One of those days… again

A few weeks ago it was Monday. Looking back, that Monday was a piece of cake compared to this Wednesday.

Just warning you now, this is going to be a full blown rant so find something else to do quick if you don’t want to hear my complaining.

Oh, you’re still here? Ok then, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

I think instead of trying to detail everything that has gone wrong, I’ll just give you a little timeline of my day up until the present (so far the most satisfying part of my Wednesday).

First of all, today was supposed to be a great day. My office is having a holiday party at a local wine tasting place after work, and significant others were invited- a rare thing these days. And on top of that, Brian has an engagement shoot in the city that ends right before the party begins. Perfect! Or so I thought.

I woke up to rain this morning. I knew it was supposed to rain, but I’m talking buckets, the cat and the dog, and the horse, cow, and chickens. Brian was still sleeping, but the stupid dog woke up and thought it would be fun to run around the bedroom and play. So I ran after him trying to shut him up since Brian already hates the dog…

After quietly getting ready, I was almost out the door by the time I realized the cardigan I put on with my dress had some weird washing-machine created stain all the way down one side of the front. Awesome. My outfit was already ruined by the fact that I had to wear flats instead of heels. Did I ever mention that I sprained my ankle pretty badly last week? Yep, go me. Heels + bad ankle in a brace = not a good idea.

So, I head out the door, new cardigan on under my coat (the same coat that caused Monday’s problems). I get to the train station, fight the torrential downpour to get to these stupid little parking boxes where you pay the daily fee. Now, I had purposely counted just enough change to pay the $2 parking fee + the $2.25 bus fare from the train station to my office. Since I had exactly the amount of change I needed for the day, the parking machine decides to eat three quarters. So there I am, soaking wet, digging through my precious Filo for my debit card so I can pay the darn thing. And praying that too much water isn’t dripping onto the leather. Which I know it is.

After I get charged the $2 + the $.05 “convenience” fee for using a debit card, I rush to the station so I can get my tickets. The whole plan here was to grab the 8:16 express train, which gets me to the city in under 45 minutes. But of course Miss I’m-going-to-take-my-sweet-ass-time gets in front of me at the ticket kiosk as the train pulls in. Once she FINALLY walked away, I tried to rush and pay for my ticket, but the train started to pull away as soon as I walked out the door. But of course the other chick just barely got on board. Sense the bitterness?

Destined to wait for the 8:28 non-express train, which takes about 1h15 instead of 45 minutes, I stepped into the bathroom to wipe down the Filo. Yeah, I’m that obsessed. I looked in the mirror and realized I looked awful. I’m talking looking like I had just used my hair to mop a floor awful. Fortunately, a few bobby pins and hair ties later, I was set to go and jumped on the 8:28 train.

The ride was pretty uneventful, other than the obligatory obnoxious riders (I’m talking to you, Mr. loud-business-conversations-on-his-cell-phone-in-a-crowded-traincar guy). That, and I noticed that a bit of water had dripped onto my Kindle’s power switch. I held my breath as I turned it on, but so far all seems to be well. So far.

The insanity ensued when I got off the train. The bus, which I had never taken before, did not in fact have a stop where my phone’s map said it should. When I asked someone where the #60 picked up, they kindly let me know that it was three blocks in the opposite direction of where I was trying to go. Wonderful. I knew that I wasn’t going backwards, so I started walking to work. This walk is under a mile and I usually love it, but not so much when it is pouring and I know Brian will kill me if he finds out I walked that far on a bad ankle.

Fortunately, I accidentally found the exact bus stop I was looking for about a block into my walk. Which just goes to show that I shouldn’t trust the direction of strangers. I figured a fellow bus driver might know the routes, but what do I know?

I finally got to work, and only 15 minutes late at that! Not too bad, until I get a call from the organization we are partnering with for an upcoming production. An organization we’ve been planning with for weeks, months really. This time I spoke with the technical director, who needed to know stage requirements. Which wasn’t a problem, since I had them on hand. Except that he didn’t know when the event was, or what it was about. This isn’t sounding too promising if our partner organization can’t even communicate internally.

After I got off the phone with him, I called a catering company on said partner’s “approved catering list.” A list is a joke, really, since half of the websites don’t exist and the other half don’t even have websites. While I am all for small businesses, I really don’t want an event (where donors and potential donors will be present) catered by Uncle Steve out of his basement. So I called the most promising company on the list. And got put on hold. Three times. When I called I specifically asked for the contact on the sheet I was given, but had two other employees say they could help me. After explaining myself twice, they both said they would get someone who could help. Turns out the person who could help was the person I had asked for when I called 20 minutes ago. I’ll admit the woman was very helpful, and said she would put an estimate together for me with our budget in mind. She said she would fax it or email it over. When I explained that no one had taken my fax or email, she said she would put me on hold and someone would be on shortly to get my details. There I sat on hold for another at least 10 minutes until I hung up. She can either be smart enough to call me back with the number I called on, or fail to get me my estimate. Either way, I guarantee we will not be using their services.

Whew, this really turned into a rant, didn’t it? I really hate being this person, but I know that getting it all out does help. Unfortunately for you, I decided to post it for you all to suffer through instead of writing it on some scrap of paper somewhere. Lucky ducks, you are.

I’m hoping the rest of my day gets better from here. Brian is on his way to the city, and he’ll meet me at my office afterwards. He’s bringing the present we got for my boss, which I’m really excited about and hope he likes. Then, we’re headed off to a wine tasting party, after which Brian and I might go visit my step-sister who works at bar about a block away from the party. After this day, I might need a few extra drinks. But since B works night shifts the next two nights, I’m looking forward to spending tonight with him.

I’ve also been enjoying my first candy cane of the season while writing this, which always makes me happy. I’m not a big peppermint fan, so I opted for a SweetTart blue something or other flavored one. Which made me realize that my tongue is probably looking quite colorful at this point. A quick check in the mirror confirmed it, I’ve got a bright blue mouth. Impressive color, really, except not when I have a few more hours at work and a few more hours after that before I get home.

Let’s hope the toothbrush and toothpaste I keep in my desk drawer comes to the rescue…