False Memories

It was a rough morning.

Goal: be at the federal courthouse in St. Paul by 9 a.m. I was relatively on track to meet that goal. I told the Garmin where I wanted to go, but I wasn't confident in his answer. So I relied on my memory of where I thought I went last time.

Driving a large SUV is somewhat deceiving in parking ramps. It always seems like you're going to hit the ceiling or some low overhang. I try and remember the teenager's rule of thumb - he is taller than the car, and he doesn't hit his head on the ceiling, so he is probably fine. But this morning, when I drove up to a parking ramp that I "remembered" parking in before, my antennae hit the warning overhang and the bar looked way too low for passage.

So there I was, unable to move forward and trapped by two cars also waiting to get into the ramp. Oops. Eventually the immediate car behind me drove away in a fast and angry manner, and I was able to maneuver awkwardly into the "out" lane and drive away to the next ramp. Where I managed to drive into the contract parking line. So yet again, in a span of five minutes, I had to maneuver the massive SUV into the correct line while not hitting anything else.

I'm finally parked, and my memory was that the courthouse was right around the corner... or something. Thank goodness we're having a slight heatwave, because I was aimlessly wandering around, looking for the courthouse of my dreams. Eventually, after walking about five blocks and not seeing anything familiar, I asked my Smart Phone to show me the way. And it did. I was only about a block off, but by now it was 9:15 a.m.

I walked up to the courtroom for observation, and was escorted to the last open seat. At least it was a somewhat discreet aisle seat. I arrived halfway through the event, so remained in my seat for only fifteen minutes. Kind of horrifying.

LawLady and THH had arrived on time, but like good friends did not comment on my lateness. I was embarrassed, and projected my guilt onto LawLady, imagining sharp accusation in her eyes. Later in the day, I apologized and LawLady kindly said she knows how crazy my life is. What a good friend - although maybe she meant to say she knows how crazy I am.

Same difference?


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