Clean out the neighbors' second story rain gutters then head south for an 11 a.m. tee time, stop on the way back for something greasy at the popular PrimeTime Saloon and Grill in Lydia. Fun. It's been in the plans for a week.
The phone rang at 8:12 a.m. today. It was Dudley. Plans have changed.
City crews are cutting trees across the street from his Minneapolis home. He hadn't noticed the No Parking signs last night. He sprang from the breakfast table to beg the tow truck operator. Any reality tv "Parking Wars" fan knows that this is no easy task, but somehow Dudley prevailed on the operator to back off and tow the neighbor car instead.
Relieved that his Big Day had been salvaged, Dudley went to move his black SUV and comply with the tree-cutters wishes. What! He discovered his next problem. Someone had smashed his window, broken in and damaged the steering column in a failed attempt to steal his car. He called the cops. Upon their arrival, he learned that a neighbor's car had been stolen, presumably by the same loser who failed to take Dudley's SUV.
That brought out the big CSI van from the Minneapolis Police Dept.. Crime Scene Investigators spent an hour carefully dusting Dudley's car for prints, the assumption being that the loser may have been stupid enough to leave clues on one vehicle before stealing the other.
Dudley (Andrew Sampson) was in amazingly good spirits today, considering. We'll try again Friday. Right now he's somehow driving to Blaine, to get a new steering column, his window taped in plastic, flapping in the wind.
A Big Day, yes, but not exactly as planned.
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| Andrew "Dudley" Sampson (left) with friends Ted and Marcy. He's still smiling today. |
