Thirty-nine. If there's one thing I'll remember, it is thirty-nine.
On October 19, I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to buy my brother-in-law a birthday present. It was a Tassimo coffee maker, the kind that makes single servings of coffee or lattes or cappuccinos. A week before, Sunshine and Barbie had given me the exact same thing, and I loved it. So there I was in the Beverly Center parking lot with purchase in hand, rifling through my pockets for the parking stub in front of the automated parking kiosk.
Nope, no ticket in the front pocket. None in the back pockets. Cargo pockets were empty. I checked my wallet, no luck. It wasn't in the car or the ground. And strangely enough, it didn't turn up again in my front pockets, the back pockets, the cargo pockets, the wallet, the car or the ground. Even weirder, it didn't show up the third time I looked in those places.
Eventually I had to bite the bullet and pay the maximum $10 to get the hell out.
Whatever, it sucked.
That night Jewmex and I went out for dinner and a movie. We saw Quarantine at the Grove. What a bunch of shit, that movie, especially the end. We talked about it as we headed up the escalator before realizing we didn't remember what floor my car was parked or the general vicinity in which it was parked.
Oh and my front pockets, my back pockets, my cargo pockets, my wallet, the car and the ground again misplaced my parking ticket. Again.
I pleaded with the parking attendant, and 20 minutes of checking the various floors and $3 later, we were able to leave the Grove.
Maybe it was just a bad day. Could've been, right?
The following Wednesday, Fishering took me out for my birthday. A wonderful restaurant called Ocean Ave. Seafood. We caught up over fish and oysters and alcohol. It was a really enjoyable evening...until I realized that I lost the valet ticket.
Seriously, three tickets within the space of a few days and I've lost parking tickets despite making mental notes not to do so.
So yes, I'll always remember turning thirty-nine years old because just a few days before, I got evidence that my Alzheimer's had started to settle in. So yes, I'll always remember...wait, what?
What was I talking about again?
39, seriously? Van, you do NOT look 39! What's your secret!?
Posted by: Roy | October 29, 2008 at 07:13 AM