Hi all, from Earth. Three days I ago I drove to Publix to get stuff because Ed has been nursing a bad back. He’s been doing all the driving lately and when I say I’m going somewhere, he says, “I’ll go too, I need to get out of the house,” and, of course, he drives. I could insist on driving anyway but he hovers and that spooks me. I have driven enough now that a hiatus isn’t a big deal, but still I shouldn’t let too much time go by. So off I went.

I loaded the car with the groceries and looked back to make sure I wasn’t backing into anyone coming in, and stepped on the brake when I was in position to go forward and the car sailed, I mean sailed backwards and I am thinking, “Oh, my God, I have stepped on the gas, not the brake.” And somehow I found the brake and stopped the car and the lot had emptied out a lot and I didn’t crash into another car, or pedestrian. I decided not to tell Ed because he would freak. I had an internal crisis, thinking, what on earth was wrong that I could make such a rookie mistake as not to know where my foot was? Maybe I was losing ability. Maybe life was over. Gaaa.

Yesterday I took the car again and every time I braked, the car shuddered. I told Ed about it and he said shuddering wasn’t a big deal and he would get it fixed. I still did not suspect anything.

Today he asked if I wanted to go to Loew’s with him and I said no because he looks at a lot of stuff of truly uninteresting parts and wires while I loiter in the aisle and check out the tattoos. And if I turn my head to look at a pricey appliance, he is gone as in nowhere and I have to hunt him down in this huge store. It just didn’t seem entertaining enough, although sometimes I do get a little action and that gives me a lift. So off he went and guess what? The brakes totally failed. Ed was smart enough to know it wasn't a lost foot, and he pulled the emergency brake. Then he tested it again and no brakes, so he drove to a repair shop nearby and stopped, using the emergency. It’s off-season so there wasn’t a lot of traffic. A mechanic drove him home.

Phew.

xx, Teal