Oh, what a Monday!! Can I just call in dead and start over tomorrow...?
Starbucks Snafus
So, I'm a little bummed out today. It's the 2 year anniversary for me and the BF and he's out of town working, so I'm quite down. I couldn't really get moving this morning, so I figured I'd stop at the local, well known name coffee shop for a chai tea pick-me-up.
that was mistake #1...
I pull into the parking lot and it is PACKED. I swear, Monday Mornings at Starbucks are like a smaller version of Black Friday, EVERYONE must be there for the sweet, nourishing caffeine! I'm in line for the drive thru, I really don't have a choice at this point, because there are no parking spots. I prefer to go inside, though, because the baristas are sweet at this location and I like to say hi, how are you? and drop something in the tip cup all the time. So, my plan is to bypass the drive thru line, and park along the back wall of the building next door to the Starbucks. There's also an entrance/exit that way, which will take me to a backstreet I can follow in straight to work. Bonus! So, I'm waiting for my opportunity, while keeping an eye out for an open parking spot, just in case.
While waiting, this HUGE black SUV comes pulling in the back entrance, and turns, as if to make its way around the drive through line. It's huge though, so has to throw into reverse. Well, the drive thru line moves forward...and the SUV SLAMS on the gas and cuts between two cars to nose her way into the line. The car behind her slams on the brakes to avoid slamming into the side of the SUV. The car behind that slams on the brakes and veers right. I'm behind the second car, and have to slam on my brakes and veer left, to avoid collision.
Then, the woman in the SUV reverses again, because she can't make the turn, and continues the pattern: Reverse, then hurry up and leap forward so no one can get past her in the drive thru lane. I finally manage to pull around the cars, and park along the back wall, and make my way inside.
Joke is on her. I got her plate number, and description. As I was walking into the shop, she was arguing at the speaker box over macchiatos and how they do TOO come in more flavors than just caramel, but yeah, not at this place, not unless you specifically request a drink made custom for you.
After I pay for MY drink, I explain to one of the baristas what happened, (I know about 4 of them by name, 3 of whom we're working today) I also casually mentioned she was in the next car to pull up to the window. I left the info with the barista, who had called her manager over by that point, and I saw him to go the drive thru window, to explain to the woman they have her plate number and description and if she EVER tried to pull shenanigans like that again, the police would be called, so she could have the PD explain to her the concept of hazardous driving and the tickets that accompany that. I admit it, I snickered.
Train Track Trauma
I finally exit the Starbucks parking lot and start driving into work. The road I take happens to have train tracks...JOY. Not usually a big deal. I hear the clanging indicating the railroad crossings are lit and the arms are down, so I'm going to have to wait.
Ok, I can do that. I come to a halt.
And apparently, the train has, as well. It's not moving. At ALL. So I wait.
And wait.
And wait.
AND WAIT....
Finally, after about 15 min, I call my boss and tell him I might be a tiiiiiny bit late today and why.
I end up turning the car off, because by this point, I'm penned in by other vehicles to the right of me, in front of me and behind me. to the left of me is a parking lot for a building that's fenced in everywhere. I figure I'm going to be there a while.
Five minutes after calling the boss, I see a couple police cars come barreling up and park near the tracks. Six or seven minutes after that, a couple of pickup trucks come barreling past with repair equipment, heavy machinery in the back. They stop near the tracks and about four or five guys in bright safety vests start climbing all over the train.
Ok then. Still waiting. By this point, several vehicles have started pulling out, cutting through the gas station parking lot next door and turning down the side street that runs parallel to the tracks, hoping to find a reprieve and a way past the train. I can't see where it ends in either direction, so I don't know what they're hoping for. I can't move, either, I'm still stuck.
Well, one of these vehicles was a minivan, zipped around me, going the wrong way down the left side of the street before making a hard right to get around me. Minivan apparently didn't get too far, because it came full circle, right back behind me, but by this point, it had started drizzling rain (because that makes EVERYTHING better!) so the brakes I guess weren't working all that great.
Minivan comes barreling up behind me, the slams on the brakes, I can hear the squeal. I swear I can smell the rubber, and at that point, I had started the car up again and threw it into drive and inched forward. That inched saved my back bumper. As it is, I could see the color of the driver's eyes. That made me a LITTLE nervous, but not as nervous as what happened next.
