Lots-O-Driving

The_R3d_Scare

Shared on Mon, 08/28/2006 - 11:55
Man I love blogging. No one should ever really care about the mundane meanderings of my weekend, yet writing about them here gives me a false sense of overly grandiouse self importance. I love it.

So, I drove up to Salem Oregon from San Francisco just to LAN with the EggMayne and his crew. We played Halo 2 for almost two days straight, and it was a blast. Playing on LAN with good players is an obscene amount of fun. Everyone can shoot across the map, lag is never an issue, and you get to talk hard smack to people's faces. I would have owned harder, but I was hung over from visiting old college buddies in Eugene (which by the way is my favorite town to get absolutely faded in). Of course this meant that Egg and I missed out on some practices with our ladder team, but Freefall is a nice guy, and I am sure he will understand.

On the drive back was when a moderately interesting story took place. I'm cruising through Medford, doing about ninety-five, which I know is foolish given the amount of Oregon State Troopers on the I-5 corridor. Especially stupid if you have lived in Oregon and you know how implacable the Troopers are once they have you pulled over. Yet I'm speeding anyway, hoping to make an eight hour drive into six and a half, and of course just outside of Medford I get caught. Now I see the Trooper's car just in time to say "oh shit!" to myself, and downshift to get a little decrease in speed. However this only saves me about ten miles per hour on my ticket, which is already going to be obscenely high in price.

The Trooper pulls out onto the highway, rides my bumper, runs my plates, hits the lights and pulls me over. My dog is in the backseat sleeping, but anytime I slow down he gets up to see what is going on. So my dog starts baying at the Trooper when he comes up to my window (the dog is a hound, and he like to bay more than bark sometimes).

"Your dog bite?" the Trooper asks.

"No," I reply "he is just trying to defend me".

"Why don't you step outside," the Trooper says.

Of course I step outside driver's license and keys in my hand. The Trooper looks at my hands and I hold them open, because I want to make damn sure he knows I am not carrying a weapon.

"Where you headed?" He asks, and I tell him.

"Is there any reason you were going so fast?" He asks.

"No," I respond, looking down a bit like a coward.

"You on vacation?" He asks, which I think is an odd question, but I answer.

"Yeah, visiting some old college buddies in Eugene" I only said this, because it sounds less geeky than driving seven hours to play Halo 2 all weekend.

Oddly enough the conversation continues. He asks about my dog, says he has a dog in his car too. I check out his dog, we talk about it. He asks what I do, we talk about teaching. He tells me his wife is a teacher in Medford, and how great the salaries for teachers are in Oregon. Overall it was more like we were hanging out and having a few brewskies than the situation it really was, sans me being extremely nervous of course. When the conversation is finished he lets me go. Mind you this is the only time in my life, I have ever been let off by a cop. Usually they take one look at me and start writing out a ticket. I'm not sure what made this guy decide to just give me a warning, I'd like to think it was my dog, as he started the whole conversation really. So today he is getting pampered. I had him groomed professionally and bought him a new toy, I even bought some of those fattening doggy treats he likes so much. Hell we might even go for a hike later.

Thanks dog.



I know I promised to tell you the midget rockabilly king story, and rest assured it is much more entertaining. I'll post it when I am less tired and able to give it the truly verbose telling it deserves.

Boat drinks,

- The R3d Scare

Comments

biorod's picture
Submitted by biorod on Tue, 08/22/2006 - 17:28
Heh, nice story. Totally fictitious....a cop letting you off. Good one! j/k Lucky!
meemoos's picture
Submitted by meemoos on Tue, 08/22/2006 - 17:56
Thanks for calling mee!!! HELLO!!! I live in Salem! I would have gone to your LAN party!!!!

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