Sunday night

Worked four hours today, beginning at shortly past 1:00. I would have been there sooner but for an incident at Burger King. Burger King and Checkers are situated across the street from each other at Omni, so I decided to get a fish sandwich at BK and chili dogs at Checkers. I went to BK first and ordered the fish sandwich. Apparently the fish had to be fried and they asked me to exit the drive-through and park out front, and said they'd bring the sandwich to me. I waited around five minutes (on top of the time I waited in the drive-through), wondering where my sandwich was. Finally I got out of the truck and went inside the restaurant (which wasn't busy). They'd forgotten all about my sandwich. It was sitting in a bag behind the counter. I was really pissed. They apologized and handed it to me, and I said "son of a bitch!" (not in reference to them) and walked out in a huff. (They found the whole thing amusing.)

To be continued after "Desperate Housewives."

Show was good tonight, except I'm not buying Orson's kleptomania and now burglary. Shouldn't he be on his best behavior since getting out of prison? (And I've never heard of people stealing because they felt emasculated, but what do I know.) So Edie's gone. Now I wonder what's going to happen with Dave. He's even more dangerous now. He tried to strangle Edie before she got electrocuted following the automobile accident.

Stopped off at Home Depot on the way home and got light bulbs. The kitchen designer wasn't there, and I'd hoped to see her. She and I get along well. I haven't heard from Home Depot in weeks about the last two inspections that have to be done. Then I got something in the mail this weekend from the general contractor. I didn't look at it very carefully. It's something I have to sign and send back regarding a change in the plumbing contractor. The plumbing inspection still has to be done.

When I got home I decided to go over to Starbucks and witnessed a pretty serious traffic accident (a head-on collision) at the intersection at Biscayne, 20 yards away from where I was standing. The traffic light was changing to red on the cross-street. Someone in a little red car heading east on the cross-street was out in the intersection, preparing to make a left onto Biscayne and head north, when a big black truck went speeding through the red light (past me) heading west, and slammed into the red car, causing it to spin around. It was a loud crash. I was yelling, "Oh, my God!" Someone in the red car and someone in the truck were both taken away in ambulances (I assume the drivers). I didn't see any passengers getting out of the vehicles. I saw the whole thing.

I'd thought about going to the police (who came quickly) and telling them I was a witness but then decided not to. You wouldn't need a witness to figure out what happened. And I'm not 100% certain that the truck ran the red light, but it was red when the truck was entering the intersection (a split-second later). The truck driver was definitely speeding to get through the light, however, and driving recklessly.

Now that I think about it, the light was red when the truck went through it. I was looking right up at it and couldn't believe my eyes that someone was trying to get through the intersection. My eyes were on the truck afterward. I was thinking, I can't believe this is happening. And then, sure enough, bam! (Maybe I should tell the police.) This all happened in fractions of seconds.

I had got a tea at Starbucks but kept walking a few paces away to watch what was going on at the intersection. The lady in the red car was put on a stretcher all bandaged up. She was just lying there, listless, and had a fluid bag. Apparently her life wasn't in danger, however, since they were taking their time with her and the ambulance didn't leave the moment they wheeled her inside. The guy (it looked like) who'd been driving the truck got a later ambulance, but he too was lying on a stretcher.

It took almost an hour to clear the intersection.

So we have two people in the hospital now because someone was trying to cheat the system. For all I know he could have been drunk or on drugs. Very bad judgment, in any case.

(Before this happened, after I'd left Home Depot, I avoided hitting something black in the road. The closer I got to it, I realized it was a blackbird that had just been killed in the traffic, and its mate was darting around in the air above it, frantic. How sad. It almost made me cry and still might.) (I don't have nearly as empathy for most people.)

People who run red lights at major intersections are a serious problem. I think there should be cameras at all major intersections. I cross US1 in the morning to catch the bus, and I'm constantly looking around as I cross the street. I was almost hit once by someone running the red left-turn signal onto US1 from the cross-street, after the crosswalk sign said walk. These people are crazy.

Tonight I was cleaning the kitchen counters with Lysol with bleach. It's pretty strong. Lucky was lying in the kitchen and started coughing (or gasping). I immediately made sure he got out of there and opened the sliding glass door for some fresh air. He sat by the door and is OK now. I'm always worried about chemicals around the cats.

I have to do some laundry this weekend (I have tomorrow off) but first I had to remove chewing gum from the seat of a pair of work pants. Someone had stuck their chewing gum on a bus bench and I sat on it. (Now I look before I sit, or just stand.) This is disgusting. Aren't kids taught the Golden Rule these days? When I was in elementary school, the principal recited it every morning over the public address system. I see little criminals in the making. (They'll get theirs, assholes.)