At Least The Mariners Won

Friday night I had tickets for the Mariners-Sox game, and Karen agreed to go with me, so we could "sort some things out". Before I continue, I should mention that a Mariners game is the perfect setting for a date. It's guaranteed to be at least three hours long, during which you can either delve deep into conversation, or, if things are going poorly, completely ignore your date in favor of the game and not appear rude. I recommend having dinner beforehand, and if things go well, drinks afterward. That is today's advice. And now, on with the show.

There's been a serious rift in my relationship with Karen. It started when I was stuck in Kazakhstan last year. Her birthday came and went, and naturally, she heard nothing from me. Then our one year anniversary came and went, and she heard nothing from me. Then about a month later I reappeared and wanted to pick things up like nothing had happened, and that sort of thing doesn't fly, especially when the reasons you give are specious at best.

The party line was that I was running a tour of Cambodia. When I didn't come home at the appointed time, the cover story was that André got sick and I had taken over a hiking expedition to the Himilayas, and this is what they fed to Karen when she got concerned and called. So now I got back from Kazakhstan three months later, and the first accusation is that work is more important than she is.

Fact is... work is more important than she is, but not the work that she thinks I do. So it's a no-win situation. I tried what I could to make it up to her... we spent a week in the Caribbean and I thought things were patched up, but then I went away again to "Thailand", and that set her off again.

So we spent a good deal of the Mariners game airing out our issues (well, mostly her issues, followed by my lies), and the rest of the game not talking at all. Then we had a nice awkward car ride back that lasted about an hour, because of the asinine traffic rerouting they do around Safeco after games.

I'm not really comfortable talking about this, so I apologize if it sounds rambling, but the long and the short of it is that not only did she decide that we're no longer "an item", but she has no interest in being friends or ever actually seeing me again. Personally, I think that's a bit childish, but sometimes that's the way things are.

Sometimes the heart remains a child.