I’d forget my head if it weren't attached.
Ordinarily when I travel to Chicago for work, my travel days are Wednesday through Friday and I have come to appreciate this schedule considerably. I get to come home slightly early on Friday afternoon and I don't have to think about work for 2 whole days! For some reason, this week the schedule got flip flopped and our group was testing in Chicago at the beginning of the week instead of the end. I know what you are thinking… what’s the big deal. Apparently I was not prepared… Here is the WHOLE pitiful story.
Matt stayed home from work Monday given that a plumber was coming to fix the bathtub faucet in our master bathroom and our washer and dryer were being delivered (we ended up getting a killer deal on some front loading energy star ones). I am glad Matt was home to spend time with Izzy and get her better oriented with using the grass as a toilet and not our kitchen floor. Anyway, I went home for lunch and hung with Matt and the dog, which was nice, but I headed back to work since the team was departing for Chicago at 2 p.m.
I was pretty proud of myself for having my scripts completed in such a timely manner on Monday and I needed to print and staple them before the journey northward. I made a few last minute changes to the documents and selected save and then print. I went to the printer to acquire my masterpieces and staple them in appropriate groupings. However, they weren’t quite finished so I proceeded back to my desk to start packing up, fully intending to revisit the printer to pick them up. I was probably having a totally non-work-related conversation with a coworker on the way to the expedition WITHOUT my scripts. This was not too big of a deal since I had saved them and could print them in Chicago but still, what a waste of paper.
About a half an hour in to the drive I reached for my cell phone to call Matt and let him know I was on my way. I reached in my coat pocket, my bag, my other bag, my purse……. And to my dismay… no cell phone. I had a coworker call it and sure enough a girl in the office picked it up. I LEFT my phone on my desk. This REALLY got me down since I wouldn’t be able to talk to Matt over lunch and check in on Izzy whenever I wanted. So far… no scripts, no phone… what else can there be? Well I’ll tell you.
About a week ago I “lost” my debit card and had to cancel it and request a new one (this was a 5 dollar fee mind you). The bank communicated that they would mail the card to me in 7 to 9 business days and then 3 days later they would mail me the pin number. In the meantime I found the “lost” card in my coat pocket and I STILL haven’t received my new debit card. Guess I should check ALL of my coats before jumping to conclusions. Not having a debit card is a problem when I travel because if I need cash for anything I can't just go to an ATM and get some and I like to carry around an extra form of money other than my credit card. At check-in I couldn’t find my credit card. Eventually, by dumping out my purse on the floor and digging through it all I found it, thank the Lord.
To top it all off I had to use my room phone at the hotel to call Matt and check in on Izzy. I knew there would be a charge of some kind so I called down to the front desk to ask. She explained that it was $2 a minute. I thought it was steep but “no big deal, I will just call and tell Matt to call me back.” Well, I called the wrong number twice somehow and then I called Matt who didn’t pick up (I didn’t think this was a big deal since they didn’t start charging me until the other person picked up, right?? BOY was I WRONG!). Well Matt and I eventually worked out a schedule and I used the hotel phone sparingly. I get my bill on Wednesday morning and there were 60 DOLLARS worth of phone charges. Apparently they start charging from time it starts ringing. I am such an imbecile. (I love you Matty but you aren’t worth 60 bucks… at least not in hotel phone calls).
The trip was topped off by arriving home (exhausted) with MANY presents left by Izzy in the mudroom.
Let’s hope this weekend is a little bit better!
Members of an unknown Amazon Basin tribe and their dwellings were seen during a flight over the Brazilian state of Acre along the border of Peru.
