It's a cipher!

This week so far has had a nice share of ups and downs.

For starters, the good.

Samir visited on Saturday for to spend a fun filled weekend in Orlando. Between playing trivia games at the local bar with friends and taking pictures with cardboard cutouts, we watched National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets. Admittedly, I like some bad movies, I really do. The thing is, this wasn't bad! Sure I fell asleep within the first twenty minutes and had to be given a very detailed plot synopsis after waking up. Sure half way through I questioned why finding a cave with gold in it will prove that the Gate's relative is innocent. Regardless of all that, I did enjoy it. Nick Cage's acting was on par (meaning, it was exactly like every other role). Diane Kruger was beautiful (Hunter has a bit of a crush on her), but given the worst, mundane and repetitive lines, such as "We're trapped! There's no way out!" Justin Bartha was pointless, but amusing and adorable the entire time. And Helen Mirren, the queen herself, clearly was desperate for another role after her Academy Award winning performance and found the first one where she could look a bit, er, buxom.

National Treasure was what The Da Vinci Code should have been. Ridiculously fun and full of codes and ciphers that no one could possibly figure out. As one who revels in historical trivia and facts, I delved myself in, believing every word. I could only wish to be as smart as the fictional characters one day. I guess, until then, I'll have to make up my own mystery to solve.

And now, the bad.

Monday, while driving to work, my tire exploded. Thankfully, it wasn't as scary as it sounds. I'll explain.

A few years ago while heading back up to Tallahassee from Orlando, my car's tire blew while I was driving on the interstate, going close to 80mph. It was by far one of the scariest things I've ever been through. I was in the far left lane when I lost control, swerved over to the right (somehow not hitting any cars) and flew into grass. Not knowing what was going on, I held tight to my steering wheel and repeated in my head "this is when you die." Needless to say, I did not die. I almost fainted though. Twice. Skip ahead a few months later when the same thing happened again, only that time I was prepared. I heard the familiar whistling sound and slowly merged to the right. Just as I heard the pop, I glided my car safely to the side of the road. That time I avoided fainting (however did not avoid crying).

So on Monday while driving around 65mph and listening to This American Life, I heard the whistling. Growling increasingly worried, I merged to the right just as the tire popped. Safely, I stopped my car on the grass and calmed myself down. Thankfully I had AAA which took close to two hours to find me. After getting my spare put on, I called into work and took the day off, knowing that purchasing new tires is more important than writing content for my company. Several hours (and dollars) later, my car was fixed and I was on my way. Of course as soon as I stepped outside to examine and test out my new tires it started to rain. Such is life.

It's sad that my fun weekend was foiled by my frightening Monday. But I suppose there's always the rest of the week to make up for it, right?