Thursday, October 16, 2008

what a day

Yesterday was a hella-annoying day.

Let me preface this recap with 2 facts :

1. I landed a part-time job at a daycare here in town this week.
2. In celebration of such a sweeping victory on the job front, I got a new haircut.

Ok, so yesterday the director of the daycare called to let me know that she had gotten the confirmation number I would need to get my fingerprints done.

So I start getting myself ready for another foray into the outside world. At which point I realize that, as straight as my hair is and always has been, I now need a straight-iron to style it just right. Do I own a straight-iron? Of course not.

Well, to quote Tim Gunn, I "made it work." Hair = presentable. Time to find the black shoes I need for the outfit I'm wearing. 10 minutes later I realize that my sister must have worn them to work. We're only about a decade and a half behind in the whole sharing a wardrobe phase of siblinghood. I'm still adjusting to that. That's fine. My boots look good with this outfit, too. No big.

I go to the daycare to pick up the form I need and then I'm off to be fingerprinted. Now, it would just be too awesomely convenient for me to be able to have this done at the sherriff's department here in town. No, I have to go to the next county over - a 30 mile trip.

I get to the sherriff's department and ask about fingerprinting, only to be told that I'll have to wait until after 3p.m. Current time: 12:36p.m. Well, crap. What to do for the next 2 and a half hours? Gas prices may have been going down lately, but they still aren't low enough to justify 2 trips to the same place in one day.

Well, I think I know this town well enough to find Walmart. And, hey - random fast food joint with a dollar menu is Walmart-adjacent! So I kill a little time for lunch and then I start browsing at Walmart. About an hour into my browsing I bemoan the fact that, while they are hella-cute, these boots are not, in fact, made for walking. But I don't know the area well enough to be comfortable exploring, so I gotta just deal with it.

I get back to the sherriff's department and walk in the door at exactly 3:00p.m. Now there is a sign posted (which was NOT there before, mind you) listing fingerprinting hours as 8am-12pm and 4pm-6pm. What? Obviously, I should have packed a book in my purse. I spend the next hour texting friends and writing this post in a notebook I keep in my purse.

At 4:00pm I go BACK into the sherriff's department. I FINALLY get in to be fingerprinted and we get this show on the road. It's a computerized system that scans your fingerprints instead of the old ink pad and paper business. First we scan my thumbprints. No problem. Then we scan slap-prints of each hand (all 4 fingers lined up together). Simple. Then we roll each finger. Right hand, all good. Left hand, fine. Until we get to the ring finger on my left hand. Evidently the computer had trouble getting a clear read on that print. It kept popping up "FAILURE." I. kid. you. not. After the 3rd attempt, I laugh it off by saying "I didn't really need a computer to tell me that." I mean, really. How's that for self-esteem boosting? And THAT finger? Really? The officer ended up going into the computer and choosing the best of the 4 attempts for that finger.

Now let's just cross our fingers that we don't find out that I'm a serial killer or anything when the results of the check come back.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, Amber! I'm just now reading this blog and wanted to say how sorry I am! I don't know what else to say other than, "Hang in there!" I will pray for you.

Congrats on the part-time job, though...hopefully things will be looking up soon!

Stacia

Kel said...

Okay, I have to admit, I had to laugh at your sense of humor. That was a really well-timed reply!

I'm sorry your day was so bad though. :( At least you got a job!! Yay!