i originally started this tile as an audio book on cd when i left california to drive home to north carolina two years ago. one hour in to the trip i finished the first cd and was ravenous for the second but when i hit eject, over and over, the first wouldn’t budge from the in-dash cd player.

had i known then of a captive bolt pistol i wouldn’t have needed a coin toss to determine if my car stereo deserved it.

from the author: i agreed with him that there wasn’t a whole lot good you could say about old age. he said he knew one thing. i said what was that. it don’t last long. i waited for him to smile but he didn’t