Remember the fenced in parking lot to the left? There was a semi truck there, and the engine roared to life. I'm thinking "Oh, this is gonna be FUN". One would thing the driver would just go straight, since the parking lot abuts right up against the warning arms for the train tracks. Since they're down, clearance for turns - especially WIDE turns - is pretty nonexistent.
The semi truck tries to make a right turn anyways. Instead of swinging out into the train armbar, though, the driver tried this really weird maneuver that I'm not sure I can explain. First the driver pulled the truck part out of the lot, and swung left, then tried to swing right in a wide arc. That put the trailer and a weird angle, and the rig itself came face to face with me. As in, if the driver hadn't braked, I'd have been smooshed. I'm staring wide eyed at the driver of the rig, who is staring wide eyed back at me, with a puzzled look. I swear I could hear him thinking "Hey, how'd she get there?"
So, he tries to reverse, but the trailer isnt' cooperating. It scraped against the warning bar on the train tracks. That was an interesting, teeth clenching squealing noise. Really. One of the guys from earlier that was on the train hopped off to direct the truck driver into backing up correctly. He finally settled for going straight down a side road, and THEN turning right on a clear road, I suppose.
By this point, I'd had enough, and I'd been there for over a half hour already. Time to try and move out of the cage of cars I was in.
Rain-induced Riots
I finally found an opening, signalled and got the hell out of the way of the traffic snarl near the tracks. Now, there's a road that runs parallel to the tracks, which in turn runs parallel to the I-10 freeway. I get on that road and start following it down, intent on just finding where the train ended, and then doubling back to get to work.
That's what I intended on, anyway.
I finally got to a road where the warning bars aren't down, the train has ended and I can finally, FINALLY try and get to work. But then the rain REALLY started coming down and visibility dropped like a hammer.
I managed to get the wipers going (note to self: Need new blades, soon...) and started navigating my way through the back streets to get back near the I-10 access road. I turn left, cross the tracks and huzzah!! I'm on the other side of the train, yay!! I only had to go a mile west and out of my way, back in the direction of home, but hey, I made it!
I pull up to a red light, and proceed to wait, with my turn signal indicating my intent to go left. All is right with the world, I may actually get to work soon. (yay?)
Here comes this black SUV roaring up the road behind me and in the right lane. The light is still red. They're still going. Why aren't they braking.
FFfffffffuuuuuuuuuuu---
SUV blows through the red light, and barrels down the street towards the next light. Now, by this point my light has changed and I've got to go a block or two until I can turn left, so I speed up cautiously because the idiot SUV driver has finally figured out "oops, speed limit and that light was red, hyuk!", or so I'm assuming. Well, I'm getting up to speed, about to turn left and SUV driver decides GOTTA GO LEFT!! and last second yanks the wheel to turn left across two lanes, right in front of me. I brake hard, yank on the wheel to go right and hopefully avoid a mangled car/Lupo hybrid while trying not to scream "I HOPE YOU CHOKE ON YOUR MACCHIATO, BITCH!!!" (Note: I doubt it was the same driver, but it was a black SUV and I've had such marvelous luck with those today, really...)
By the time I correct myself, I'm halfway through the light in the wrong lane, so I go forward to find a place to make a U-Turn and get back in the direction I need to go. By this point my heart is racing, I'm really surprised I haven't messed myself and I just want to go home and say "Eff you world, I'm restarting this level TOMORROW, and coming back with more XP and a new weapon. Preferably a chainsaw."
But I don't. Instead I finally make it to the I-10 access road, and travel in the direction I need to go in, and get to the street I have to turn on.
The lights are down. They're flashing red, indicating one of the busiest intersections in town is now a 4 way stop. During morning rush hour. YIPPEE!!!!!
I'm waiting my turn. Like I should be. The car 3 behind me doesn't like that and starts honking like mad. I'm about to turn right when said car comes zipping out of line, floors it and passes me, cutting off the other cars perpendicular to me. I have to wait to take my turn, so they can correct themselves. It was the turn of the car to the left of me to go, who had to veer sharply to the right to avoid smoosh, then had to overcorrect to the left, which caused the car to my right to have to pull forward and take a turn prematurely to avoid smoosh by the car to the left.
Meanwhile, glancing to my left? The train is still there. Stopped. Now there are more guys running up and down the tracks and a cop car parked on this side of the tracks. Fun times.
I finally made it into work. An hour late.
