“Ahhh hell, here he comes looking for a handout.” Max's charity ended at feeling sorry for the homeless, not giving them money. “Change, change, change” Max chanted to the red light. The homeless man slowly put one uneasy foot in front of the other and continued on his path toward Max. Green light. Max, feeling only elation, stepped on the accelerator and sped off towards the on ramp to interstate seventy.

The engine responded and the needle on his speedometer started to move from thirty five to forty. Max leaned into the curve and then straightened out the truck preparing to merge onto the highway. The speedometer now read fifty five mile per hour. Max would soon be hitting eighty as he passed the all too familiar exits, Sheridan, Federal, Pecos, and finally, what Coloradoans called, the 'Mouse Trap'. This was where the two major interstates came together in one snarling mess where a single accident could bring all traffic to a halt. From here he could see the first rays of the sun starting to make their way over the horizon. Max turned the steering wheel of his truck so that he could merge onto the other highway, interstate twenty five, and head south.

"Braves six, Mets zero."

Max had a busy day planned, there was usually a full day of work to be done on a Friday before the long fourth of July weekend. Since Monday was a holiday he figured that most of his colleagues would be gone today extending their vacation. Less people around meant that he might actually get something accomplished.

"Astros four, D-backs one."

Max enjoyed his early morning drive to work. Sure there were other vehicles on the road, mostly trucks. Delivery trucks, Fed EX, UPS, Hostess, guys drinking coffee from large plastic travel mugs driving F150's with their companies name stenciled on the door. Contractors, subcontractors, and consultants he speculated. Who else would be up this early in the morning? Max was none of the above. He was a computer programmer for the MAC Corporation and just liked to get an early start to his day so that he could avoid some of the ever increasing traffic.