So, I woke up this morning to the sound of my alarm. I turned it off and promptly fell back to sleep. Now, this is not unusual for me, but I don't usually stay asleep for more than five minutes.
Not today.
The next time I opened my eyes, the clock read 7:25AM. I panicked and jumped out from under the nice warm blankets.
Thank goodness it's Friday and I can sleep in tomorrow, I thought to myself only to realize a moment later that it was actually Thursday. :(
I grabbed some cereal and returned to my bed. Recently, I have started to sit on my bed while I eat my breakfast while I check my email and Facebook messages.
As soon as I finished eating, I rushed around to complete the other morning rituals: put on makeup, pick out an outfit, feed the dog, get dressed... That sort of thing.
By this time, it was 7:48 and I had to be to work at 8. Granted I work 7 minutes away from my apartment, but I normally try to leave by 7:46, just in case there is traffic or something.
I prepared my bag lunch with a salad and yogurt from the fridge and placed it on the kitchen table along with my purse, book, and everything else I needed to take with me. Then I put my earmuffs, coat, and gloves on then grabbed the dog leash. A recent cold spell had plunged the temperature down to the teens and below the past couple of days and it was almost impossible to get too bundled up.
A new wave of panic rushed over me. Where is my cell phone? It is supposed to be right here! My cell phone had seemed to vanish. Normally I place it on the table next to my purse, but it was not there.
For the next 5 minutes, I ran around the apartment searching desperately for the small device. Time was something I could not waste at the moment.
Finally, I decided that I had to leave. I put my lunch back in the fridge and made a mental plan to come home on my lunch to search for the phone again.
I took the dog on the quickest walk ever, then darted back inside to drop her off and grab what I needed.
It was 8:00 by the time I pulled out of my parking space. Being late to work by a couple of minutes was not completely unusual for me, but I still disliked it.
One of the tires on my car had a slow leak and needed to filled with air again. This meant that I needed to be more cautious about taking tight and sharp turns, which slowed me down.
At the second stop light on my trail to the office, which is about a quarter mile away from where I started, I was stopped by a red light. There was one car in front of me. I did not feel good about this.
Sure enough, the light turned green, but the car in front of me did not move. I tried to honk, but my car must have been too cold. It did not make a peep.
Finally, just before the light changed again, it started rolling forward slowly. Of course, it was headed in the same direction I was.
We continued on the same path, traveling at 25 mph in a 35 mph zone.
About a mile later, we entered the highway and I was able to pass the snail car.
At 8:06 by my car clock, I pulled into my spot in front of my office building. I shut the car down and bolted inside, heading straight for the time clock to punch in.
I ended up punching in at 8:07:40, which meant that I was officially late by 40 seconds. Instead of getting credit for working 8 hours, I would end up with 7 hours 45 minutes. That meant Accounting would allocate 15 minutes of my PTO (paid time off) to cover this 15 minutes automatically. I was planning on leaving a couple of minutes late for lunch and returning a couple of minutes early, but that doesn't ever seem to matter.
Now, I do not mind that so much except that they change my hours each day to make it easier for payroll. Say I punch in at 8:01, out for lunch at 12:00, back in at 1:03, and out for the day at 5:02. My hours would be changed to be 8:00, 12:00, 1:02, 5:02 (or something comparable . In that case, I always wonder why they would not change my hours to say that I got to work on time.
After punching in, I walked to the coat rack and began removing my coat and accessories. I checked the pockets once again for my phone, but to no avail. I placed my gloves and hat on the top shelf, wrapped the scarf around my coat hanger along with my coat.
As soon as I saw what shirt I was wearing, I remembered what had happened. This shirt has a front pocket like a hand warmer. I reached in with one hand and felt it. My hand came out of the pocket clutching my cell phone. I felt like an idiot.
As I walked back to my desk, I realized the full extent of the situation. I had left my lunch and book at home because I was sure I would have to go back to get my phone. Now I had my phone, but nothing to eat or read!
I sat down and shook my head. What a morning!
Fortunately, the rest of the day went fairly well and was uneventful. Thank goodness!
No comments:
Post a Comment