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Writer's pictureSue Leonard

One of Those Days

It was one of those days. It started at 8 AM, and I’m not an early bird. I had to go to the nearby clinic for a blood draw. Just three blocks into the trip a huge palm frond covered my lane. There was a bicycler in the bike lane on the right so I had to wait for the oncoming traffic to clear so I could go around the palm frond.

Palm frond in road

Two blocks later an ambulance approached and I pulled to the shoulder. In another two blocks, the accompanying fire truck approached. I pulled into the right turn lane. The fire truck turned in front of me, but the impatient driver behind me laid on the horn.


A mile later, turning into my destination, a car stalled in the first position of the left turn lane. I had to wait for a very long stop light for the next lane to clear so I could pass the stalled car. There was a truck in the left turn lane opposite me, blocking the view of the oncoming traffic. When the traffic seemed to be clear I started my left turn and zap, a car comes speeding at me. I dodged the car at the last second.


It’s a good thing it was a blood test and not a blood pressure test.


When I got home, I tried to access a website I haven’t accessed in a while. I got the dreaded Login failed message. I typed the password again, carefully this time. The site didn’t have one of those eyeball 'show password' buttons so I didn’t know if I typed it wrong or forgot the password. I hate it when sites don’t have the eyeball.

logon failed and password prompt

I couldn’t find my password in my password file. I tried I forgot my password. The site wanted to send me a text with an authentication code, but my phone number had changed. Then the website wanted me to enter one of the ten backup recovery codes it had sent me. I searched my emails and files in the likely folders and I couldn’t find them. I was desperate. The website didn’t list a number to call for help, just a link to FAQs which didn’t help. So I restarted the search for those elusive backup recovery codes. After about an hour, I finally found them. I’d saved them in a safe place where I was sure I could find them. So much for that. This time, I saved them in a safer place – at least that’s my hope.


Passwords are always a problem. I have about 300 different passwords. Granted some of them haven’t been used in years, but still, I have a lot of passwords. I follow a pattern when I create them, so they are usually easy for me to remember, but some website password requirements don’t fit my pattern.


When you change a password, you have to change it on all your devices. I use MS Outlook for my main email and I have an app on my iPhone and iPad. I also use Apple Mail, so I have to remember to change the password in four places. If I’m on the road and don’t have my PC with me so I can’t look up a password on my iPhone if I forget it.


While I worked on my password, I forgot the laundry in the dryer. By the time I remembered it was a crumpled mess. Since I never iron, I put a couple of wet wash rags in the dryer and ran the dry cycle again. I hope the energy gods won’t be too mad at me.


I also forgot to shield my water glass from the cat. He has a habit of dipping his paw into the glass and then licking his paw. When he uses his right paw, he does that without tipping the glass over. This time he used his left paw and knocked the water glass over. It’s a 32 oz glass. Water and ice cubes splattered everywhere, including seeping into the drawers. Luckily, the large beach towel I use to dry the shower door was nearby, so I grabbed it to mop up the mess.

cat dipping paw in water

Since my morning was a disaster, hubby suggested we eat lunch at the community restaurant. Normally I’d pass because I tend to overeat when we eat lunch there, but it was a welcome break from my calamitous day. They had my favorite dish – Thai Shrimp Tostadas; Thai seasoned shrimp over Cole slaw with yum yum sauce. It came and looked lovely. Except I forgot to order it without the Siracha drizzle. Nowadays my mouth and my stomach can't tolerate hot stuff. Rather than make the server take it back, I dabbed the Siracha sauce off and enjoyed my lunch. The $3 margarita special made me even happier, it's a good thing my clothes didn't fall off (see Tequila makes her clothes fall off).

Shrimp tostada

Fortunately, my luck changed and the afternoon went without incident.


And honestly, all those things, except the cat incident, happened on the same day. The cat incident did happen in the same week. It happens occasionally. Can someone out there invent a device to keep the cat from tipping water glasses over? Maybe an armored glass holder. Or an audible warning chip to clip on the glass: “WARNING: You’ve left your water glass unattended.” Without that, I may have to revert to sippy cups.


References

Why Do Cats Do The Weird Things They Do? 7 Behaviors Explained, meowingtons.com, January 14, 2022

2 comentários


Convidado:
13 de ago. de 2023

I use a bottle that has a cap that I reuse from drinks I have bought in the past. That way if the cat decides to get to the drink it doesn't cause a mess if it gets knocked over. She likes to lick the condensation off of the bottle.

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Sue Leonard
Sue Leonard
14 de ago. de 2023
Respondendo a

Clever!

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