You Know It's Going To Be A Good/Bad Day When....

My car is still broken down and I had an appointment yesterday so I decided to be adventurous and take the bus. This is a biggie for me...I haven't ridden a bus in ages. I must say, I actually enjoyed sitting back and letting someone else stress out over the cutter inners and random U turners.

I got to my 12:30 appointment at 12:15, only to learn that it was actually for 1:00 and I had 45 minutes to kill. Rather than sit in an office full of people coughing, spewing and talking of the snow (overdone), I decided to cross the street to the mall for half an hour.

I went into Sears and you know it's going to be a bad day when you inadvertently stumble into Sears Lowest Price Of The Year Super Saturday Sale. It was mayhem. I elbowed my way upstairs to look for a board game (hi Barbara!) for Tyler and his girlfriend and was pleasantly surprised to find the one I was looking for (that I thought was a Walmart exclusive - I really wasn't expecting to find it at all!). That made life easier...Walmart is in another city and I could cross that trip off the "things to do" Christmas list.

I was in the (very long) line up to pay when a fellow approached me and handed me a 50/50 type ticket, explaining that there was going to be a free draw in the jewellery department. I went over and, of course, in order to win the free necklace you had to suffer through the way too energetic sales pitch for the other stuff he was 'pushing' like a crack dealer in a back alley. I crammed around his little booth with the 8 million others who, like me, were trying to get something for nothing and listened to him as he pitched his products. It all looked like cheap crap and WOW, I could get these 4 pieces, valued at over $30 million for just $50. I'd rather go put a loonie in the machine beside the bubble gum dispenser and get it there, thanks. Then he brought out the necklace for the draw...it was actually very cute and I decided to stick around, just in case.

I did a little trick that my kids taught me to do with "draws" that require entry forms/tickets...I bent the corners up a little before plunking them in the bag. The time (finally) came for the draw - I suggested he shake that sucker before selecting a ticket...mine was the first one placed in there, now on the bottom. To set the stage here, I never win ANYTHING. EVER. I'm the type that chooses my scratch and wins at Dad's every Christmas (he buys a whole bunch for everyone to pick from) and watches as everyone else shrieks, "oooh, I won". And I pick the damn losers year after year. So I didn't have much hope is what I'm saying. But I'll be damned if he didn't call 0-9-5...THAT WAS MY NUMBER!!! You know it's going to be a good day when you get something for nothing. I swung the prize up over my head in victory, singing "We Are The Champions" and saying "booya" to everyone in close proximity (not really - that was just my vision of the victory and I really wanted to). The other losers all sneered at me in envy as they did the "once over" look before leaving. I felt so good about having actually won something that I went off and bought a whole bunch of shit we didn't need. Getting something for free makes you want to keep the ball rolling, you know?

I returned for my appointment and was told there'd been a "delay" and I'd have to wait in a completely packed waiting room. I sat and waited for about 40 minutes before it was finally my turn. You know it's going to be a bad day when you arrive 45 minutes early for an appointment in an office that's running 40 minutes behind schedule.

When my appointment was finished, I hit the local veggie market for some produce. Although I was bussing home, I still "loaded up" with stuff as, having no car has meant buying Safeway produce and their prices are totally inflated. So, I took advantage of the fresher, cheaper stuff at Kin's. I struggled to get my bags to the bus stop, but was reassured by the fact that the bus stopped right in front of my house and I wouldn't have to walk with it. My arms felt like they were going to fall off and there were welt marks where the bags hung off them and cut in. When my bus finally came, I took up two seats - one for me and one for my stuff. "Aaaah, relief".

We'd just started rolling when the bus driver began driving rather erratically. And, I'll be damned if he didn't stop after a few blocks and announce that we'd all have to clear out - that he was having problems with his spedometer. "You're kidding, right?". Apparently not. And, although he assured us that another bus would be along shortly, he was a big fat liar. It didn't. And, not only that, the stop he booted us out at was covered in snow/ice and there was nowhere to sit down.

After waiting/freezing for a bit, I decided I'd have to walk. You know it's a bad day when you've got 350 pounds of merchandise to carry down an icy slick of a sidewalk. I tentatively staggered along, having to put my bags down about every 100 feet to rest. It was a long journey...I probably could've climbed Everest with much less effort.

I arrived home in time to watch my hockey game. You know it's going to be a good day when the Canucks actually score. We won - yea! And I eventually defrosted.

The moral of the story is....transit sucks. What made your day good/bad?



This is the shape the sidewalks are in. I used quite a few curse words as I slipped and slid all the way home.


I couldn't buy a "little" package from Sears...NO, that would've been way too easy. This is the sucker I lugged home, full of board games and bricks. (Along with two bags of produce - we're not talking grapes and green onions either. Melons. Grapefruits. Oranges. You know, the heavy stuff)


The "bling" I won. Don't tell Linds...stocking stuffer for sure. It came with a cute little black velvet "sack"/bag.