What a CRAPPY day I’m having!

It started off by having to get up earlier than normal to be at the office earlier than normal.

Normal on a day like today would be getting to the office around 8:20 a.m. by the time I dropped Chocoholic off at her school (She STILL hasn’t learned to drive manual transmission yet!). Today, I was supposed to be AT THE OFFICE between seven and seven-thirty just in case there were any problems caused by the vendor patch application the night before. In spite of getting up early, we do not get out of the house early enough.

Okay, so we get to the subway parking lot by about 7:40 a.m. First, I drop a two-nie on the ground, and have to open up the car door to retrieve it. Do you have any idea how difficult that is when you’ve driven up to the gate with just enough room to be able to reach out the window to deposit your coins without having to get out of the car in the first place?

Okay, so I retrieve my coin and deposit it in the machine. I deposit a second coin (total parking fee = $4), but it doesn’t seem to go in properly and the gate doesn’t open. So I jostle the machine, and push the Coin Return Button, but no coin comes out. And the gate doesn’t open. So I deposit another coin. The gate STILL doesn’t open.

Okay, so I back up and go to the next entrance gate. I deposit my two coins (total cost so far is $10!) but this gate does not open either. So I have Chocoholic get out and push up the end of the gate so I can sneak by. It’s NOT illegal; I’ve already paid more than my fair share!

This certainly puts me in a bad mood. What a way to start the day…

We walk to the subway and I kiss Chocoholic goodbye. At this point she is likely to miss the bus she needed to catch, but what can I do? I’m already later than I was supposed to be.

Okay, so I get to the office, and of course there were no problems. Next mission is to get to my ten o’clock dentist appointment on time. I leave the office with plenty of time, but OF COURSE the subway decides it wants to have a problem and I wait at the subway station for an extra 10 minutes. By the time I finally get downtown, I’m at least 10 minutes late for my appointment.

Okay, so I have my dental cleaning, and of course there are no problems. My next stop is my company’s office to check out the new digs and to visit with my former boss. I get there, but I’m told “he’s not in the office today.” Hmmm, he told ME he would be there. Oh, well. No biggie.

Next mission is to walk to the Passport Office to submit Chocoholic‘s passport application. She’s going on a cruise with her mother as XXXmas Time, and doesn’t have a current passport. I get in line for the PRE-SCREENING window, which takes about a half-hour to get to the front. The woman pre-screens Chocoholic‘s application, and rejects it. ONE: The pictures are no good; there’s too much shadow on the face. TWO: The Date of Birth is not filled in. THREE: There’s no signature. FOUR: I don’t have her Proof of Citizenship (aka Birth Certificate) with me. At least this saves me an additional wait of over an hour to get to the actual application window. She’ll just have to get the problems fixed and get herself to the passport office to wait in line herself. Sorry, I tried.

Okay, so I head back on to the street for my next destination: Fight that damned parking ticket that I got when we were out on Chocoholic‘s Birthday that I never should have gotten anyway. The time on the machine said 17:24 even though it was actually 18:42. Not only did I get immediately burned for 1.5 hours of parking, but because it said it was before 6:00 p.m., I couldn’t put more than two hours of time on the machine.

It was Lunch Time by then, so on my way back across downtown, I stop into the food court and grab a nice, healthy Fit For Life pita sandwich. That’s one of the things I miss about working downtown… lots of choice for lunch, and lots of opportunities to shop (or deliver newsletters or chapbooks) after work. Back on the street, I cross paths with my old boss, who contrary to previous opinion actually IS in the office today, or at least will be soon. He is having a similarly eventful day today, too.

Okay, so I head back to the office with him, get the grand tour of the new facilities. It kind of smacks largely of Dilbert. Scary. I visit with my boss, “go for coffee” (which means HE has a couple of cigarettes, and then we get the coffee/tea/beverage).

Eventually, I get back on the road and go to the Parking Tag Office to dispute this stupid ticket. The result? I have to fill out a form, they took a photocopy of my documents, they will have someone check the records of the department that actually maintains the parking meter machines, see if there has been any maintenance done or other complaints, and then they will mail me the results in a week or two. Oh, and by the way, “do you want to set a Trial Date now, just in case?” I reply, “No. I don’t want to set a Trial Date. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

Okay, so they are officious idiots, but no problem worth worrying about right now. So I walk back to the subway so I can go back to MY office and maybe, just maybe, get something accomplished today. I pay my fare, get on the subway at St. Andrew Station, sit down and start working on my crossword puzzle to pass the time. The subway gets to St. George Station, so I get out and go to catch the cross-town train. I get on the train, sit down and continue to work on my puzzle. A little while later, I suddenly realize that I’M ON THE WRONG TRAIN! I’m going EASTbound, not WESTbound as I need to be. I get out at Pape Station, cross over to the other platform, and eventually get on the correct train.

BY THIS TIME, I’m pretty much bagged out. And the day isn’t over yet!

This evening, we have a Professional Organizer coming over to help with ensure Domestic Harmony at Xoozland. I’m ALSO supposed to be playing trivia tonight, and have discovered that I’ve been identified as Acting Captain. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get to the game in time, and if I do make it to the game what condition my brain is going to be in at that point.

Hey, things could be worse.

BTW, I could have done some “lj-cuts” on the above, but I figure “FRICK IT!” I’m not having a good day; why should you??? teeheehee