Bohemian Rhapsody (Part IV)

Breaking Bread
Since it was my daughter paying, I somehow curbed my hankerin’ for steak and lobster for the evening. We Instead opted for Panera Bread Company and a satisfying meal of their outstanding Baked Potato Soup, and a sandwich made from their fresh-baked bread.

Dianna insisted on paying her own way, but due to an order screw-up, ended up getting two sourdough soup bowls for the price of one. Needless to say, that girl was stuffed!

The conversation ranged from casual to emotional. Having already thought through the subject of my previous story subject, on the trip down to Chattanooga (Same Day), I talked about that scene from “City Slickers” and related how Amy’s accident was both the worst and best day of my life. We talked about how much that day changed our lives.

I also wanted to ask her about something else that I’d thought about a lot in recent years. I’m not sure why, but several years ago it occurred to me that neither of my kids ever really called me “Daddy.” It’s a silly thing, but I’d always liked the idea of being called Daddy by my daughter.

“All I’ve ever known you as, was “Dad,” she said. “Did Shawn ever call you Daddy?”

“Not since he was a toddler,” I said.

“Well I guess that’s why I never did either,” she shrugged. Would you like me to call you that now?” It was a sincere question.

“No sweetie,” I smiled. “‘Dad’ is just fine. I was just wondering.”

And to be honest, I can’t ever remember calling my own father “Daddy” either, so I guess my kids came by it honestly.

On the way back to Amy’s apartment, we went to check out the Budget Truck Rental office where I would drop off the truck before returning to Nashville.

Uh oh.

Unlike the Nashville office had described it to me that morning, the office offered no place for me to drop off the truck during non-business hours. The entire yard was fenced in and their was no street parking at all. So it was decided that Amy would very carefully return the truck for me at it’s due time of 9:00 AM on Monday.

On a side note, remember that $8.70 per-mile mileage allowance penalty I was in such a dither about earlier? Heh, heh…well ya see…it’s like this…

After I got home I double-checked the fine print on my Budget Truck Rental e-mail confirmation. I realized that I had confused the late charge specs for the truck and those of a Budget car rental I had made around the same time. The $8.70 was a per-hour late-charge penalty on the car rental, not the truck.

The actual mileage allowance penalty for the truck was a mere 60 cents per mile. As it turned out, the total overage penalty for the rental truck was a more manageable $9.00 than the $130.00 that I was bracing myself for.

Guess all’s well that ends well.


Next: An "Adult" Ice Cream for Amy