After tonight's Swarm game and waiting for the Minnesota Roller Girls' friendly with Madison's Derbyland Dolls to begin, I checked my phone ... and realized I could not check it because I didn't have it. Did I drop it at my old seat before moving to a new chair for the derby? Went back; wasn't there.
Didn't sweat it. Probably left it in the car, like I often do. But it got me thinking about what to do after the derby was over. Should I eat at My Favorite Late-Night Place? Naw -- too close to home, so my engine won't heat up enough by the time I get home, and besides, I have no reason to watch the TV tonight because there's no big sports news tonight. Uptown? That place is great, but it'd be the second time this week I went out of my way to go there, and I should conserve gasoline.
Mickey's? Ooh, Mickey's, the quintessential Twin Cities greasy spoon. Haven't eaten there in a long time. I have a few reservations because there's a roller derby afterparty somewhere else in downtown St. Paul and I'd feel a tad weird if I ran into someone there because they would know I wouldn't be at that bar. Ah, fuck it, I tell myself, and I make myself a deal: If the phone's in my car, I relax and have dinner at Mickey's.
After the derby game (which was more like a rout), I go to my car and search the passenger seat, which is where I usually leave my phone. It wasn't there. Well, shit. I imagine my phone, lying on my bed or dropped on the floor somewhere at the X or on the sidewalk, turned off. I imagine my parents, especially My Father, pissed off after leaving me yet another voicemail asking me where the hell am I, they've got to take Grandmother to the hospital. I imagine Grandmother slowly dying because she slipped on our slippery walk up to the front door ... wait a second, what does that have to do with me losing my phone? Never mind.
I didn't think I was responsible enough to go anywhere except back home. Maybe this is a sign. I don't have much money right now, it was cold out, and the roller derby game ended the twinbill at a little big past 12:15. Somebody's telling me something. So I just started the car and left for home.
Well ... first I remembered I had a passing thought about filling up my gas tank on my way home. With the unrest in Egypt this week, the price of oil shot up. I don't think I can take a chance of waiting for the price of gas to fall; tomorrow I don't plan on leaving the house, and on Monday, not only do I work but there's a snowstorm coming in, so filling up with gas will be last in my to-do list. That means I'll have to shut off my car just before I go home, so my worries about turning off a cold engine because I'm eating at a place close to home are moot because I'll be putting gas in my car at a station close to home. Whatever. ...
Anyway, I had decided not to eat before going home, but on 94 West, I remembered there was a Hardee's. Hmmm, Hardee's. ... There was one close by while I was in high school, so close that I could walk to it. I fell in love with its Frisco Burger, and the chicken they once served wasn't bad. Then one day, they disappeared. I heard the restaurant made a huge investment into chicken, and no customers bought it, so as part of its retrenching they pulled out of Minnesota. But when I started going to St. Paul, I saw that there was still a place just west of the city. Ate there for the first time last year, I think.
And I thought maybe I could eat there again. I should go home, but why? It's on the way. It's also far enough away from home that my engine will burn off all the impurities in the oil by the time I get to the gas station that, if I don't dawdle, it won't matter that I turned my car on for only a minute, technically. It's drive-thru only, so I'll have to eat in the car, but that's good because then I'll have to be quick. I'm not hungry -- I had two cups of coffee this afternoon (I might talk about this some other time) so I've had caffeine restricting my bloodflow and curbing my appetite -- but I last ate something at 5:30, and hey, it's Hardee's!
Thoughts of my parents and Grandmother waiting up for me made me think I don't have 15 minutes to waste. But I'm a selfish dick who wants to enjoy some personal time out before going home, so I pull off the interstate and get some food. Wow, $7.20 for a Frisco Burger combo?!?! That's just as much as I would pay at Uptown, I think. Fast food has always meant cheap, too. Hasn't the price of fast food combos shot up in the last few years. Why is that? Don't they know part of the reason we go there so often is because it's inexpensive. But oh, did it taste so good!
Filled up my tank, went home. No lights on in any room in the house. And no prone Grandmother, whew. The phone was on my bed, underneath the pajama bottoms I took laid there while changing.
There was a message. It was from my friend whom I called yesterday and asked if she was going to be at the game(s) tonight. She texted back she was, and even gave me her section and row. I don't know if I would've even seen her because checking my phone didn't enter my mind for most of my evening there. Still, sorry, Pam.
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