Why I Was Late...THE RETURN!
Why I Was Late is back by popular demand, although I am sure you’re going to get bored with my reasons. To put this in perspective, I’ll tell you that from the last time I did one of these, I’ve probably been on time only 5 or 6 times. I know, it’s sad.
Since this is a special edition, I will roll two of these into one, since yesterday’s reason is far more interesting than today’s.
Why I Was Late - July 6, 2009
I woke up in a fine mood. Monday is my “late” day anyway, meaning I don’t have to be at work until 10, so getting there on time usually isn’t a problem. I had a stack of “business” to take care of between 8:00 and 10:00, and was excited about getting it done. First, I had to call our tax lady, because I got a notice from the IRS stating that we made a mistake on our 2007 return, and as a result, owe them $1207 - yikes! I checked the return against what they sent, and it appeared that we completely forgot to include one of Q’s W-2s (we had a bunch that year, because he was clerking at different firms). Anyway, I wanted to make sure the tax lady didn’t have it. She didn’t. Bummer. The good news is that you can take care of this online, which is faster than mailing it in, and waiting for them to cash the check.
Next, I had to call the car wash Q drove through in my new car on Sunday, because as he was about to exit, while waiting for the blowers to dry the car, one of them came down and hit the hood pretty hard, chipping the paint, and denting the hood a little. When he got out of the car to discuss it with the attendant, the attendant said that the chip/dent must have been there before ! entered the car wash, and that there was no way the blower could have made that dent, because it’s plastic. Apparently it’s routine for the blower to hit all the cars (I can’t imagine no one else has complained about this). Since it was a Sunday afternoon, and the owner wasn’t there, Q had no choice but to leave. I called Monday morning to speak with the manager, who told me that if the attendant said the blower didn’t do the damage, it didn’t do the damage. He trusts the attendant, who’s been working with that car wash for the past 10 years. I explained that our car is brand new - less than 1 month old (we don’t even have a license plate yet!). He said that it didn’t matter, and that the chip must have been there before Q entered the wash yesterday, and that there was nothing he could do for me. I assured him again that that chip had not been there. I also reminded him that the blower in HIS car wash came down and HIT the front of my car. No response. I asked to speak with the owner, and the man on the phone informed me that he was the owner. I told him that I didn’t understand how someone could operate a business this way, and he said that that’s how he operates his business, and said again that there was nothing he could do for me, then hung up the phone. (Here’s the part you’re going to like): My pregnancy emotions got the best of me and I started crying. Not just crying, sobbing. It was ridiculous. I called Q and the receptionist must have thought something was really wrong, because she’s never transferred me that quickly. Naturally, Q freaked out when he heard me, because he thought something was wrong with the baby or that I had been hurt. Anyway, I explained the situation to him and he tried to calm me down, he also said that he’d send a letter. We’ll see how that goes. By this point, I knew I was going to be late, but I had no time to get myself together before 10:00, so I emailed the other leads and Mills, and told them I was kind of emotional, and that I’d been in as soon as I could. Mills called me back and asked what was wrong. I was still crying, so after telling him that he was going to punch me in the face for how silly this was, I choked out the story. He didn’t punch me in the face (and assured me he wouldn’t) but he was surprised at how upset I was about the whole thing. I was just so angry!! I can’t stand it when people lie/deny things that are true (it reminds me of this time in high school when a lady backed into my car in a parking lot, then claimed that I hit her - my parking brake was on)!
After I pulled my self together, wiped the mascara tears off my face, and changed outfits (I couldn’t wear the same outfit because I thought it would be associated with the morning and make the rest of the day bad), I left home and decided to just go and get the estimate to figure out how much this chip is going to cost. $388.26 (you should see how small the chip is! $388 seems nuts). I ended up getting to work at 1:00. Hopefully, the letter will work, and the owner will accept responsibility, but who knows? In the meantime, if you live in the BR area, DO NOT GO TO LAROUGE AUTOSPA ON JEFFERSON HWY! They are jerks, and the blower will fall on your car.
Why I Was Late - July 7, 2009
It was one of those rainy mornings where it doesn’t seem as late as it is, and since I haven’t been sleeping very well, and didn’t last night, it was pretty easy to snooze for about 30 minutes. Q brought me breakfast in bed (poached eggs, wheat toast with raspberry/rhubarb jam, and a banana), which was lovely, so I spent a good 20 minutes enjoying that before I made myself get up. By then, it was already 7:20, and I’m supposed to leave for work at 8:15. I knew it wasn’t going to happen, so I took my time getting ready, did some laundry, and checked my email. I responded to a few emails about the class reunion (somehow I got suckered into organizing), then got dressed. I texted Tiph and Bailey and told them I’d be in for 9:30. I was. (See, boring)!!!
