8:05:  Manage to get off southbound Tollway, flip a u-ee (youee? youie? yhouie? yowee?) onto northbound to get to westbound Bush Turnpike, which will take me on to the airport.  By now, the hope of breakfast, even on the go, is pretty much trashed.

8:30:  Having semi-successfully navigated through morning rush hour, I arrive at the airport.  Deathknyte calls from his cell.  I gape at my cell, having realized in horror that his flight, having been scheduled to touch down at 8:50, is 20 minutes early.  "I'm just getting here", I tell him, "and I still need to get the car.  Gimme about thirty minutes."

8:45:  Spend 15 minutes driving twice around Car Return, looking for the ()#@#$%^!!!!! rental area.  Finally get it through my thick-assed head (from no breakfast and no coffee) that I missed the initial turn for Rental and have to go back.

8:50:  Arrive at Car Rental.  Observe all the @*%(!)%*@!!!! "two-hour-towing-enforced" parking spaces.  Have small warning bell go off in back of head.  Proceed to Avis counter.  "Hi, I have a reservation."

"Certainly, sir, we've been expecting you."

"Good deal.  Listen, my car's out there, is there going to be a problem?"

"Unfortunately, yes sir - that's airport property; we  don't even get to park out there; they'll tow us..."

8:56:  Bang head repeatedly on rental counter.

"Sir, we can have someone follow you over to the remote lot, where it's only six dollars a day..."

8:57:  Roll eyes at the abject greed on the part of the DFW Airport Board.  "Yeah, guess that'll have to do, I s'pose."

"Okay, sir, it'll be just a couple of minutes."

9:15:  Roughly 20 minutes and a grouse at the rental agent later, a lackey finally comes with my vehicle.  The plan is for him to follow me into the remote lot, where I will leave my car, take said lacky back to the rental counter and continue on to pick up my passengers.  We proceed to said lot.

9:20:  Arrive at remote lot.  One of the two ticket lanes is occupied by a middle-aged female in an aiport courtesy car.  The other lane is open.  Get ticket.

9:35:  Realize that there are no open spaces whatsoever in the lot.  Drive to the exit to complain to the attendant.

"Well, the lady over there was supposed to be out telling people we are full..."

9:38:  Go and relay this message to the lackey, send several  threatening glares to the bimbo who wasn't doing her job, and proceed to the terminal to park my car.

10:25:  Return lackey to the counter, pick up DK and Krondax, and start out for Austin.

10:26:  DK asks, "Did you remember to bring Delftsman's gun?"

10:26:05:  Shit, shit, shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit...!!!

10:40:05:  Turn onto toll road for the final leg of the journey back to SpatulaCentral.

10:42:15:  Pull up to toll booth.  Since I'm not in my trusty little Spatulamobile, and don't have my tolltag, pull into one of the "exact change" lanes.

10:42:25  Realize I don't have anything even remotely resembling "exact change".

10:42:30:  Complete the brain-fart moment and run the booth.  Receive incredulous stares from Deathknyte & Krondax.  "Dude, we had change..."  Endure howls of laughter from both DK & Krondax on remainder of journey.

10:55:  Arrive at SpatulaCentral, pick up Delfts' gun, suffer no further incidents.  (Well, not for that  leg, anyway.)

11:10:  Drive-through Whataburger for lunch, since my initial plans have been shot all to Hell™ by now.  Pay for onion rings, but don't receive them.  Grouse about it whilst munching on burgers & fries.

11:40:  Pit stop in Official Texas Rest Area™.  Continue to endure ribbing from DK & Krondax.  Resist temptation to shove them  out airlock.  Mournfully remember that in this vehicle, I don't have  an airlock.  Sigh.

11:50:  A little bit south of Waxahachie, observe construction starting.  Observe humongous traffic backup.  Begin more grousing.

11:50:10  Observe little sporty coupe on side of road.  Observe beautiful young lady standing by car, very much in distress.  Observe young lady crying, even from 50 feet away.

11:50:12:  Arrive at consensus that we have to go help her, 'cause no one else is even giving her a second thought.

11:51:  Spend next 30 minutes comforting young lady.  Diagnose car as being undriveable (she had been pushed off the road by a trucker who apparently didn't see her, and cracked an axle).

12:25:  Arrange with young lady's father that yes, we will cart her to their home in Waco.  Pile into safe, comfy SUV and take off.

1:10:  One pit stop for refreshments and Excedrin™ later, arrive in front of the Waco domecile.  Receive hugs & kisses all around from young lady - that's right, Denizens, even Deathknyte.  Cthulu help us all, I think we even got pictures.

(By the way, if you wanna see what this girl looks like, stop by the Kim Dawson web site and look up "Erica Mireles".  Yeah, she's that cute.

3:30:  Arrive in Austin without further incident, thank Maitreya.

The moral of the story?  Bad things happen to good people.  Yet God is still in control.  Things had to happen in just that sequence that day in order for the three of us to be in a position to offer Erica some assistance when she most desperately needed it.

The traffic jam on the Tollway, the trouble at the rental counter, the full remote parking lot, having forgotten Delfts' gun, even the quick timeout at the Whataburger - all of those dominoes had to fall just so in order for us to be right where God wanted us to be at that precise moment in time.

Erica turned out to be a believer in the "angels watching over me" precept.  And God sent her three of 'em, right when she most needed 'em.

So, even though it wasn't the smoothest of trips down, there was still good that came out of it.

Just like Romans 8:28 says.  Neat, huh?