Ever have one of those days when nothing, not a damned thing, goes right and then to top it all off, something really stupid, irritating, outrageous and any other word you want to toss in there happens?? That happened to me just a few days ago. I was even relaxing at the time, trying to slough everything off and enjoy a good book while having dinner. And even though I pretty much laughed off the pinnacle of the bad day at the time, later I was just plain old ticked off. 
What could have happened you ask? Every time I turned around, it was something. First I had to wrap up a few books I was going to mail out to some friends. I love to share my pastime when I can. But do you think I could find all of them on the first go-round of looking for them on the shelves, in the boxes, in the cupboards, or stacked on the desks and wherever else I have to stash them in this small townhouse? No. Of course not. Why should something so darned easy be easy? I go through every box before I find a couple of them, then through three cupboards to find a few more, a stack on the desk falls over when I go through those books. I trip over the stupid flap of a box I left out the night before. At least I didn’t fall on my ass, but it ticks me off even further just because. After a lot of cursing and muttering and yelling, I eventually found all the books, got them wrapped up and put in my nifty little American flag tote, and was finally ready to head out to do errands. Now, in Central California in the middle of August, it gets hot. Very hot. Sunshine galore. 115 degrees in the shade hot. This doesn’t bode well for running around doing errands. You end up drenched and tired as all get-out when you’re done, so you probably should have stayed home anyway.
Do ya think that even crossed my mind this particular day? You guessed it. And because I’m one who doesn’t want to make two or three trips to the car in my detached garage here in the complex, I load myself and my handy-dandy rolling thingamajig up and lug everything I’m going to need in one all-inclusive trip. It’s only 10 a.m. I’m already dripping just halfway to the garage. But I get the car loaded and am ready to take off. Then I remembered. I forgot something. In the house. So I trudge all the way the back, continuing to mutter that string of swearing I had started earlier. And adding a few extras for good measure. At last I’m in the car and I crank the air conditioning to high. Oh, that felt so goooooood! So good that I decide to start with my errand that’s furthest away, giving myself time to cool off and then later in the day when I’m finished with everything, I won’t be too far from my nice air conditioned home. A darned good plan if I do say so myself. My optimism, which I haven’t seen much of so far, is finally rising. You know the old saying I spoke too soon?
I actually thought things were going well after I got on the road and got the first few errands under my belt. Of course, if I was one to make a list of things I need to do I probably wouldn’t forget one or two. And drive right past where I need to be. So I cussed a little more after realizing I missed a stop. I heaved a big old sigh and decided to heck with it, I’ll just do it next week. By this time I expected my car to start smoking or just come to a chugging halt all together. It was one of those types of days. I hadn’t yet had lunch, so I was hungry on top of the irritation, which didn’t help one iota. One more final decision. Get the last couple of errands completed and then stop at my favorite Mexican place for my plate of taquitos to enjoy while I get back into Jill Shalvis’ book, Flashpoint, the new Harlequin Blaze I got when I met her at the RWA conference in San Francisco. I’d started it the night before, was really enjoying it, so figured this would be a nice way to end a really shitty day. Or so I thought.
I ordered my taquitos, my diet Pepsi, had my bowl of chips and salsa at the table, which I was thoroughly enjoying. Had my Shalvis propped open with my weighted bookmark (an absolute wonderful invention for readers!) and got lost in the story until my food came to the table. A good book, good food in an air conditioned place away from home for a couple of hours. Finally the day was coming to an enjoyable end. Then I picked up my diet Pepsi. You know what happened, dontcha? I grabbed in the wrong spot, the lid wasn’t on it tight, whatever the reason, the entire soda went all over everything. Including me. Including my autographed copy of Flashpoint. Of course, that was the first thing I saved! Forget my purse. Forget the food. I had to save my book. But it was too late. I could see the pages already warping, even though it was still wet. I knew what it would look like later when it was dry. So I took the towel the gal at the restaruant offered me, dried the cover of the book, dried the inside and outside of my purse, took everything to another table and waited for the new plate of food she kindly offered. Then I started to laugh. What else could I do? I opened my wet book, continued to read about a handsome hero and his beautiful heroine, eventually enjoyed my taquitos, and that was the end of my lousy day from hell. Thank god.