HAPPY MONDAY!!!
Starbucks Snafus
So, I'm a little bummed out today. It's the 2 year anniversary for me and the BF and he's out of town working, so I'm quite down. I couldn't really get moving this morning, so I figured I'd stop at the local, well known name coffee shop for a chai tea pick-me-up.
that was mistake #1...
I pull into the parking lot and it is PACKED. I swear, Monday Mornings at Starbucks are like a smaller version of Black Friday, EVERYONE must be there for the sweet, nourishing caffeine! I'm in line for the drive thru, I really don't have a choice at this point, because there are no parking spots. I prefer to go inside, though, because the baristas are sweet at this location and I like to say hi, how are you? and drop something in the tip cup all the time. So, my plan is to bypass the drive thru line, and park along the back wall of the building next door to the Starbucks. There's also an entrance/exit that way, which will take me to a backstreet I can follow in straight to work. Bonus! So, I'm waiting for my opportunity, while keeping an eye out for an open parking spot, just in case.
While waiting, this HUGE black SUV comes pulling in the back entrance, and turns, as if to make its way around the drive through line. It's huge though, so has to throw into reverse. Well, the drive thru line moves forward...and the SUV SLAMS on the gas and cuts between two cars to nose her way into the line. The car behind her slams on the brakes to avoid slamming into the side of the SUV. The car behind that slams on the brakes and veers right. I'm behind the second car, and have to slam on my brakes and veer left, to avoid collision.
Then, the woman in the SUV reverses again, because she can't make the turn, and continues the pattern: Reverse, then hurry up and leap forward so no one can get past her in the drive thru lane. I finally manage to pull around the cars, and park along the back wall, and make my way inside.
Joke is on her. I got her plate number, and description. As I was walking into the shop, she was arguing at the speaker box over macchiatos and how they do TOO come in more flavors than just caramel, but yeah, not at this place, not unless you specifically request a drink made custom for you.
After I pay for MY drink, I explain to one of the baristas what happened, (I know about 4 of them by name, 3 of whom we're working today) I also casually mentioned she was in the next car to pull up to the window. I left the info with the barista, who had called her manager over by that point, and I saw him to go the drive thru window, to explain to the woman they have her plate number and description and if she EVER tried to pull shenanigans like that again, the police would be called, so she could have the PD explain to her the concept of hazardous driving and the tickets that accompany that. I admit it, I snickered.
Train Track Trauma
I finally exit the Starbucks parking lot and start driving into work. The road I take happens to have train tracks...JOY. Not usually a big deal. I hear the clanging indicating the railroad crossings are lit and the arms are down, so I'm going to have to wait.
Ok, I can do that. I come to a halt.
And apparently, the train has, as well. It's not moving. At ALL. So I wait.
And wait.
And wait.
AND WAIT....

Finally, after about 15 min, I call my boss and tell him I might be a tiiiiiny bit late today and why.
I end up turning the car off, because by this point, I'm penned in by other vehicles to the right of me, in front of me and behind me. to the left of me is a parking lot for a building that's fenced in everywhere. I figure I'm going to be there a while.
Five minutes after calling the boss, I see a couple police cars come barreling up and park near the tracks. Six or seven minutes after that, a couple of pickup trucks come barreling past with repair equipment, heavy machinery in the back. They stop near the tracks and about four or five guys in bright safety vests start climbing all over the train.

Ok then. Still waiting. By this point, several vehicles have started pulling out, cutting through the gas station parking lot next door and turning down the side street that runs parallel to the tracks, hoping to find a reprieve and a way past the train. I can't see where it ends in either direction, so I don't know what they're hoping for. I can't move, either, I'm still stuck.
Well, one of these vehicles was a minivan, zipped around me, going the wrong way down the left side of the street before making a hard right to get around me. Minivan apparently didn't get too far, because it came full circle, right back behind me, but by this point, it had started drizzling rain (because that makes EVERYTHING better!) so the brakes I guess weren't working all that great.
Minivan comes barreling up behind me, the slams on the brakes, I can hear the squeal. I swear I can smell the rubber, and at that point, I had started the car up again and threw it into drive and inched forward. That inched saved my back bumper. As it is, I could see the color of the driver's eyes. That made me a LITTLE nervous, but not as nervous as what happened next.
