02.17.2002 - Generosity

Waking up to sunshine this morning served as an adequate if cliché indicator that today would be markedly better than yesterday. At the very least, it kept me from spending another day holed up in my apartment. Either way it was a welcome sight.

Although I did eventually make it out of my apartment today, it didn't happen quickly. I spent most of my morning looking on the internet for a car I might be able to purchase if I sold half my CD collection or preferably a few internal organs. After an hour or two of searching, I came to the conclusion that this wasn't likely to happen.

During my vacation with Mr. Bestfriendinthewholewideworld, his parents offhandedly asked if I needed a new automobile because they planned on selling their van sometime soon. Running out of options, I e-mailed them to see just how serious they were. After I showered and about an hour passed, I returned to my computer just in time to hear the ding of new mail in my inbox. Mr. Bestfriendinthewholewideworld's dad calmed me down about my car repairs and said that they weren't planning on getting rid of the van until sometime in March. Shortly thereafter, he called and we discussed more in-depth the problems with my car. Then, out of nowhere, he said that after they replaced the van in March, they would GIVE it to me as a gift.

In case you were wondering, it is possible to moan words of thanks with mouth agape.

This is easily the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. Although the van has a lot of miles on it, it should last about two years. Since I have to worry about my car dying every two days now, two years sounds like heaven.

For a long time thereafter, I sat stunned, enjoying the feeling of having an Oprah Winfrey sized weight lifted from my shoulders. Eventually, however, I had to leave the house. Because I had to feed Mr. Bestfriendinthewholewideworld's bird and think of a column topic, I headed over to his apartment. Since he happens to have a kick ass flat screen TV, I grabbed my copy of Bottle Rocket in the hopes that watching it would inspire a decent topic if not kill ninety minutes of my day. At least it did the latter.

At work on Thursday, management suggested that I dress especially professionally on Monday because an important new client would be coming to the office. Because I had already exhausted my supply of dress shirts and ties, I felt a trip to the Thrift Store Outlet was in order. After a half hour, I found a shirt, tie and pants that fit and looked decent for six dollars. I love you, Thrift Store Outlet. Let's get married on the beach.

Since I was still blanked for a column topic, I passed my evening watching Fox's Sunday night programming and heading to bed early for one of the few restful nights sleep in recent memory.

It's funny how content I can be when I find new pants and SOMEONE GIVES ME A CAR. Life's strange like that.

-- Jeffy