Off-Schedule

Some days there's just no catching up -- or even keeping up. I'm leaving in two days for my Tampa scoring trip, and I have a long list of tasks to accomplish. As I mentioned a few days ago, I'm terrific at making lists but not always good on follow-through. This is all stuff I really need to get done, though, so I've been trying hard. (Didn't I predict that most of it would get done, or at least worked on, on Friday?) Last night I just couldn't go to sleep. Most days that wouldn't be a big problem even though I have trouble sleeping in no matter what time I go to bed. My classes are at night (and right now only on Mondays), but yesterday afternoon I was scheduled last-minute for a weird scoring shift: 8:00 to noon. Fine, no big deal. I had plenty of time to get my caffeine on before 8:00. I didn't, however, have time to shower. I worked in my pajamas and was glad no one came to the door.

By 12:05 I was in the shower. My next stop was the Navy base where I teach. I had to get a new badge, not because the old one was expiring but because the base changed the company for gate passes. I will be coming home a week from Monday, and I'm nervous enough about getting to my class on time without having to worry that I might not be able to get in the gate. So the pass office is open until 2:00; I got there at 12:45. Plenty of time, right? Maybe if more than one computer had been working and there weren't already fifteen people waiting. I had no choice but to wait too. When I was finally called to the desk to turn in my paperwork -- the same paperwork, by the way, that I'd turned in less than two years ago -- I was told I wasn't on the list. If I wasn't on the list, why did I get the email with the paperwork to fill out? How else would I have known I needed to update my pass? The man at the gate office thought these were good questions, so he gave me the benefit of the doubt and got the process started for me to get the new pass. In the meantime, my college needs to update the list and I can use a paper pass. All of that took two hours. Sheesh.

I had a few items on my "get-before-my-trip" list, so I popped in Stein Mart. (I know you all don't have these up north, but they're pretty great!) I got a new pair of reading glasses similar to my old ones: cat eyes with rhinestones in the corners. The old ones are falling apart, but I've had them for more than five years. I was thrilled to find those babies. I also picked up some new underwear and found a cute pair of pajamas that I got for five dollars because they had a stain on the sleeve. The original price was thirty dollars, and I can probably get the stain out. If I can't, the pants alone are worth more than five dollars. When I got to the register, a clerk came over and opened a new lane for me. That time in Stein Mart was the best part of my day, nice and smooth.

Then I went to Belk. We've been having a lot of rain throughout Florida lately, and it's supposed to continue into next week. I needed a light waterproof jacket, not just for my trip but in general. I found one I love. It's a seafoam-colored Columbia, very lightweight, with a hood. Perfect! There were some seahorse-patterned clothes I'd had my eye on for a while, and they were buy-one-get-one-free, so I decided to spring for them. Items in hand, I went to a sales desk to pay. No one was around. At this point, I was ready to go home. I wandered to three other desks and still couldn't find anyone. Finally I saw a sales clerk and asked where I could pay. She directed me to yet another desk. The lady there was busy, so she called over another clerk. Really, it shouldn't be so hard to give someone money! Finally I paid and left. And . . . as I went out the door the alarm went off. Of the four items I bought, three of them still had sensors on them. Back to another desk, back to waiting for people ahead of me to finish, sensors off, back out the door. I hadn't eaten all day and I was tired and cranky. But still, that whole situation was ridiculous! I think I'll do the survey and it won't be a good review.

Now I am sitting in my living room, getting chewed up by a mosquito I can't track down. It doesn't seem to be having trouble tracking me down. I need to clean up and start/finish packing, but I don't feel like it. I think a nap is in order.