Anodyne
Thursday, November 23, 2006
 

Safeway parking lot, 71st and Granville. Not Seattle. Awoke at 7 a.m. to patches of blue sky, light cloud, brisk west wind. Back to bed. Re-awoke at 11 a.m. Phoned rental company. No cars 'til noon! Peeked through the blinds: steel-grey sky, rain thrashing down. Passport, US$, overnight gear, CDs, carefully annotated Seattle-Tacoma mapbook. Coffee, NYT, brief excursion to visit Gavin at Book & Comic Emporium. Gavin scarcely visible behind a mound of recent trade paperbacks and mass market paperbacks.

GAVIN: Day off?

CJB: Yep.

GAVIN: Where're you heading?

CJB: Seattle.

GAVIN [indicating books]: You know Skip [owner of Book & Comic Emporium] was there yesterday, right?

CJB: &@$#%*!!!

Off through the rain to Expensive Car Rental Chain. Customers lined up eight deep at the counter.

RENTAL CLERK: Howdy!

CJB: Hi. I'd like to rent a vehicle.

RENTAL CLERK: For which day?

CJB: Today. Right now. Pronto!

RENTAL CLERK [indicating crowd]: See all these folks? It's American Thanksgiving. We're kind of strapped for cars right now. But I can offer you this nice SUV!

CJB: I was actually hoping for an energy-efficient vehicle. Like a Corolla, or a Focus.

RENTAL CLERK: The SUV rents for $124.95/day, plus kilometers.

CJB: How much to fill it up?

RENTAL CLERK: Oh, $100 should cover it.

CJB: &@$#%*!!!

RENTAL CLERK [totally oblivious]: There's even a flatscreen on the back of the passenger seat!


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