John Scalzi's Weekend Assignment #88: The Good New Days

"Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success."

-Henry Ford

Weekend Assignment #88: Talk about something people have today that you wished you had when you were a kid.

Extra credit: Rocket car to the moon or robot butter? Which do you want more?

-John Scalzi

This assignment was easy for me. The answer is my cell phone. I know, I know a lot of people consider them to be a nuisance. I can understand that sentiment, sometimes people can be annoying when they use their cell phone, but I always try to practice courtesy to others when I am talking on my phone. In fact I was once featured on my local news as the "good driver" meaning I wasn't talking on my cell phone while I was driving, and my hands were in the 10 and 2 position on the steering wheel. But see, on December 24th, 2003 my cell phone saved me from a very embarrassing situation. See...I was stuck in a bathroom in Sacramento, California.

December 2003 was not my best month. My friend passed away, I found out my mother had passed away, and on December 10th, I got stuck in my Christmas tree for several hours, until Alan came home and freed me. LOL. Funny now, not so funny then. LOL. On Christmas Eve, Alan suggested we get out of town...just leave it all behind and look for a change of scenery for the day. We left really early and ended up at an IHOP. The drive to Sacramento is about 2 hours long. We ordered and then ate breakfast. I was tired. I did a lot of crying that day, so I went into the bathroom to fix my hair and face and take care of the necessary business. Well, I sat down before realizing there was NO tissue in the stall. Now what!? Grr. All of a sudden I heard a voice, "there's no tissue over there either?" I had not realized I had company in the next stall, so the disembodied voice gave me a bit of a start. "No," I replied, "I don't." "Ut oh," said the voice. INDEED! LOL.

That's when it hit me...I would call Alan on his cell phone and ask him to have the manager bring us some tissue. Ring, Ring, Ring. Alan finally answered and he told me he was in the men's bathroom...in a similar circumstance. OMG...Fret. Now what!? I know, I will call information to get the number. When the operator came on she asked me which IHOP in Sacramento I was at. GRRRRRRR. "I don't know, it's the one down the street from the Albertson's and the Supercuts, next to the Wok Down The Street." LOL. That of course didn't help even a little bit. She ended up giving me the number to all the IHOP restaurants in the area. It turns out, I was in Citrus Grove! LOL. When I finally got the right IHOP and the right manager on the phone, I was a very relieved lady. I became especially endeared to my cell phone that day. It is my friend. I celebrate it. :) I am pretty sure cell phones would have come in handy when I was a little girl, way back in the olden days of the 1970's LOL.

Extra Credit: I choose Robot Butler. See up at the top of my entry, I wrote robot butter. LOL. I looked at John's assignment maybe three times and every single time I saw the word "butter" not "butler." LOL. Intrigued by the thought of "robot butter" I decided to go with that choice. It wasn't until I visited my pal Karen's blog, "Outpost Mavarin," that I realized it was "robot butler." I am going to let this entry stand with my error...it's a funny thought. "Robot Butter." LOL.

-OndineMonet
"My Cell Phone Drusilla On Her Birthday"
Santa Barbara, California
June 29th, 2005
Afternoon