Push out dead air from a parking garage
Where you stand with the keys and your cool hat of silence
Where you grip her love like a driver's license.
Soul Coughing, "True Dreams of Wichita"
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I want some credit for some shit a normal man just does. I'm talking about shit like, "I drive myself to work."
My first court-appointed education class was pretty good. In order to complete the six week course, there will be a final exam, of which the two answers will be "Drive sober" and "Alcohol impairs your judgement [sic]". CJ is a pretty good counselor, and it's nice that I get to split time between he and Jill. In the waiting room, I ran into Page who I hadn't seen since my first night hanging out at P6. But the interesting part was when Mark walked into the room, said Hi to Page, and then all of a sudden recognized me, too. It took me a while because I couldn't remember whether or not they were ever roommates with me at the same time. I ask Mark how he knew Page, and he said that they were in the same group session together.
In very discreet terms, I told both that they were both alumni of Room 226. The world is a lot smaller than it seems. For instance, Jacob made a surprising and triumphant return back to the states. Despite Los Angeles' current record-setting rainy season, it's nice to know that you can leave Central America and find a kitchen in Thousand Oaks available for your disposal. Jacob is en route to Seattle for a vacation away from his vacation, capping off a day of Techers I hadn't heard from in a while.
Richard called up saying he was in town for lunch, and Dale called up trying to organize a trip to western Germany next year. And with Jacob's arrival, it all just reminded me that all my friends aren't around anymore. With all due respect to my work friends here, I still feel isolated. I can't go to Richmond Street to see Matty J, Liz, and Brian, not that they're all guaranteed to be there anyway since they'll be moving, too. I currently live a life of flux (but don't we all?) and it feels like I should eventually ride the tide, as opposed to getting swept in the undertow.
