Wednesday, January 21, 2004

• Good day at work today. Mr. S left me alone and I got a lot of things done. I love days when he just lets me do my thing. You'd think he'd notice how much more productive I am when he doesn't have his paws on everything, but he doesn't.

   

  All was well until 4:45 when he hadn't showed up to sign the paychecks yet. I had made a bunch of auto-withdrawal payments for insurance, cable, phone, etc. over the weekend, knowing that I'd get paid today. Actually, it was supposed to be yesterday, but since the banks were closed anyway, I didn't bother cutting the payroll checks until today, with everyone's blessing. Payroll was complicated this time because of the missed time we all had due to the storm, and Mr. S didn't even talk to me about it until 4:30 yesterday, and I told him I'd rather wait to do it since I knew he'd keep me at least 30 minutes late.

   

  Anyway, I assumed he'd sign the checks early today (he won't do direct deposit for some odd reason), but he didn't get to it until late. He called me at 2:45 and said he'd be coming over soon, and then he never showed up.

   

  Now, I know I should have a bunch of savings in the bank and all, but I don't. I live paycheck to paycheck. I wish I didn't, but I do. I try to sock away my writing money for emergencies, but they seem to come up pretty often so there's rarely anything in the coffers. So I needed to get to the bank, because I had a few hundred dollars' worth of electronic payments coming out of my account tonight, and only a few dollars in there.

   

  I called Mr. S at 4:30 and told him I really needed to get to the bank by 5 p.m. For some reason, US Bank closes at 5 instead of 6, except for the branches they have inside the Albertson's stores. Those branches close at 7. The branch about a quarter of a mile from the office and right on my way home closes at 5. If I don't get there in time, I have to go way out of my way to get to the bank. It easily adds an hour to my evening.

   

  He assured me he'd be there in time. I called him back at 4:45 and he bitched me out because he was on an important phone call and I'd interrupted him. I begged him to hurry up and come to the office (something that doesn't happen often) and he said he would.

  
  I called him again at 4:53. He said he was leaving "in a couple minutes." His house is close to the office, but not that close. I knew I wasn't going to make it to the bank and I was pissed. He procrastinates, I'm screwed, he doesn't care.

   

  He came in at 5:00. "They stay open until 5:05 so you should be fine."

   

  "No, they don't," I said. I've convinced one of the tellers to take my check even after they've closed, but I didn't think I'd be able to do it tonight.

   

  The bastard actually seemed annoyed that I was annoyed.

   

  He signed my check, I ran out of the office and sped to the bank on the off chancwe they hadn't locked the doors yet. They had.

   

  I went to pick up the dog, and then started out to the Albertson's branch. I had to go to the bank before I picked up the kids, which is another matter entirely, but it was important that I go to the bank first. Even worse, I had almost no gas in my car. I wasn't even sure I could make it.

   

  I made it to the bank (the one thing that went right was that I didn't run out of gas) in terrible traffic in only 40 minutes. I normally would already be home with my feet up by then.

   

  I had to wait in a long line, got gas, and drove back to get the kids. I was five minutes late picking them up and we didn't get home until about 6:15. I'm still mad.

   

  Mack had basketball practice tonight, so she didn't have time to eat. I told her I'd drive her through Taco Bell on the way home. She was thrilled.

   

  We went to practice and stopped at Taco Bell. I pulled up to the speaker and as I did, heard this strange sound. I hoped it wasn't what I thought it was. I ordered and pulled forward.

   

  What I'd heard was all the air leaving my left rear tire. It was completely flat by the time we got to the window. I pulled to the parking lot and debated about whether or not to call for roadside assistance or just change the tire myself. The Taco Bell is across the street from a tire shop, but they were closed. In my experience it takes forever to get a tow truck and it was already after 9:00, so I changed it myself, and damned fast, too. There are few things I hate more than jacking up a car. No one stopped to help, but a lot of people slowed down to look.

   

  We got home a bit before 10, and I just finished watching the American Idol tape from tonight. I just can't believe people. I know some of them are fake and a lot of them are just clowning around, but there are people (and apparently a lot of them) who seem not to grasp that there are actually notes on the page and that each note has a unique sound and should sound the same every single time. I can't sing at all, but I'm fully aware that I can't sing at all.

   

  A couple of years ago I went to some Little League tournament and the umpire sang the national anthem. I thought, "oh, cool, the umpire's going to sing." As it turns out, not so much. This woman did not hit one note in the whole song, and she went on and on and on. It was so weird to me that she didn't seem to know that there's a right way to sing that song. American Idol strikes me the same way. Why they think they can sing is an absolute mystery to me.

   

  I've got to get up early to get my car to the tire shop. It's close enough to my office that I can walk in from there. Hope it doesn't rain...

  • 12:44 AM
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