For a few days now I've been unable to locate my favorite pen. This particular pen doesn't have any sentimental value, but it is my favorite kind. I like the feel of this type of pen in my hand and I really like the way they write.
These pens come in packages of two and the going rate around here for such a package is $3.19 which is steep enough that I can't really afford to buy them by the dozen like cheap Bics but not high enough to prevent me from getting a couple new ones when I'm out.
"Well, if they come in 2-packs", you say, "just use the other one you got at the same time you got the one you lost. Gimme a break, man, can't you solve a simple problem like that without help?"
The only problem with that plan is that I lost the other pen in the original set of two before I even got a chance to write with it once.
I have another pen which I like pretty well, but it seems to be showing its age. The ink flow is not steady and I occasionally have to retrace what I've written to make it legible, vastly reducing the enjoyability of using it so I really wanted to find my best pen.
I'd asked Ruth two or three times if she'd seen it and requested she keep an eye out for it, but since Monday no one has seen the wayward intrument.
Today I had a special treat. Normally I ride to work with my mother. Her place of employ is exactly on the way to mine, so when we get to her office I take the car on to mine and then at the end of the day I pick her up and she drops my off at my house on her way home. She was off work today to take care of some business so I needed a ride.
Usually under such situations, Ruth drives me to work after we drop Isaiah at school and then she comes back over to pick me up. Since my office is about 45 minutes/20 miles from home, this is not something we want to do (drive back and forth twice in a single day) if we don't have too.
But, since Ruth was going to be doing some things with her mother and aunt today, she suggested I drop Isaiah off at school and then just drive our van to work to save a second trip. I enjoy taking Isaiah to school so this was fine with me. Except, of course, that the van needed gas. OK, that wasn't too big a deal. Ruth gave me a $20 bill so I put gas in the van.
By the time I'd driven half way to work and gassed up, it was close enough to 9 am that I knew I wouldn't make it to the office by then anyway so a mile or so past the gas station I decided I'd stop at Shop'n Save(specifically store #9) and get a new pen(s).
This plan was implemented without a hitch, though as I was paying I thought to myself "I'll probably find the old pen now that I've spent $3.19 to replace it". After buying the 2-pack of new pens there was some good music on my favorite local public radio station as I drove to work.
As I was parking, the announcer mentioned that Frank Zappa and The Art of Noise were coming up after a public service announcement so I got all my gear together and lugged it inside to get set to listen.
Getting set to listen is a little more complicated for me than just turning on the radio. My ears aren't so great so if I were to have a radio playing into the air as some do quietly here in cubicle land, I'd have to have it loud enough to bug other people to be able to enjoy it. I used to use regular headphones, but since my radio is on a shelf above my 21" monitor the cord on most headphones was a bit short unless I sat just so.
In order to allow myself full-spectrum audio enjoyment at work, I bought myself a set of wireless headphones x-mas before last and they are pretty cool. I can keep jamming all the way to the lunch room and back so if there's something good on the radio I don't have to miss a single beat when I go to put my lunch in the microwave or even when I answer the call of nature. The only complication is that I have to connect the transmitter to my radio and thread the cord from the power adapter up to the transmitter through the jungle of cables and wires behind my desk.
It had been a great morning so far. I'd enjoyed spending a few extra minutes at home and dropping Isaiah off at school. I'd gotten some new pens and listened to some good music. The weather was beautiful- slightly chilly but sunny and clear and when I got inside I'd hook up my headphones and listen to some more good music as I went to work.
Here's where it gets Monday-ish.
As I pulled the headphones out of my bag I found the pen I'd just spent $3+ to replace. Then I discovered that laying in the bottom of my junk bag, the switch on the side of the headphones had been set to the "on" position and the two AA batteries required for its operation were dead.
But I guess if those are the biggest problems I have today, I'll do OK.