Had I not gone to work today, I would have gone to the downtown Powell's and seen Alicia, my former girlfriend and still friend. She made one of her rare trips to Portland (this was one of her times, back in October 2005) so she and her mom could buy books. We'd planned to have lunch; I was figuring out places to recommend when I got called to work this morning.
Yes, I was a responsible adult and took a job when I would've liked to have hang-out times with someone really neat. A little "Oh, well." Not to mention brief worry because with Alicia on the road, I'd have trouble letting her know I couldn't make it. (She'd called from Hope's cell phone. Like me, Alicia does not have a cell. Also, I didn't have Hope's cell number.) If she hadn't called again soon after I'd committed to going to work, I was going to re-record my answering machine message -- "Hi, this is Chris. This is for Alicia. I'm really sorry..." -- and hope she'd at some point call. BUT IT WORKED OUT.
Alicia's almost certainly home by now; she was about 50 miles north of Eugene at 3:30, when I called her (having made sure to get the cell phone number) to see whether they were getting back. Another phew.
