Blogger 365 Day 52 - The one that got away

Today was one of those days that speaks to the promise of spring and summer after that.  The temps crept into the low to mid 40s, the sun was out of and on, people were milling about, catching there first glimpses of sun, minus the bone chilling temps, in what seems like months,  The day had a certain promise to it, that's for sure.

I got up this morning, made my way into Gus Millers, loaded a few tickets into the instant ticket machines and did my normal paperwork as well as grabbed a list of tickets that I would need to get on m way home, since between Thursday morning and Friday morning they had sold over $2100 of scratch off tickets, which meant that while I was loading three tickets in the morning, they would need another 5 books loaded on my way back through when I went home. 

So I went through my day thinking that once I get everything done at work, maybe this would be the day that I got to go out and just enjoy the day.  The idea of a trip through the park seemed promising, maybe even blogging or reading on my bench, or just grabbing a coffee and strolling around the neighborhood for a little while. 

I usually leave downtown around 3:00 - 3:30, depending on how much work I have to finish up, before heading back to Gus Milers and then ultimately home. Well, I didn't even get away from my desk at work until after 3pm, between working with a technician who was trying to get our camera system working on the upstairs monitor again, and making a half hearted stab at getting my invoices caught up, I was running just a little behind schedule.  Still I managed to get upstairs and almost out the door right around 3:30. 

I have this rather unhealthy ritual (one of many actually) that some days before I leave work I will have a jalapeno dog or a kielbasa from the hot dog roller on the back counter. Just a little snack because most every day the chance I will get to eat something before I leave is slim indeed.  One of the losses that I suffered after being promoted is I haven't had my morning pastry run in months.  I have almost forgotten what the gorgeous European women who work there look like,  instead I am relegated to my post game hot dog now.

So I walk to the back counter and all that is left is 4 overdone hot dogs.  Don't get me wrong, I like a crispy hot dog so well done is not an issue for me, what was an issue was there was no kielbasas on, nor any jalapeno dog.  When I went to grab a bun for the hot dog that I did get, there was only 4 left.  So now, instead of going home I am doing someone else's job, namely reloading the hot dog grill and wrapping additional hot dog buns.  I don't mind working, but when we have two people on duty that were supposed to see that things like that get done and it doesn't happen, well that pisses me off just a tad. 

Still, even with the additional work,  I figure I can catch a bus back to Oakland and Gus Millers by 4:30 at the latest and be home around 5pm, not ideal but at least could catch some sunlight.  I manage to get out to the bus stop and wait for my bus, I didn't wait all that long, maybe 10 minutes and another 10-15 minutes later I am at my destination.  Alls good then, right?

Well I go to load the 5 books of tickets that I knew were missing form my visit earlier in the morning, and in the intervening 8 hours or so they managed to sell out of another 8 books.  Now if I leave one or two slots empty until Saturday I don't consider it that big a thing, after all with two instant ticket machines here are 48 options on tickets (well 48 buttons, some of the more popular tickets are in two slots as opposed to one), but 8 out of 48 empty, that is too many for me, so back on the bus and back downtown I go to get more lottery tickets.

The bus ride back into town was a tad longer though, as now I was getting caught up in rush hour traffic, plus there is a Billy Joel concert in town tonight, making getting around even harder.  Given Billy Joel hasn't done anything of merit in like 20 years I am not quite sure what all of the fuss is about, but that's just me.  Whatever the case, traffic was brought to an almost grinding halt, much like Billy Joel's car when he got drunk and drove into a tree.  What should have been a quick 15 minute trip back into town instead was 35 minutes, and till I got into Smithfield and then back out again it was already 5:30.  Back onto another bus and back to Gus Millers and until I got done there, loading 8 more books of tickets and then taking a stab at fixing their vacuum cleaner it was 6:30, the sun was setting over Pittsburgh, only an orangish hue could be seen over the top of the South Side slopes as I looked down Forbes Avenue.  No sun or fun for me.  That's okay though, I am off on Sunday and the forecast is, wait for it, SNOW!!!!