“You’re not really going tomorrow are you?” my mother queried incredulously when I called her to babysit my pooch. “Have you seen the forecast?”
“Looked at it a few days ago” I answered. “Thursday appeared to be the best of the week.”
“Let me check the Weather Channel again”, she replied, ” I’ll call you back”.
My wife, just home from work, overheard the conversation. A few minutes later she commented with cautious hesitation, “You’d better take a look at the weather”. I shuffled the newspaper around on the kitchen table looking for the forecast.
“I can handle a little rain, it’s got to be better than the last trip”, came my retort, tinged with some irritation that my well laid scheme may be going awry. “I’ve got to get this map done!”
She walked over to her desk and woke up her laptop.
“What cities do you check?”, she asked from the other room.
“Pull up here, and Roanoke, Virginia”, I called out in reply. I tried to ignore the potential disappointment that was theatening to intrude into my private universe and challenge my intentions.
“You’d better come look at this”, she called out a few minutes later.
I went into the den and sat on the couch where I could look over her shoulder. She had the Weather Channel pulled up and started the video of the forecast. I listened and watched as the commentator confirmed just how screwed I was. Rain covering much of the eastern United States. The moisture from the storm in Florida had been caught between two cold fronts bringing still more rain and storms. Dry and clear weather moving in from the west in a few days.
Expletives were muttered with the usual eyebrows raised in response. Not one to give up gracefully, I constructed a male ego preserving response to reinforce what I tough guy I really am.
“If I didn’t need a photo for the map cover, I’d still go” I said with irritated bluster. “I can handle a little rain. Still don’t have a good shot that represents the area well, though. Can’t get that picture if the weather is bad”. Culpable excuse ticked off the disappointment list.
“You can go over the weekend once the weather clears” my wife stated with female reason and clarity. “It’s just a couple of days”. I’ll never know what it’s like to live without testosterone. How does anything get done?
Mom called back. “You’d better look at the weather again”
“I know, I know, you don’t need to watch the dog tomorrow” I informed, “Looks like another day of doing chores here. I’ll go in a couple days”.
Freakin’ rain. Better get outside before it comes full on and get something manly done.
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Damn, I wish I could think of soinhtmeg smart like that!