I got up at about 11:30, and called Western Lanes to make sure our cars were still going to be there.
“Hi, I bowled there last night with a group of friends, and then we went drinking. When we got back, our cars were locked up. Can I expect mine to still be there if I come down to get it?”
“It’s probably been towed,” he replied.
“Shit,” I said. “And where would it be then?”
“I’m just kidding. It’s here. There’ll be a $5.00 charge to get it. We figure that’s reasonable, since it would have been over $100 if we’d’ve had it towed.”
I tried to reach Amy and Will to see if they were ready to go retrieve them. The line was busy.
Joe had left me an e-mail to call him, and I did. He offered to take me to get my car.
I told him I’d check with my neighbor first to see if she could take me as her car was out front.
At around 12:30, Kathryn took me to get my car. We rode in her new wheels. Sweet.
We stopped at the Bruegger’s on Hillsborough Street and had coffee and a bagel — my treat of course.
When I got to my car, I found a hand-written note stuck under my windshield that said, “Please pay $5.00 at the desk inside.” There was an identical note on Will’s car, which was parked right beside mine.
I had a short, nice conversation with the guy behind the desk at the bowling alley.
He said, they used to tow the cars, and it was $65.00. Then they started charging people over $100.00. “At that point, we figured, most of the people that this happens to were customers of ours earlier in the evening. Why don’t we stop all the hassle of calling the towing company, waiting for them to tow the cars at that hour of the morning when we’re closing, and then having really pissed off people in the morning? Let’s just lock the gates, and charge the folks $5.00 in the morning when they come back to get them. That’s worked out real well for everybody involved,” he said.
“Nothing would have happened if you didn’t pay, but we do take the information of the car, and if happens again, we tow. About 80% of the people pay it.”
I said, “Well, I’m happy to pay it. ‘Cause truthfully, it kept me off the road last night, which was a good thing.”
I worked for five hours straight in the library on campus on my group research project, which is due next Wednesday. I’m meeting with the other two folks in the group tomorrow at 3:30.
On the way home, I stopped at Amedeo’s to see if they would sell me just a loaf of their bread as a “take out” item.
It was jammed packed in there, but I went right to the register, and after the two people in front of me paid for their meals, I ordered and paid for a loaf of bread.
I had a $5 bill out. “That’ll be $5.40,” she said.
I thought that was a little high for the four or five pieces of bread they bring to the table. However, when my loaf arrived, less than five minutes later, it was a loaf of at least 12 slices.
At home, I had some with my leftover lasagna from there the other night. Absolutely delicious.
I took a nap from 9:00 – 11:00, thinking I might meet Joe and Steve out afterwards.
At 11:00, I hit the snooze button through two more 9-minute cycles, and then turned it off.
I got up, and devised yesterday’s and today’s blog entries. Voila!