what a week
…and everything was going along so nicely.
i had just returned from an amazing 9-day mission trip in central america. (what a tremendous experience. if you have the chance to do something like that — and you’re easy going, like to help and can deal with not having a tv, your computer, your cell phone…water, etc. — do it.) the show is going well. i continue to keep the weight off. my cats think i’m the coolest. i mean, it’s been a great week.
until today. having purchased a new laptop (at a hell of a price — all hail microcenter), nobody, not even the engineering and IT departments can get it to work. great. next time i’ll just set the cash on fire. but grand scheme, i can get that taken care of. a minor annoyance.
so today, i’m leaving the office right? i walk out the door. there, sitting before me, gleaming like a beacon in the night, is the $800 miracle that is my ‘99 ford escort — the one with 170k miles on it. the one we relentlessly make fun of on the show. the one with the rust and scratches. the one ellen claims i drive “like a bat out of hell,” (as if it’ll go over 37 mph). the one that no one can believe i actually paid a full $800 to buy. so i hop in…nothing. turns over but won’t start. and eventually starts to make a noise that no earthly (man-made or otherwise) creature should ever make.
dead. i could fix it. but then again, i could buy 4 more miracle escorts too.
so i send out an email asking if anybody knows anybody looking to unload a used car. the answer i get comes from my boss…the program director. his answer: “ummmm, jayme.”
jayme is the exec producer of the show and the owner of the only car in the lot that’s worse-off than mine (i mean it’s an utter disaster. it’s a miracle to emerge from it alive.) (i’m glad she doesn’t read my blog.)
and on top of that, manifesto is closed.
really? really??
thanks gateway. thanks escort. thanks neil. thanks borrowed liquor license. you shall not destroy my outstanding mood (which i think almost drove ellen to violence on more than one occasion this week).
but…could one of you please come pick me up at 3:15 monday morning?