1/25/2012 – Maui, HI

What an awesome day except my close brush with becoming a murder. My weapon. My breath.

“Yikes,” I think. “Fine,” I reply. I can just casually sit in the car while he decides if he wants a new project. 20-minutes later John appears at the car window. “I am going to push it home, can you give Greg a lift back to his apartment? He seems like a nice enough guy.” I agreed. Greg looked nice enough.
                
“Okay,” I reply hesitantly. Greg hopped into the front seat, leans toward me and looks me directly in the face saying “hi, nice to meet you”. I mumble a greeting back, roll down all 4 windows, drive to the main road and hit the gas. Indeed Greg is a super nice guy who loves to make lots of eye contact. Driving gave me an excuse to keep my eyes forward but I often wondered if he noticed me holding my breath the few times I looked in his direction, while futilely talking towards the open window. If feasible to bottle my garlic-ridden breath, hardened criminals would plead guilty during interrogation and cough up the grizzly details of their crimes to the police with nothing more than a promise to recap the container. Hair whizzing about as we drove, I hoped for no red lights during this 3-mile stretch. Thankfully only one caught me. In route, Greg learned I love to read and offered to give me a Steinbeck book he finished. He might have been near delirium at this point. While tempted, and pondering if I could use my newly discovered secret weapon to say obtain a horse, I just knew sitting in the warm car while he ran to get it would turn the vehicle into a gas chamber. I visualized him sticking his head through the passenger window to hand me my new read, hitting the fumes and expiring half in, half out my vehicle. It would be so hard to explain to the police without putting them at risk too. Neither a book nor pony was worth it. I declined.

I met our new neighbor Greeny yesterday.