The Finite

The main reason I was in town was for my interview at the local hospital for a volunteer opportunity. The interview went well, but I screwed up the goodbye. She said, “Thanks for coming” and I said, “Thank you …” and froze not knowing what I was thanking her for or whether or not my “thank you” would cancel out her “thank you” and leave us on an uncertain gratitude gradient.

I went to my new dentist. He says that my teeth are good, hard-bristled toothbrushes should be illegal and that whitening toothpaste isn’t worth crap. His big white machines are actually white unlike the 20-year-old equipment used by my old dentist in Chinatown. You know that spinning wrap-around thing that charges up your shields in the first (training) level of Halo? He had one of those except it was an X-ray machine. He also ran Windows XP, unlike my old dentist who only had Telemundo.

Unfortunately, my appointment ran long and the lunch line was closed by the time I got to school. (Tostada Bowl! Dammit!) I infiltrated the school very easily like always. My cover was almost blown at the rear guard station when Nicki loudly exclaimed, “Tommy?! What are you doing here? You don’t go here!” You see, the school has locked down. Visitors must now show a government issued ID and have a prearranged appointment with authorized staff members to be let in. I got in easily enough thanks to my scholastic bowl hoodie, but when I was caught in the halls without a pass, I ended up sequestered at the front security desk for forty minutes reading that glass display case by the main office several times before I was released on pity. So I only had time to see one teacher before leaving and heading back to the Metra station.

I took the Metra down to Ogilvie where I met up with Matt and Ela. We hung out and reminisced and exchanged articles of clothing before moving over to Union Station where my 5:45 train was scheduled to leave.

I had packed a new Roadstar (same brand, same model) from another cousin. Only this one had two good wheels. But it also had cheap soft iron rolled into sheets and painted silver to look like aluminum. Whatever, it went in the suitcase along with two sweaters, 20 lbs. of granola and misc.

Note: Whenever I say miscellaneous, it includes Cat-5e Ethernet cable.

The train didn’t leave until 7:05 CT. They were apparently attaching two extra cars to the train because they either booked more tickets than expected or some of the passengers were really fat. So I was standing in line for most of that time, studying. We didn’t go more than 35 mph or so for most of the first hour, but once we got out of the city limits we were haulin’. I was fine until I saw the guy a couple of rows up from me watching “Unbreakable”. Then I began to notice the increasing rocking of the car and whining hum that was increasing in volume as the lights in the windows flew by faster and faster. I immediately began my plan for survival. (Hide in lavatory at the end of train where frame is strongest.)

We didn’t get into Lafayette until 12:35 EDT. I and hundreds of other solitary traveling students opted to walk because we didn’t have enough money or sense for a cab ride.

I pulled my suitcase over 2.0 miles, from the broken glass of Chauncey Hill to the pebbled sidewalks of West Lafayette. Then it happened again.

My wheel melted off. And what’s worse, I touched it in the dark of the night to feel what the problem was and the aluminum axle burned my fingers, leaving a crescent on one finger and a dot on the other.

If I cross my fingers real tight, I can make the Turkish flag. That prospect consoled me little as I noisily dragged my crap.