Unexpected St. George Road Buddy. Thanks for the..company?

I am in St. George again for work. Really ya'll, it doesn't get more exotic than this. Lets. Be. Honest. HEY! Snicker if you want - but while you're all braving yet another freakish blizzard of death in SLC - I will be in St. George enjoying 52 degrees of winter relief. I hope your cackles freeze right in your THROAT! Wow...hostility. Excuse me. Let me start this over...

I am in St. George again for work. It's probably the longest drive ever. No, it isn't...clearly there are longer drives...er...ever...but it sure is long and boring. It's just...strait. And just...goes. On and on. They have at least 10 "drowsy driver" signs along the way that make you anxiously glance at the few cars cruising next to you to notice if they are looking bleary eyed and "weavy" inclined. Maybe they could shake things up and put up clever billboards that say things like "Poop" or "Just checking to see if you are alert" to see if people are paying attention. Did I used "clever" and "poop" in the same sentance just now? Anyway, luckily my good work-pal Michele provides MUCHOS entertainment for my long drives by letting me borrow her books on CD. Even when they get stolen out of my car she nicely allows me to take more! What a friend (what a sucker?)! Funny thing is - I didn't really admit that her books on CD had been stolen with my other wondrous music last week until, er today. Ahem! Ha! My brilliant plan was to secretly replace the lost books and give them to her when I was "done listening" to the obscure series about creeper vampire love I'd just like to finish so I can informatively mock it. ;) In fact, since moving (pictures and post to commence on my oober cute new house and super hot roomies next week), I found that one of my new roomies owned the series and snagged the 4th book so I could still "update" Michele on the story, and of course I wanted to finish it. Why suffer through 3.5 books and just stop? No. Can. Do. Such a clever plan though, right? I mean, if I'm updating her then clearly I'm still "listening" to the story. Ahem. Well, Michele happens to be smart and mostly figured out that her CD's were stolen - but then of course I threw a wrench in her theory with the daily "so this is where I'm at now" updates. She said she wondered about that - but didn't want to say anything. I came clean today though...when she gave me Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Love, Pray because I was "almost through listening" to Breaking Daw...I mean...the 4th installment of the obscure vampire series of which I will have a conflicted review (stay tuned). POINT! Books on CD make long drive enjoyable...or rather...endurable. And Michele saw through my crappy "cover up."

SO!

I was listening to Eat,Love,Pray (which I'm really loving...especially after...ya know..the other series), and between the small town of Nephi and 100's of miles of strait lined highway NO WHERE - I notice this car...

You can't see the license plate (or the car very well for that matter. Sorry - cell phone picture) - but it says "Endliss." Okay. What does that even mean? I could think of a few ironic meanings. I really dislike vanity plates - but that's another rant for another time. At any rate, I notice this car because for the past 45 minutes of driving - it had passed me - then fell back - then passed me - then fell back - then passed me...well you get the idea. I had no idea how long I'd had this "pass and fall back" road buddy...but clearly long enough I'd finally noticed a pattern. Weird. Doesn't it always seem like you find a nice little group of "road buddies" your constantly noticing when you are both driving on the same long stretch of highway between civilizations? Sometimes? It encourages commrodery I think; "We are on this journey together. We might as well keep each other "car company."" Well it happens for sure. But THIS car - well - it was genuinely odd. It also made me nervous. The left front side of the car was a little smashed and bashed. So you have to immediately judge the driver as being crappy. Oh come on! You do it! Don't you just look at a slightly bashed car and think "Oh great...clearly this person can't drive that well because there car is battered." Sure it might not have been their fault. But just like seeing a cop passing you in the opposite lane even though you aren't speeding or doing anything illegal, you immediately straiten your shoulders, stiffen your posture, and try to "subtly" make your way far away from them anyway. Yup. We do that with dented and bented cars for sure. It's not great evidence of the drivers ability and I'm not taking any risks hoping that I've judged them harshly. I'd rather save my car!

Well this car looked a little smashed. Between this "evidence" of "possible" lack of driving skills and the drowsy driving signs warning that "you had better pull over if you want to live" - I was a little antsy about this car being my "road buddy." Pass. Fall back. Pass. Fall back. I had the cruise on my rented Grand Prix set at 80mph. A nice, reasonable speed, and mainly contained myself in the right lane. Pass. Fall back. Pass. Fall back. DAH! Come on girl! Pick something! "Endliss." Psh. Either pass me and leave me be. Or fall and back and hang tight! Shoot! She'd pass on the downhill, and I'd catch her on the uphill. On and on this went and all I could do was watch her taunt my little car which classically drove at the exact same speed for 2 hours more hours of nowhere. It was like a bouncy puppy jumping around an old and mature senior dog. Did I just describe myself as an old and mature senior dog? Rock. Bottom.

Well anyway

Puppy car got bored with me and finally passed me completely when I hit the first Cedar City exit. Thank Goodness. Though, I did feel like we bonded a little bit being road buddies for so long. It was like a "I hate you but thanks for hanging" moment. It was the passing and falling back that got annoying...over...and over...and over.

Good thing I had something to keep my mind occupied - er - other than safely and non-drowsily driving of course - instead of just sitting there watching this "commitment phobe" driver try and make "to pass or not to pass" decisions. Some people just take time.

Anyway,thanks Michele for helping make my drive more endurable. And I promise if these CD's get stolen I will tell you immediately.