I’ve since finished Flashpoint. Enjoyed it a lot. Reviewed it and you’ll see it here tomorrow. My now crinkled copy of the book sits here next to me and sometimes I smile, sometimes I don’t. But it defintely reminds me how wrong things can go, whether you’re ready for it or not. What about you and that day you thought would never end? Do you have any reminders that will suddenly bring it back and make you glad it’s all over with and you hope to never see another day like it any time soon? Or do you laugh instead? Sometimes when I do happen to glance at my once-wet book, I get that irritated feeling at having lost it that way and I’m still pissed off!
License plate ninjas. That’s all I’m saying.
That was the vacation from hell ironically occured on Christmas weekend.
Sandy – sorry about the bad day. I’d have saved the book first as well, I think. You can try to press it flat… just use a stack of those billion books you have 😉
Oftentimes I just think “it could be worse.” One day my roommate bitched for 2 hours how she was so upset she wrote 100 not 110 on an envelope. (Sent to a major landmark so there was pretty much 0 chance it would get lost.) I refrained from telling her I’d been in a car accident earlier that day, so she could deal. I was supposed to go have dinner with a friend who was supposed to pick me up (because I had no car) – but she had to cancel because her cousin was just shot and killed. So – that really put things in perspective.
(Liv – I don’t get your comment… but don’t know if I want to 😛 Haha)
Thursday – I started the day by dropping a shampoo bottle on my ebookwise and smashing the screen. I’m in deep mourning. You can’t buy these in the UK and I miss it like a bff.
The cat got in a fight or something and a patch of fur was torn out.
I tore one of my favorite skirts by catching it in something. It’s totalled.
Everybody was snappy and argumentative.
We went to see the Klimt exhibition in Liverpool and there was a train broken down on the line – no trains running and they couldn’t say when it wouldn’t be cleared.
I want to go back to Wednesday. And I want my ebookwise back.
So it’s more empathy than sympathy, but great huge hugs for both of us. And Belgian chocolate truffles.
Lime – don’t you hate when people’s bad days are synchronized?
Liv – I felt like each one was progressively worse 😛 And it definitely cemented the “it never rains, it always pours” mantra by which my life runs. [I could have smacked my roommate though – all of us were dealing with the mailing woes.]
Lynne- sorry to hear about your ebookwise. 🙁 That stinks.
Screw the food. I’d have saved the book, too!
I’m sorry you had such a bad day. I’ve had days like that recently, and it’s hard to laugh about it. But at least you enjoyed the book. 🙂
My bad days tend to involve family illness, either frightening or just downright annoying. For me those have overshadowed the days where everything breaks and coffee spills and books stink and the cable is out and the cat pukes and… I’ve probably jinxed myself and have an annoying day tomorrow.
Sandy – look at it this way: You could have forgotten your book, like I did the other day. I had to read (gasp) a magazine in the doctor’s waiting room.
The HORROR!
Like you and others, I would have saved the book first, too. Books and liquids in close contact does induce grief. One inattentive mailman left a package of books on my front porch near the railing. The item was too large to go into the mailbox slot. There was a terrible rainstorm that day and the books were sodden and sad looking by the time I got home that afternoon.
Oh, no, Lynne! I definitely feel for you on your ebookwise. At least my book can replaced at rather cheap price compared to your reader. Well, have another truffle or two and I’m sending empathy vibes your way!
Jody, that’s the one thing that didn’t happen on my bad day was the cat puking! Which surprise me now that I look back on it. But when a day goes bad, it really goes bad, doesn’t it?
Little Lamb, I know wishes now do no darned good, but here’s one that your mailman would have found a better spot to leave those books. Or the rain had waited just a little while longer to fall. I just cringe when I think of that box of soggy books! Have a Belgian chocolate truffle with me and Lynne!
And, Gwen, LOL, you’re right, I think I’m going to go crazy when I forget a book on the days I know I’m going to be out all day. Magazines just don’t cut it for me anymore. I’m pretty good at having a book with me, tho. Either a print or my ereader is in my purse at all times when I’m not at home. And now that I’ve said that, I’ll probably forget both of them when I head out to work tomorrow!