I spent most of today, when not working, browsing …
I spent most of today, when not working, browsing various sites recounting the recent attacks on New York. This kept me pretty much depressed and shocked the whole day. But life goes on, as I’m sure many of you are realizing, no matter what. This is a story that is just beginning, of course, and while I’m interested to know what happens next, personal things inevitably intrude.
I submitted my formal application for my annual leave today. My boss said she’d send it up to her boss, who is the big boss in Taiwan. Another guy also said he could fill in for me, so I’ll ask my boss to discuss the mystery salary with him tomorrow. More than likely he won’t like it, but it’s worth a try. Hopefully my flight is still on. Who knows what’s going to happen? I sure don’t.
I had dinner at a Thai restaurant this evening with Dean. I was on my motorcycle and he was on foot, so after we ate, Dean said, “Do you have an extra helmet?” I said no. “Well, let’s risk it, then. Take back roads.” He got on the back of my motorcycle and we were off to the 70’s Airport Love Palace to watch TV.
No sooner had I turned the corner than I spotted two cops on scooters chatting on the side of the road. I had two options: either make a panic stop and throw Dean over the handlebars (no mean feat, considering Dean’s, uh, inertia), or keep going and hope they didn’t notice a foreigner without a helmet on the back of a motorcycle. Rather stupidly, I chose the latter. You know what happened next.
We got chased and pulled over, of course, and then Dean tried to convince the cops that it was his fault, “We were just going two feet! From here to there!” he said, gesturing, but they weren’t buying. They issued me an NT$500 ticket, which Dean will pay for. This is the second ticket I’ve gotten in the last week or two. The post office people where I have to pay them will probably think they’re dealing with some kind of confused hoodlum who is constantly breaking the law but always pays his traffic tickets.
