I had a second interview scheduled today at 10:00 a.m. I left my house around 8:30 a.m. and sat in my car waiting for my car defrosters to do their thing. As I was sitting in my car outside of my house, I realized I had forgotten my GPS so I ran back in to get it.
I saw that my gas was getting low and if you have been a frequent visitor to this blog you know I have a little game I like to play with my gas gauge that is, quite simply, “E = Enough”.
However, today I was not in a game-playing mood so I went to a grocery store about 5 minutes away to get money from their ATM since I only had $1 in my wallet. I realized, though, that I did not have my ATM card. And now the fiasco begins.
I had bought a new wallet a few weeks ago and took it for a test spin over the holiday weekend. What this means is I put everything in the new wallet, but left the price tags on a la Minnie Pearl and kept it in my purse. Last night I decided this new wallet was not for me and put everything back into the old wallet.
Last Friday I went to the grocery store for bread and milk (how Pennsylvanian-it’s-gonna-snow of me) and didn’t want to take my purse in so I just took my ATM card in my jacket pocket. That was the last time I remember seeing it as I was frantically backtracking in my mind.
I drove the 5 minutes back home and raced into the house. I was trying to be calm and was doing a pretty good job but all I could hear were the clocks in the house tick-ticking away. I checked the “new” wallet and it was empty. I checked the jacket pocket I had been wearing Friday. I checked our plastic bag drawer and by “checked” I mean I took each one out and squeezed the I-DON’T-HAVE-TIME-FOR-THIS out of each bag. No ATM card.
I ran upstairs (14 stairs) and looked in our office and bedroom. I didn’t expect to find it there but you never know. No ATM card.
I headed back downstairs. I called my husband and told him the situation and try to do it in a not MY-WIFE-IS-CRAZY kind of way. He makes some suggestions but of course nothing he said was gonna to appease me because I was being crazy even though I really tried not to be. I told him I would figure something out.
He had suggested that I go go to our bank and fill out a withdrawal slip but I just didn’t think I had the time to do that and get to my interview. I still had to stop for gas if I can figure out a way to get some money. But I have no choice, really, so I go back to the original grocery store and go inside because they have our bank inside. It was a few minutes before 9:00 a.m. and not only was the place dark, it was deserted. I left.
My husband called as I was walking out of the grocery store and reminded me that I had a credit card in my wallet. This may seem strange, but we have not been using credit cards while I’ve been out of work, so I don’t even think about them. I managed to drive across the grocery store parking lot, where a gas station is, and get gas using my credit card.
NOW I can go to my interview. As I’m driving I think that I want to call the grocery store from Friday to see if anyone found my ATM card. While at a traffic light (sorry Oprah) I go on the internet to get the phone number. As I get to the grocery store’s home page, my BlackBerry shuts itself down. In a few seconds it began to boot itself back up. When it was fully rebooted, I had “LOW BATTERY” in bright red letters at the top of my screen and the light that usually blinks red when you have a message was on steady like a laser. I charge my BlackBerry every night while I’m sleeping and lately this has been happening so either there’s something wrong with the charger, the outlet I use or the battery itself. I plugged the BlackBerry into my car charger and head towards the interview.
I arrive in time, do my final primping, and head inside. It went well, I think, and I am proud to say I put my morning troubles behind and was able to focus on the interview. I will say though that even though I felt calm, I had dry mouth like I’ve never experienced before. My top lip kept sticking to my teeth, I kept swallowing to generate some type of moisture, I even licked my lips several times. They had offered me water before we got started and I am glad I said no because I probably would have been downing glass after glass like some kind of lunatic.
When I arrived home I slid my driver’s seat back and there, under my seat, was my ATM card. I came inside and headed right to the kitchen for something one would drink in Civil War times to have a leg amputated. And the picture above is what I saw. My “bag drawer”. One look and you understand my morning.
Did I get the job? Dunno. Sure feels like I ought to.
