to go to Chicago.

"Really, why go then?"  I prodded.

"Oh, I crashed a freight train recently and I'm being transferred so I don't get fired."

My eyes darted quickly to the word "conductor" scrawled in gold across the brim of his hat.  I shot a look to my now-pale man.  The conversation died a bit then as we wondered in silence to the rocking of the train, exactly what had he meant by 'crashed'?

Unforgettable

Calling this morning to get the cleaning service scheduled after way too long, I ended up leaving a message and waiting for a call back.

A few minutes later, said call back arrived.

"Hi, Ms. Tracie.  This is Jane* with the cleaners."

"Hi.  Thanks for calling me back so quickly."

"Your message said you have a coupon to use?"

"Oh, no.  I meant to relay that the first time I used your service I had an internet coupon.  But now, I just want to schedule a regular cleaning appointment."

"Certainly."  I could hear Jane flipping through the appointment book.  "Would you happen to remember the day or around the date that we came to clean your house initially?"

"I sure do.  I don't remember the actual date offhand but it was the day the fire literally blew up that neighborhood here". (We live in Colorado Springs, now home to an infamous fire that broke out in town a couple months back.)

"Oh, I know exactly what day you're talking about.  I will never forget it."

"I know, right?  So, the lady that cleaned my house before said it was a 2-3 hour job, correct?"

"Um...let me look that up.  So, you said you don't remember about what day that was?"

Uhhh....

Call It A Hunch...

Several years ago while sharing a duplex, I walked out of the bathroom to see my roommate lurching in at a rather late hour.  She was bent forward at an awkward angle and limping to the point that she was almost dragging one leg behind her.  She explained that she had taken a bit of a tumble while trying to navigate some stairs in an 'impaired' state.

"Well, good lord," I exclaimed, curling one leg underneath me as I took a seat on the couch watching her poor execution across the living room floor.  "You look like Quasimodo."

She stopped near the doorway to catch a rest.  "Yeah, or the Hunchback of Notre Dame."

Well...there is that.