The day started out somewhat as a nightmare. I was all prepared to go to work when the phone suddenly rang. Caller ID indicated that it was my mom calling from Sebree, KY. This is a bad sign since she is normally at work in Evansville by this time. Calm at first, she tells me that my brother is in jail. Arrested for DUI and open-container. Then the other sandbags began to hit her as she spoke some more: he was in the minivan (her only means to get to work) when he was arrested, the tire had blown out, no money to bail him out, grandparents flying in from Florida today, woman-at-work's going away party. By this time she was in tears, and I couldn't blame her. I have had a couple days that seemed this bad before. I calmed her down a little, told her I would come and help her get things sorted and left shortly thereafter.

The entire way there I could only think about my brother being in jail. I was so furious, as I just had this mental scene in my head of a COPS-like situation with him on the side of the main road in Sebree. My brother has a terrible temper when he is sober, I can't imagine seeing him drunk. He really needs to realize what a pain-in-the-ass he is being.

I picked mom up in Sebree and we proceeded to find the minivan, which luckily was still in the parking lot where he was pulled over with the keys in the ignition. The front passenger-side tire was blown, and luckily the donut was still mounted under the minivan. I changed the tire, which took me a good 45 minutes using the flimsy jack and tire iron that were at my disposal. After the tire was changed, I followed mom to a gas station so she could put some gas in the van so that she could get to Evansville and have a used tire put on. While she filled up, I stopped at the Integra Bank in Sebree and withdrew $350 dollars to give to her. My brother's bond is $280.

I did not want to go to the jail and "free" my brother, because I would not be able to look at him in a cell, knowing what he had done wrong and be his savior. I felt that it was important for him to at least sober up and be there long enough to be miserable and reflect a little bit. I told mom that she would have to get him out, because I wouldn't be able to control my anger about it all. She decided to go straight to work, because money is tight, and worry about him later. I supported that decision. She was going to try to bail him out sometime this evening, if it is possible.

Damn, what a day.