tonight, i was supposed to shoot a friend's show (cure for static). i spent a total of about an hour making sure my commute went smoothly and as safely as possible. (nothing like walking alone in boston with $1600 worth of equipment on your back.. i made arrangements to avoid that.) i had someone meeting me at the train, and a ride back. times were double checked to be sure i would get back before the final train.
i spent an hour packing and charging, making sure i had every last piece of equipment i needed, making sure everything worked and all my cards were formatted and i had the right cards and ID, a little cash - which i didn't think i'd need - my keys, phone, everything. i am not the most prepared person in the world and, knowing this, made sure i had prepared correctly. i ran out the door and got to the T station on time and, as promised, called my friend so he knew i was on my way.
i pulled the $5 out of my pocket as i pulled in, prepared to use $3 of it to pay for my parking. parking at the station went up and was now $5.75. what the fuck. so, i dug into my car change and gave the attendant the whole $5.75 i had on me.
i parked and ran up to buy a ticket (couldn't find my Charlie Card anywhere before i left). i put my check card into the machine (exp date: 09/12) and it was immediately rejected while i was told it was.. expired. lies.
i drove home. there were no other options. i drove home and grabbed my credit card, which i forbid myself to use unless it's an absolute emergency. count it. i get back to the station, explain to the woman what happened and that i just paid for parking 10 minutes ago. the language barrier caused some disturbance, but i was able to get back into my spot without much of a fight.
i grabbed "all" my stuff and made a run for the train, which was in the station as i pulled up. clearly, i wasn't getting on that one. it has now been approximately 20 min since i told my friend i was on my way.
trying desperately to catch my breath, i shoved my credit card into the machine to get a $5.oo ticket to ride. "cannot read card. please try again." you've got to be kidding me. i ran it 6 or 7 times and then decided to try to pull it out a different way as it was a little warped. finally, it took it. i shoved the ticket into the gate - down to $3.30 - and walked to the train.
figuring another train would not be by for about 5-10 minutes, i thought i'd pull out my cell phone and bitch via
Twitter. not in my back pocket.. not in my jacket pockets.. i groped at myself for about 20 seconds before i realized.. my phone was still in my car.
i took a deep breath - getting stressed would not get me to landsdowne st any faster - and exited the station to get my phone. i wouldn't make it to the show without it as i had to meet up with people at the kenmore station to know where i was going and get there safely. as i exited, it occurred to me that there was no one but the ticket machine to convince that i had already paid my fare. i would have to pay another $1.70 to get back on the train and, of course, $1.70 to get back home.. which meant putting another $5 on the ticket, as i would come up $o.1o short after having already paid once.
at some point, you have to figure that.. maybe i'm just not meant to go to the show tonight. i fought the best i could, but the night fought harder and it was time to turn around and go home. sometimes, the universe has a funny way of telling us, "you should probably stay home tonight." i called the boys to apologize and thank them for the trouble they went through to try to get me there. he told me to get home safely and they'll see me at the next one. hopefully, their next show will not be on a night when the universe has decided it doesn't want me going out.
the good news is: i'm ridiculously tired and have more work to do than i know how to handle. i have to admit it's a bit of a load off to know that i can put my pajamas on at 10pm, get some work done, and get to bed early to finish the mountain of projects i have in the morning.
i'm going to go make tea.
