Drama Llama

When it rains it pours.

So you know how my parents are in Florida, right? Amongst many little chores and what not, one thing I have to do every so often is drive my mom's car. Just to keep it...healthy, I guess. It's a 17 year old Honda Civic and in great shape - it only has 120,000 miles on it. I know cars that are 10 years younger and have twice the miles. (I know some people like that too, HIYOOOOO!)

So I was driving it to run my errands today. I went to the post office in Reston, then drove out to Leesburg to their Wal-Mart (because the closest one to me in Fair Lakes sucks and I refuse to go there on principal) and then drove to the SUPERTARGET! (yes, I have to capitalize it and punctuate it at such. It's SUPER!) that's across the street from Wal-Mart.

I only went to get one thing at Wal-Mart - those individual drink-mix things, you know the ones you put into a water bottle? Wal-Mart brand's Cherry Limeade flavor is AMAZING. I try to avoid those things mostly because they do have aspartame, but...it tastes like a melted popsicle. And when you have that craving for candy or something sweet, they really do help. So I got those.

Then I went to the SUPERTARGET! I got a few things and then went back to my car.

And then it wouldn't start.

I tried and tried and...nothing. Oh also did I mention that it was cold and drizzling out?

A really nice man came along and tried to help; he looked under the hood and had me try a bunch of different tricks to get it to start. It wouldn't.

He left and I reluctantly picked up my phone to call a tow truck; at least we have AAA. Then I notice my phone. The battery is so low it's got that lovely "Danger Red" shade on. Basically I had time to make maybe one and a half calls, maybe. Of course.

It's obvious now that I'm home and calm, but I FREAKED OUT because I didn't know who to call first. AAA? If I call AAA and they put me on hold forever, I'm screwed. My parents?! A friend or someone to let them know I'm pretty much stranded?!

But I used something called logic - I'm not really familiar with it but I hear it works for people. I called Kelley. I was like a minute from her house and I figured she has a cell phone that I could use since I knew mine would inevitably go dead before the end of this insane evening. She rushed to my rescue, thankfully. Because she's amazing.

While she was on her way I called AAA. I called at 7pm. I told them I was in Leesburg and needed a tow back to Reston. The woman I spoke with told me a truck would be there within an hour. In tow-truck time, I know that means anywhere from 2-4 hours, so I asked them to call me when the driver was 5 minutes away. In the mean time I went back to Kel's house and had dinner, so that part was nice. Even though the whole situation sucked, at least I had a good friend close by!

At 8pm the driver of the tow truck calls me and tells me he's in the Target parking lot by my car. Imagine that, a towing company (much less going through AAA) comes on time!?

Kel and I go back over to the lot and drive up to my car. There is no tow truck. Not by my car, and nowhere in the lot at all. So I call the driver back (on Kel's phone because mine had died about 30 minutes prior) and tell him what we're seeing, and it isn't him.

He says to me: "...you're in Arlington, right?"

.................

So after I imploded from rage and frustration, I called AAA back and they said they had someone in the area (the correct area) that could be there in 20 minutes.

Luckily everyone held up their end of the bargain this time.

Oh I'm sorry, you think the story ends there?

Then once the tow truck came Kel got a call from Mike - Ryan was walking around and fell on his face right into the cup he was holding. They thought he had lost a tooth and there was blood and...you get the idea. It was panic-central in Leesburg, VA tonight.

Kel obviously had to go, but the tow-truck guy got me and my vehicle home safely and relatively cheaply. Surprisingly so, actually. And Ryan is fine - tooth intact, just a bit of a fat lip. He was apparently playing like five minutes later after the incident. He's such a trooper!

*SIGH* What a night.

It's getting better all the time...

Okay, setting aside the melodrama of the previous post. I’m telling you now, I still don’t have a permanent, full-time job, but things are getting better.

I have been working with a couple of recruiters for a few months now; I’ve gotten a few temp gigs, usually only lasting a day or two. I had a phone interview yesterday with a nonprofit here in DC for a development/fundraising assistant position – the hours are full time but they only need someone for a few weeks. The recruiter thought of me and I interviewed yesterday morning.

I was “competing” against one other candidate. I thought the interview went well, but assumed that it would go the way the rest of them have.

Well, by the afternoon, I found out I got the job! I was actually chosen for a job.

That in itself is enough for me. Having a steady income for a few weeks doesn’t hurt either, don’t get me wrong – but it feels so good to know that I actually came out on top for once.

So that starts next Thursday, for who knows how long. And whether it turns into something more permanent, or opens new doors, or doesn’t do either of those things, I’m just so so happy I was able to pull out a W on this one. It’s been too long.