Well, this is just great. Ninety-three degrees of humid blistering heat, and I'm stuck on this stinking patch of asphalt! Got the air conditioning on, but the digital bar display indicating engine temperature is climbing. If this backup lasts much longer, I'll have to shut the air conditioning off, lower the windows, and get a good dose of urban smog and fumes from the car ahead of me. I've had allergies since I was a kid and a few minutes of concentrated car exhaust is guaranteed to give me a days’ worth of sneezing and a stuffed up nose.
Growing weary of listening to the latest news about the upcoming political elections, I change channels to the radio station giving traffic "on the eights." They're reporting that this stretch of interstate has a three-car pileup about a mile ahead of me. Just what I was looking forward to on a Friday afternoon drive home! After about ten more minutes of yelling to myself and striking the steering wheel with my fist, the line ahead starts to move slowly.
Finally getting to the site of the crash, there is little left to see, just a few pieces of trim and some broken glass off to the side of the road. Rolling my eyes, I just appreciate that at least I'm finally moving. The engine temperature indicator is falling slowly to normal levels as I breathe a sigh of relief.
I've been meaning to trade this car in for a newer model, but I've shelled out a bunch of cash on the new home a couple years back... landscaping, swimming pool, and such and thought I'd just cut corners. One way to do that was just to put off getting a newer model until next year. It's just the drive to work car, right? Well, unless I feel like getting stuck in traffic with an overheated car in an urban rush hour, I'd better start looking for another ride soon.
Oh, I forgot to mention a few of the details as they say. My names' Jim ... Jim Bosworth. I'm twenty six years old with short blond hair, standing six foot four in my stocking feet, weighing in at about one hundred and eighty pounds... (I'm on the thin side). Not trying to brag, but if I may say so, I've got a pretty good head on my shoulders. I excelled in science and math in high school... good enough to go on with a full scholarship to a well-known college in the area. As a kid, I was always involved with science related pastimes, things like backyard telescopes and electronic circuits. Astronomy became quite a passion with me. The locations of the stars in the night skies became as familiar to me as the city streets.
Once I graduated from high school, the pressure of college studies and working part time at the research facility where I’m now employed took its toll on my hobbies. The 'scope was put away after high school, tucked back in closets ever since. Once in college, I met the girl who would become my wife... her name was Amy. We shared one class together in my sophomore year. She was quite popular at school, having involved herself in a number of the extracurricular activities on campus. Amy was "the life of the party" type, and I was surprised that she took an interest in me in the class we shared. I guess it was a case of "opposites attract", or so they say. She brought me out of the nerdy shell I acquired as a kid. It's rather difficult to develop social skills when you spend so much time in books and peering through a telescope at the night sky. She was quite attractive and outgoing, I found myself wanting to be around her during what free time I had. I found myself attending a good number of parties and other social events with her. At first, my new lifestyle was a bit uncomfortable and awkward feeling, but I gradually fit in. I made acquaintances with a few of the women at the college from time to time, but always made sure most of my free time was spent with Amy.
One thing led to another and we were married the following year. We finished college, (my major was in physics with a strong math background) and were kept quite busy with our jobs. Amy worked for a major life insurance company, in the record keeping division. I had mentioned my part time job with the research facility. That part time job was basically my foot in the door... looking forward to obtaining the required degree needed for the full time position I was going to fill. Our marriage was quite the typical dual income, no kids' lifestyle. We were going to wait to have a couple of kids a few years down the road, after Amy's job promotion came through and we had a few vacations in Mexico together. We had the money to do what we wanted, but had little time to actually plan anything that involved more than a day at a time. Her job involved a couple of "I have to work late" days during the week, and my job seemed to demand an increasing amount of time on the weekends. We had some good times together but the marriage just seemed to be fighting a losing battle. We were just too busy with our careers to make the marriage work. Eventually, Amy got tired of too many weekends alone at the house, the weekends that I spent at the research facility. She was used to the weekend party scene and got fed up just sitting home alone.
She started going out with other lady friends in similar situations. One thing led to another and she listened to the advice of the friends from her job that persuaded her to "just dump the guy"... like they did. They also gave her the name of a couple of lawyers who would be glad to help her out... help like setting up the case in front of the right judge to relieve the other party of the maximum amount of worldly possessions. Soon afterwards, Amy filed for divorce. I went through a really rough time after hearing the news. I became introverted again, withdrawing from the social scene, even at work. Before long, we were in court and told to sell the house and divide the bank accounts. She got the majority of the household items, and the Lexus, I got a few tools and the older Chevy... the typical American divorce. Even so, I really don't have any hard feelings toward Amy. The divorce was for all the usual reasons... not having really enough in common, and spending too little time together to make for a lasting relationship.