The Michael Swayne Story V: King of his Castle

Today's delivery was rough. I didn't get to leave the house until an hour later than normal. Looking back, it was probably better that this happened, despite my philosophy of "the earlier you start working, the earlier you get done; and the more you get to play afterward." I finished folding the papers and was heading out when the owner arrived to pick up her portion of the papers. Then she talked to me about a bunch of books and discs that I can get art from to finish the menu. After ten minutes of that, I was finally able to start the route.

Because of starting so late, I decided to deliver the business route first. That way people who go to the stores will be able to get papers. After that, I started on the residential route. That's when the day went from okay to bad to really bad.

There is a path through the woods that run alongside the railroad tracks in the middle of town. This path connects 5th Avenue with Main Street. When I am delivering at the park section, I always take this path to get to Main Street. That way I don't have to back track through roads I have already been on. Well, someone took a whole lot of thorny branches and made a wall-like structure across the path. I was riding and didn't notice they were thorny. I thought they were just regular branches. I just figured I could lift them up as I go under them and be on my way. I wasn't able to clear them, because as I went under them, they snagged everything they could snag. My jacket sleeve, my messenger bag, me. I spent five minutes just trying to get untangled from the things. That's when I notice they were cut from something, not just broken off. Someone deliberately made the path that way. After getting as many thorns out my arm as possible, I got back on my bike and went on my way.

Then, as I am pedaling along, my temperature is slowly dropping. It was about 20 degrees Fahrenheit (maybe less) at the time, so that's normal. But I only feel the cold in the...uh...pelvic region. Everywhere else was nice and toasty. So there I am, riding my bike, freezing my you-know-what, and unable to do anything about it that is socially acceptable without receiving an indecent exposure citation. It was really hurting to pedal, so I altered my route. I decided to deliver to the manor apartments, thinking that some walking might warm up that region. It didn't. Luckily, I had only five papers left to deliver. I delivered them, and pedaled as painlessly as possible up the hill to the office.

Gabby was there when I arrived, and I was still hurting. The phone rang, so I answered it crouching on the floor. The pain was decreasing as my temperature increased. And by a stroke of luck, I was able to get Gabby out of the office (I sent her on an errand to get envelopes) and adjusted myself. Then, I called Dad and waited for him to come and pick me up at the office.

Gabby came back with one envelope. Instead of going to the store and buying envelopes, she went to the Post Office and bought a gigantic padded envelope. I only had to send a copy of our paper with two pieces of paper. So, I wasted three dollars of my own money and didn't get a receipt in return. So it will be difficult to get reimbursed. When Dad arrived, we went to the store so I could get appropriately sized envelopes. I won't need reimbursed for those, because I will be keeping them at home.

After returning home, I did the normal things I do on Thursdays. The only different things were that I posted the paper's Valentine's Coloring Contest picture (that anyone can enter if they want, click here for more information or to print out the picture). I played TouchMaster Connect tonight while my brother watched YouTube videos. That's about it.

My brother has court in the morning. And Dad is seeing his probation officer. So I have the morning to myself. I think I may attempt to sleep in. I already delivered in Sinking Spring, so I don't have anything planned for tomorrow. I do need to record commentary for my YouTube video, but that can be done in the afternoon. I still have no clue what I will talk about. I can't talk about much, because it's only four minutes long. QWOP is not really something you can play for a long period of time in one session.

Anyway, I should stop for now. It's getting late. I apologize for all the talk about my private area, but it was probably the most exciting part of my day, despite being so painful. Well, I hope to see you around the forums, and until tomorrow...

Later!

Michael