mrpinstripesuit

I am still not certain how to describe the polarity of events experienced yesterday. I suppose the best thing to do is to start from the beginning and move forward.

Friday night I was planning on doing my homework and then retiring to bed relatively early in order to arise with enough time to travel to my first kite competition. As is the manner of things this did not happen as planned. After watching Pat's performance in Antigone, which not only was very well done, but fortuitous for me as I needed to base my homework for the evening off of the same piece, I contacted the delectable Miss Tonya just to say hello and see how her day had been. She was planning on going out for a few drinks with her new room mate just around the corner from my place. I was not going to be able to join them, but she decided that it would be pleasant to stop over for a bit once they had finished. I was a little bit past half way through "Straight To Hell" when she came knocking. We watched the remainder and alternated between kissing, cuddling, and just talking until near 2am. A bit foolish on my part as I needed to leave Reno before 7am in order to arrive in time for the competition in Berkeley.

I finally dragged myself out of bed at just about 7am, ran to the store for provisions and groggily set out for the three hour drive. All was going fine, if a bit behind schedule, until I hit Auburn where I was ticketed, and rightly so, for my 87mph speed in the 65 zone. Considering how many times I have taken that trip and the speed with which I tend to do so, it was only fair. After the very short delay I continued without incident until just outside of Davis, where an accident further up the road cause a very sudden stop in traffic forcing me, in a slightly less than attentive state, to swerve out of collision with the vehicle in front of me. A collision I would not have fared well through. Instead I spun out into the median and into a single cable fence. Thankfully it was merely a cable and not a larger barrier. My trustworthy and somewhat abused car withstood the impact admirably with a bit of panel and minor frame damage to the front end. The only mechanical issues were a fan knocked loose from its moorings and a small hole in the coolant blow-off tank. The fan was readily repositioned and secured with the use of some extra kite line (300 pound test) and I continued along to Berkeley after a short internal debate. The reasoning for not turning around was simple I was not going to have a good day with that as the highlight so I might as well make an effort and get some value out of the excursion.

I arrived late and without any further incidences at Berkeley. At this point things began to lighten up for me and I was allowed to compete as neither of my events had begun yet. I quickly prepared myself and got in a bit of practice before it was my turn at Novice Individual Ballet, and event in which one must fly for 2-5 minutes choreographed to music. Due to the unfavorable winds of late here in Reno I had been unable to practice to my music after editing it down to a comfortable length. Luckily I knew the music well and was able to fake my way through it with only one error, I went to land a few measures too early, realized it and pulled a very sloppy half-axel to recover. Able to relax after that, though I was not very tense, even after the crash, I had a great day talking with some of my kiting friends before it was time for the Precision event, in which I had three figures to fly and then 1-3 minutes for freestyle precision. I was feeling quite confident as I took my turn on the field. The scores for Ballet had already been posted with me in first place by a large margin of roughly 20 points in a 100 point allowance. I found out later from a few of the judges that my ability to beat-fly with my music (Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros "Burning Streets") made a huge difference. Well that and not crashing like a few of the other competitors. I was also feeling good because I had watched the other fliers and knew that unless something went wrong I could fly as well as any of them for the figures. A little bobble on one line was all i could fault myself for and my timed segment went well. At this point I should have waited for the postings and then returned to Reno, but I decided to stick around a bit longer, which turned out to be the end of the event. I received my first place pins for both events and left shortly after that, around six in the evening.

Unfortunately it turned out to be a much worse decision to stay than I had thought. I knew I was without one headlight from the crash, but as the sun began to set I discovered that was not the full case as the visually intact light was nonfunctional. Not wanting to drive the two hundred miles without lights and hazarding a second ticket for the day, I found a mall to crash out in for the night. A calzone, call to TR, and visit to the bookstore later I was already dozing off in the car at nine. The night was a bit eventful with kids of varying ages taking over parts of the parking lot a few different times. But I was only bothered once and that by a sheriff only doing his duty. Once I had explained the situation he wished me a good night and drove off. After he left around midnight I was free to rest as well as I could in my somewhat cramped car. There was one other incident, but it had direct affect upon me other than to wake me with a bit of a start. At roughly 3 am I heard a succession of gun shots originating closer to my resting place, but traveling further away with a fair amount of speed.

The sun rose and lightened the sky enough for me to continue my travel home at about five thirty in the morning and I arrived home at nine o'clock ready for a nap.

I have yet to ascertain a complete list of my options, but I suspect that I will be visiting the junkyard tomorrow in order to procure at the least a new front end and lights.

All things considered I am a bit upset and frustrated, but not overly so and I know that a bit of company tonight would make that disappear.