Life In The Fast Lane Part 1

Hi Everyone

I’m back. It’s been a while, I know, but on top of being very busy, I also had to deal with a pesky virus that for a few weeks had me hacking and horking…..

It’s said that stress weakens the immune system. If that’s the case, I think my resistance began its nosedive right off the bat with that first drive to Sault Ste Marie. I was fine until a cop that was hiding in the bushes busted me for speeding just inside the Espanola town limits. It was 11:30 pm! The whole town was in bed. 

I was issued a ticket, a lecture, and some instructions about paying the fine. Remember how the adults sounded in the Charlie Brown specials? Like a muted trumpet? This was similar. I nodded in the right places, but my mind was totally on the cold beer I’d be drinking when I got to The Soo. 

Well, I missed the part about how much time they were allowing me to pay the fifty-five-dollar extortion.

I assumed thirty days. Two weeks later, I was at home dumping the contents of my backpack when the ticket fluttered out. Peering through my reading glasses (few things say “senior” more than glasses perched near the end of the nose), I noticed “must be paid within 15 days.” It went on to suggest that a late payment was definitely not in my best interests.

“Let’s see now,” I thought, “I got the ticket on August the 24th. What’s the date today?”

“September the 8th. Let’s do some quick math.”

“OH SHIT!”

There didn’t seem to be any way to do it online. You could, however, pay at a provincial courthouse. Never having had any transgressions serious enough for a court appearance, I hadn’t a clue where the local one was. I jumped into my truck, searched with my GPS, and finally managed to find it. The irony is I had to speed like crazy to get there before closing time. In the end, I used pretty much every minute of those fifteen days…. but I got ‘er done. Phew!

STRESSSSSS