What the cat dragged in...

So, I got up today thinking that it would be a pleasant day. That is, I thought that before I got up.

The first thing I noticed was that I had slept through all my alarms. I have four. So, I got up and began getting ready. I had a dinner date (not really a date, though) after work, so I thought I would wear my tightest jeans (mostly because my dog ate my belt) and this pretty blouse I've been saving.

I got ready and put on my pretty blouse and looked in the mirror... The blouse was two sizes too big. It looked like a painter's smock. The only other clean top I had was one of the two shirts I have that I call my "lesbian" shirts.

Because they make me look like a lesbian.

And it's black... what better, for a first "date"? My roommate, Anna, asked me to pick up some cat food, so I resolved to go to the store after work.

I was already over an hour behind schedule, but was almost out of gas, so I had to stop and get gas. Some people think a hurricane is about to hit, so there were lines at the gas stations, which is always fun. But I wouldn't have made it to work, so I waited in line.

I got to work nearly two hours late. I thought it wouldn't be a problem... My manager is short, so he can't really see over cubicle walls while seated, but he happened to be standing up when I came in. Darn. I had planned a conversation with him, but it wouldn't have gone well for me. Fortunately, he quickly forgot who I was and went back to staring at an empty trash can.

Managers, huh?

Anyway, so I got to my desk and was summoned to help people with some tricky cases for two hours, and didn't even get a chance to log into my computer before Luann announced it was lunchtime. Wow. So, I went to lunch with her, where I talked about my impending "date" that evening. She was so happy for me that I'm pretty sure she was already planning the wedding invitations in her

We thought we were doing well... slightly ahead of schedule, we were going to get back to work early, which is good for Luann, because some of the others on her team are mean to her if she takes a long lunch. She was so happy... and then when we got to her car we found a flat tire.

Apparently, in Luann's home culture, women aren't taught to change tires. I wasn't either, but I'm an engineer. So I started trying to change her tire, bemoaning the absense of Men of Valor in the 110-degree parking lot, when suddenly a Man of Valor came along and changed the tire for us. But I had already ruined my makeup and nail polish, and smelled like a sweat lodge, and my lesbian shirt was dirty, and my knees looked like I had been kneeling in a parking lot... not the image I wanted to portray.

We got back, and I was once again summoned to help others with their cases. It sucks to be so cool, sometimes. Anyway, I eventually managed to get about two thirds of my minimum daily workload worked before time to leave.

My original plan was to go straight to the rendezvous place, but now I had to take time to fix my makeup, get dirt out of my clothing, and comb my hair. I had managed to repaint my nails during the day, and they didn't look too bad from a distance.

So I barely made it to the coffee shop (we were meeting at a coffee shop) on time. Except.... there was no coffee shop. I was sure there had been a coffee shop right there, where I had left it. Like two years ago. I walked around a bit to see if I could find the coffee shop, and heard my named called from a night club's patio.

I knew that the coffee shop had been there. Apparetly, it mutated into a night club.

So, I was chatting with my "date"... everything was going alright, apart from my complete social ineptitude, until The Show started. Suddenly, our conversation was being interrupted by... you'll love this part... a drag show.

Now, I have nothing against a drag show... I had never seen one, actually... and I don't even have anything against the drag queens, drag kings and other drag persons who participate in them. But apparently my "date" was fascinated with the show. Hrm... how to save this moment... I took one look at the almost-illegally-short skirts worn by the drag queens and realized that I didn't stand a chance.

At some point, he announce, "Well, I should get home before my wife gets suspicious." WIFE?!?!?!?!?

Well, the show was over, we exchanged pleasantries and parted ways, and I headed home. I was pretty exhausted. I was aching, tired from hiding my pain and nausea from my "date", hungry, dirty, smelly, disillusioned, and did I mention tired? I got home, took off my shoes, locked the front door, stumbled into the living room, and collapsed face down onto the couch.

Anna said to me, "Did you pick up cat food?"