Anatomy of a Day
I started my day with prayer. Whoa. It's a good thing I did.
Have you ever had a day when everything you did went wrong, in some small way? No? I often work so hard on a small task that should have taken a few minutes - even seconds - because some little thing goes wrong. My mantra is, "There's no such thing as a five minute job."
The morning went well, really. Except for my stomach growling in the accreditation meeting, sitting next to Deputy Bill who, of course, heard me and snickered. It took a turn for the worse around lunch time. I had on my calendar that an off site meeting was to begin at 12:30. I carted a box of manuals to my car, then across a parking lot and down a flight of stairs to an empty meeting room. Beautiful. Came back an hour later (box of manuals in tow) when the meeting really started. Ten minutes into the meeting, I began to cough uncontrollably and had to recover in the rest room. Cool.
I got to share in the meeting how our agency stumbled through an emergency drill, which felt like presenting roadkill on lead crystal.
I went home, changed, and went to my truck. I was supposed to be at a friend's house to help her move at 6:00 p.m. At 5:50 I discovered my rear passenger tire was nearly flat. So, I drove carefully (like it matters, really) to the gas station to get air. Just as I pulled in the driveway, another vehicle pulled up to the air pump ahead of me. I parked near the pump and waited. I counted my change: 40 cents. I looked at the pump: 50 cents. Crap. But wait! The gentleman was kind enough to hand me the hose while the compressor was still running. I gratefully and eagerly pulled the hose over to my vehicle - but NO. Stopped short because the hose wouldn't reach to my tire. I quickly hopped back in the truck, moved it close to the pump, and actually got my tire about half full before the compressor shut off. Whew.
I went to my friend's house, and it was RAINING. The other folks helping her needed a tarp to protect her stuff loaded in the truck, so I ran home to get mine. I pulled them out of the attic, hurried back, and returned to find the truck had left. Beautiful. No worries though - I got busy hauling stuff with the Ginster and her Amazing Man.
We filled our vehicles, proud of our industry, then realized we didn't know where the new apartment was, and had no way to contact the others. Eventually we figured out where to go, and took our vehicles there - only to find that the first truck had returned and we had no access to the apartment.
So, we headed back. We connected with the rest of the group (no tears, please), loaded another two trucks, and took them back to the apartment. Things were looking good. We were getting the trucks unloaded in lightning speed!! Then, Mary Beth asked me to get something out of my truck. I thought to myself, "Self, why take the elevator when you can take the stairs?" And like an idiot I took the stairs. I ended up on a floor I shouldn't have been on, so ended up taking an exit door and walking clear around the apartment complex - cheered on by bored male apartment dwellers with nothing better to do but lean on their air conditioners and comment on my stride - to my truck. At dusk.
I've been home now for over an hour, and nothing has happened yet. Not that it's too late. Anyway, it was all very fun, and a great exercise in patience and comedy.
Have you ever had a day when everything you did went wrong, in some small way? No? I often work so hard on a small task that should have taken a few minutes - even seconds - because some little thing goes wrong. My mantra is, "There's no such thing as a five minute job."
The morning went well, really. Except for my stomach growling in the accreditation meeting, sitting next to Deputy Bill who, of course, heard me and snickered. It took a turn for the worse around lunch time. I had on my calendar that an off site meeting was to begin at 12:30. I carted a box of manuals to my car, then across a parking lot and down a flight of stairs to an empty meeting room. Beautiful. Came back an hour later (box of manuals in tow) when the meeting really started. Ten minutes into the meeting, I began to cough uncontrollably and had to recover in the rest room. Cool.
I got to share in the meeting how our agency stumbled through an emergency drill, which felt like presenting roadkill on lead crystal.
I went home, changed, and went to my truck. I was supposed to be at a friend's house to help her move at 6:00 p.m. At 5:50 I discovered my rear passenger tire was nearly flat. So, I drove carefully (like it matters, really) to the gas station to get air. Just as I pulled in the driveway, another vehicle pulled up to the air pump ahead of me. I parked near the pump and waited. I counted my change: 40 cents. I looked at the pump: 50 cents. Crap. But wait! The gentleman was kind enough to hand me the hose while the compressor was still running. I gratefully and eagerly pulled the hose over to my vehicle - but NO. Stopped short because the hose wouldn't reach to my tire. I quickly hopped back in the truck, moved it close to the pump, and actually got my tire about half full before the compressor shut off. Whew.
I went to my friend's house, and it was RAINING. The other folks helping her needed a tarp to protect her stuff loaded in the truck, so I ran home to get mine. I pulled them out of the attic, hurried back, and returned to find the truck had left. Beautiful. No worries though - I got busy hauling stuff with the Ginster and her Amazing Man.
We filled our vehicles, proud of our industry, then realized we didn't know where the new apartment was, and had no way to contact the others. Eventually we figured out where to go, and took our vehicles there - only to find that the first truck had returned and we had no access to the apartment.
So, we headed back. We connected with the rest of the group (no tears, please), loaded another two trucks, and took them back to the apartment. Things were looking good. We were getting the trucks unloaded in lightning speed!! Then, Mary Beth asked me to get something out of my truck. I thought to myself, "Self, why take the elevator when you can take the stairs?" And like an idiot I took the stairs. I ended up on a floor I shouldn't have been on, so ended up taking an exit door and walking clear around the apartment complex - cheered on by bored male apartment dwellers with nothing better to do but lean on their air conditioners and comment on my stride - to my truck. At dusk.
I've been home now for over an hour, and nothing has happened yet. Not that it's too late. Anyway, it was all very fun, and a great exercise in patience and comedy.
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