Remember the fenced in parking lot to the left? There was a semi truck there, and the engine roared to life. I'm thinking "Oh, this is gonna be FUN". One would thing the driver would just go straight, since the parking lot abuts right up against the warning arms for the train tracks. Since they're down, clearance for turns - especially WIDE turns - is pretty nonexistent.
The semi truck tries to make a right turn anyways. Instead of swinging out into the train armbar, though, the driver tried this really weird maneuver that I'm not sure I can explain. First the driver pulled the truck part out of the lot, and swung left, then tried to swing right in a wide arc. That put the trailer and a weird angle, and the rig itself came face to face with me. As in, if the driver hadn't braked, I'd have been smooshed. I'm staring wide eyed at the driver of the rig, who is staring wide eyed back at me, with a puzzled look. I swear I could hear him thinking "Hey, how'd she get there?"
So, he tries to reverse, but the trailer isnt' cooperating. It scraped against the warning bar on the train tracks. That was an interesting, teeth clenching squealing noise. Really. One of the guys from earlier that was on the train hopped off to direct the truck driver into backing up correctly. He finally settled for going straight down a side road, and THEN turning right on a clear road, I suppose.
By this point, I'd had enough, and I'd been there for over a half hour already. Time to try and move out of the cage of cars I was in.

Rain-induced Riots
I finally found an opening, signalled and got the hell out of the way of the traffic snarl near the tracks. Now, there's a road that runs parallel to the tracks, which in turn runs parallel to the I-10 freeway. I get on that road and start following it down, intent on just finding where the train ended, and then doubling back to get to work.
That's what I intended on, anyway.
I finally got to a road where the warning bars aren't down, the train has ended and I can finally, FINALLY try and get to work. But then the rain REALLY started coming down and visibility dropped like a hammer.

I managed to get the wipers going (note to self: Need new blades, soon...) and started navigating my way through the back streets to get back near the I-10 access road. I turn left, cross the tracks and huzzah!! I'm on the other side of the train, yay!! I only had to go a mile west and out of my way, back in the direction of home, but hey, I made it!
I pull up to a red light, and proceed to wait, with my turn signal indicating my intent to go left. All is right with the world, I may actually get to work soon. (yay?)
Here comes this black SUV roaring up the road behind me and in the right lane. The light is still red. They're still going. Why aren't they braking.
FFfffffffuuuuuuuuuuu---
SUV blows through the red light, and barrels down the street towards the next light. Now, by this point my light has changed and I've got to go a block or two until I can turn left, so I speed up cautiously because the idiot SUV driver has finally figured out "oops, speed limit and that light was red, hyuk!", or so I'm assuming. Well, I'm getting up to speed, about to turn left and SUV driver decides GOTTA GO LEFT!! and last second yanks the wheel to turn left across two lanes, right in front of me. I brake hard, yank on the wheel to go right and hopefully avoid a mangled car/Lupo hybrid while trying not to scream "I HOPE YOU CHOKE ON YOUR MACCHIATO, BITCH!!!" (Note: I doubt it was the same driver, but it was a black SUV and I've had such marvelous luck with those today, really...)
By the time I correct myself, I'm halfway through the light in the wrong lane, so I go forward to find a place to make a U-Turn and get back in the direction I need to go. By this point my heart is racing, I'm really surprised I haven't messed myself and I just want to go home and say "Eff you world, I'm restarting this level TOMORROW, and coming back with more XP and a new weapon. Preferably a chainsaw."
But I don't. Instead I finally make it to the I-10 access road, and travel in the direction I need to go in, and get to the street I have to turn on.
The lights are down. They're flashing red, indicating one of the busiest intersections in town is now a 4 way stop. During morning rush hour. YIPPEE!!!!!
I'm waiting my turn. Like I should be. The car 3 behind me doesn't like that and starts honking like mad. I'm about to turn right when said car comes zipping out of line, floors it and passes me, cutting off the other cars perpendicular to me. I have to wait to take my turn, so they can correct themselves. It was the turn of the car to the left of me to go, who had to veer sharply to the right to avoid smoosh, then had to overcorrect to the left, which caused the car to my right to have to pull forward and take a turn prematurely to avoid smoosh by the car to the left.
Meanwhile, glancing to my left? The train is still there. Stopped. Now there are more guys running up and down the tracks and a cop car parked on this side of the tracks. Fun times.
I finally made it into work. An hour late.
HAPPY MONDAY!!!

Comment