Friday, May 23, 2008

Yesterday started off badly and got worse from there. I left for Holy Cross Cemetery early to stop at Rite-Aid. (Before I went to California, I had dropped off a slide from my wedding to have a print made. It is now lost. I waited while the processing place was called, then talked to them myself. I'm furious, not only because it's one of the few slides I have of our wedding, but because nobody expressed the slightest apology, regret, or understanding of my distress.)
Still in plenty of time (I'm notorious for being early), I headed for Mays Landing. Here's a quick synopsis of what happened:
First, at the left turn onto Route 9, the jerk in front of me started through the green light, then--seemingly for no reason--jammed on his brakes. I hit him, luckily not very hard, and he blithely went on his way. (Later, I saw my car had sustained no damage, but it was upsetting. No, let me rephrase that: It pissed me off.)
Second, I followed driving directions from Mapquest, which I know is in business just to drive me crazy. They told me to get off the expressway exit for CR 575, but the road isn't marked that way and I didn't realize it until it was passed. Had to drive roughly 10 miles further (and pay a $2 toll) to get to the north/south rest stop to turn around.
Third: Got there, but thought I was turning into the parking lot, when I actually arrived at a one-way road that forced me to go right back northbound!
Fourth: Had to drive at least 8 or 9 miles further to get off the damn expressway. By this time, I was screaming and cursing--lets off tension, doncha know--but not crying because I didn't want my mascara to run.
Fifth: Stopped at several restaurants, gas stations, and stores to ask directions, first to Mays Landing, then to the cemetery. Naturally, I consistantly found the handful of visitors from Upper Mongolia who had never heard of either.
Okay, enough of this! I got to the cemetery about quarter of one, 45 minutes late. I didn't expect anybody to still be there, but members of Joe's family were just drifting toward their cars and I was able to speak to them. Chatted with George W., got a mass card, then left.
Driving home--an annoyingly easy and straightforward route--I tried to be philosophical about my ordeal, but barely succeeded. When I got in, Pat was at the bay and because of my precarious emotional state, I did something really weird: I turned on the television and ate my lunch in front of it.
I'm going to end this on a high note, though: I opened the mail and found a check for $2500 which darling Aunt Claire had thoughtfully left me as a bequest. Hey, things were looking up! (As I mentioned to friend Pat R., there's nothing like money to make people happy.)

1 comment:

iloveac said...

OMG what an ordeal. Mapquest can really screw me up when I don't know where I'm going...and when they list county roads and numbers I get totally confused.
That area of the expressway has been problematic for us when we are up there.
When we left you at the Crab Trap last fall I missed an exit and almost wound up in Tuckerton.

Rite Aid losing the slide would have been enough to make me cry right then and there. And no apology...that's just too much.

Glad you at least got to the cemetery to say farewell to my classmate and talk with his family.

I thought you were going to say you got a nice $50 or $100 honorarium for modeling in the fashion show. Wow! What a wonderful, unexpected gift from your Aunt. It came on just the right day, I"d say. Enjoy and celebrate.

Thursday

Up and at 'em after a pretty good sleep. Didn't do a whole lot in the morning besides making my lunch. Left about 10:30 to meet Dian...