And What Were YOU Doing at Midnight Last Night?

Hey, Shaun, how was your weekend?

Oh, it was fine enough. Doug left Thursday night for some dental meetings and business on Friday and Saturday, then he went to a family thing on Sunday in the City of Roy. So Jake and Abbie and I kind of hung out and chilled together.

Anything exciting happen?

Well, no, not really. Well, not until I received a phone call last night around 7:00 PM from a woman who told me Doug was broken down on the Highway around mile marker 43 and he needed me to go rescue him. That wasn't really exciting. It was more like a hassle. Mile marker 43?? We live out in the middle of nowhere. But at least our Nowhere is Somewhere. To get to us you REALLY have to go through The Middle Of Nowhere. That's where Mile Marker 43 is. So I was getting ready to leave when the phone rang again and this time it was Doug and he said that a family on their way home from Disneyland stopped and offered to bring him home and so I didn't have to come and get him. That was better news.

Yeah? Then what happened? Did he get home safely or were the people maniacs masquerading as a family?

Oh, about an hour later he got home. So they were a real family. They might have wondered if Doug was a maniac masquerading as a guy with a flat tire on his motorcycle on the side of the road in The Middle Of Nowhere in the dark of night. I think everyone might have breathed a huge sigh of relief when Doug was brought to our house.

Well, that's a good ending. Everyone was safe. whew!

Actually...that wasn't the end. Doug was home but his motorcycle was still on the side of the road. And his saddlebags were "hidden" in the ditch by the side of the road. And so he actually had to go get everything.

No!

Yes. So he called a couple of his friends to borrow a trailer. First Friend's trailer had a flat. Second Friend said "sure!" so he took the truck over to Friend's house only to discover the ball-thing was out of the trailer hitch. So he came home to get it but it wasn't in the garage. So he went over to the office garage but couldn't find it there either. Do people steal the ball out of a trailer hitch? Well, Second Friend had told Doug he could also borrow his truck, not a problem. So Doug went back to Second Friend's house and they hitched trailer to truck.

So then Doug went back to get the motorcycle?

Well, first he came home to get some things and by that time I was feeling sort of like I should go with him to help him stay awake and to watch for deer (A huge hazard in these parts. We've had some major repairs to vehicles, and a few dents we're living with, because of hitting deer). I don't get points for doing this because I didn't want to go. Mentally it was hard to think about driving all that way towards civilization and then stop and turn around and drive all the way away from civilization to here again. You have to live here to really understand that.

So then you both went to get the motorcycle?

Yep. And Abbie came, too. We gave Jake instructions to get to bed. We gassed up Friend's truck. And by 10:30 PM we were on our way. And it wasn't too bad of a drive. Doug and I talked the whole way and got caught up on stuff and Abbie fell asleep in the back seat. Just over an hour later we got to Mile Marker 47, not 43. ha! Good thing I didn't go looking for him on my own because I would have sped right past him in the dark on my way to Mile Marker 43. Yikes. That lady who called was a little forgetful, or something.

And there we were. Out in The True Middle Of Nowhere. In the Middle Of The Night.

Taking care of a motorcycle that I have very mixed emotions about.

And it was really dark. The moon hadn't risen yet.

And it was teeth-chattering cold. The above is a picture of the motorcycle seat all frosted over.

I wasn't any help to Doug. When he saw me take a picture he laughed and asked. "Did you just come along to take pictures?"

And I said "Yes."

There weren't too many vehicles on the road at that time of the night. One trucker did stop and ask if we needed any help. People who drive this road do that because they know that nobody would be on the side of the road in The Middle Of Nowhere just for kicks. And it can be life threatening this time of the year. Good people out this way.

Doug got his bike loaded and secured and we started back for home. The clock above reads 12:14 AM in case you're wondering.

So that would put you home at...?

At 1:30 AM. Right. Then Doug had to unload his bike and his gear. Then take the truck and trailer back to Friend's house. BUT! He forgot to take HIS keys with him so that he could drive OUR truck home. So he WALKED home. Argh! And that meant he had to ride his peddle bike over to Friend's house this morning before work to get our truck.

Well, that means he only had, let's see, about...

Yeah, about 4 1/2 hours of sleep. PLEASE don't let any of today's patient's know how few hours of sleep their dentist had last night. Can you imagine? For what it's worth, they were really good hours. Doug has the gift of falling asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow. And our mattress is such a good one that it is always a quality sleep. So it was really like 6 hours of sleep, you know...?

So, that's a pretty exciting end to your weekend.

Yes. Well. Excitement like that I can do without, thank you very much. Now I think I'll go take a nap. It's going to be a long day...