So, this weekend was my first time renting a car for the entire weekend!

Friday:

I left work an hour early, having been warned by folks on them thar Interwebs that it takes a long-ass time to fill out rental car agreements and I should expect it to take a lot longer than the 10 minutes I was figuring on if I left work a half hour early. So I do that. Did I mention that the place I went to is not a "real" rental agency, but a repair shop that also rents cars? This fellow was a lot quicker about it. So far I like renting from him because he is totally laid back about this stuff. Like "eh, you can drive it here near empty if you like, maybe fill it to 5 gallons..."

However, he gave me a 1998 Honda CR-V rather than the station wagon I was expecting. "Erm, isn't that an SUV? Like one of those big monster cars?" "Nah, it's pretty small," he said. It was parked out on the street, he gave me the keys.

Now, these days I think I am pretty cool about figuring out new cars, right? I get into this and uh...there is no stick in the middle of the car. WHAT THE HELL?!?! It's a hand model. I actually went back into the place to ask him how to work it (yes, that would certainly be reassuring the fellow that I won't mess up his car ), but when I got back in there was a long line. I pulled out the manual and started reading it...and figured out how to work it before the line moved much, so I got back out. I really do need to remember that I can't just hop into any car with confidence before reading the manual and stuff like that. It took me a bit to figure out the ignition (it seems to have various settings, and it works if you don't jam the key in all the way...it's odd) and the hand shift and what a "D4" level meant (regular driving). But I eventually got it out of there by around 5 .

I decided to try something interesting for me: going home, changing clothes, and hitting the weightlifting class at the gym at 5:30, which I hadn't bothered to dress for ahead of time. It's $7 to park on campus anywhere M-F and I didn't think what my plans for the evening were worth the $7, but I'd had lunch with Dawn and we'd discussed the trip and later she called me to say she had a one-day parking permit and would I like to use it? Why sure! So I ran home, changed clothes, had to figure out how to get the car working again, but managed to get there, park, and get to class on time!

I lifted weights with extra adrenaline that day.

After class, I had about an hour and a half before I had a ticket to see Rent playing here. I read the manual to figure out how to open the gas tank and then went to the gas station, where I ended up putting in about 6 gallons--slightly over half full. (After tooling around Friday and Saturday, I was down to halfway full, so not bad.) I went home, changed clothes again, ate a sandwich, and then drove to the theater. Which was nice, and gave me plenty of time for seat-saving since there's no numbered seats there and sitting alone is...interesting...when everyone comes in a gang.

As for Rent the play...I don't think it's gonna be my favorite ever. It's a little abstract in places--for example, I do not comprehend how getting it on suddenly made Angel (who wasn't even like, fake coughing or anything for the last hour and 45 minutes) throw her/his clothes off and die. And god knows a few people *cough*MIMI*cough* ain't the brightest bulbs. But there's certain songs that I like, like the usual "Seasons of Love," "Take Me Or Leave Me," "Tango Maureen" sort of stuff. And the guy playing Angel was super adorable and sweet (heck, he was the understudy!). They had a Q&A session afterwards too. But it was a loooong night- 3 hour play + 25 minute Q&A + 25 minute intermission + late start time, so I didn't leave until 11. It was darned nice to get home in less than 10 minutes rather than a 20-25-ish walk.

Seriously, having a car to get me places makes me feel like An Actual Real Adult, you guys.

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