Friday the 13th Comes Late

When I was in high school, my mother ran a day care out of our house. Most of the children would arrive before I left for school, so I had to establish some ground rules. The first of which was, "Do not talk to Scott before breakfast." This quickly became a game with them, as they would gather around the table, standing silent until I took the first bite of cereal, before immediately letting loose with a cacophony of chatter. But even more fun for them was the use of my cereal bowl as a fortune telling device.

I would fill my bowl up with cereal - usually Cheerios, which float - and then add the milk. The result would be a teetering tower of cereal, a disaster waiting to happen. Then I would try to get the bowl from the counter to the table without spilling anything onto the floor. The children would then comment on how bad my day was going to be based on how many Cheerios hit the ground.

So today is the day of my big interview with the hospice firm in Nashville. I dragged myself into the kitchen, poured my cereal, and made my way to the sofa and coffee table. Sure enough, first one, then a half dozen Cheerios fell off my bowl and were quickly scarfed up by Barney the dog of destruction. Said One Ring: "I'm sure it doesn't mean anything. Everything is going to go well today!"

Cut to my drive to work. I got stuck behind dump trucks, and so arrived after all the good parking spaces were taken. Then when I finally reached my building, I took off my sunglasses and heard a crack! The right bow had broken away from the frames. More grumbling, followed by silent prayers that this end soon.

I have a presentation due tomorrow, so I went to work on that, but the computer was running slow, so it took longer than normal. The copier then jammed on my originals. On top of that, I looked at my watch to check my time - I had a meeting this morning at 10 - and saw that it was reading 1:01 on January 1! Huh? So I had to fix that. No biggie. As I was getting ready to leave, one of the high mucky mucks in the office where the copier sits said to me, "Oh, FYI. The surprise inspectors are here today to look at the long term care facilities. Be on your best." Yeah, ALL of my wards are long term care facilities!

Heck with that, I said. I skipped the meeting and headed back to my office. The door is locked, and I'm not opening it for anyone until it's time for me to leave!