Friday the 13th

I went by work today and Brad pounced on me as soon as I was in the door and drug me in front of the students he is teaching at TAFT. He was giving them a tour of the office and a sneak peak at Interzone Futebol.

I gave them a quick history of my career in the game industry and then told them a few stories that Brad cleverly fed me openings to. He is such a great straight man, I think it's his hair.

Then I went to buy some more packing tape and bumped bumpers with somebody pulling out behind. I had been blinded by a giant van parked next to me and I was so worried that another car was going to hit me as I was pulling out, that I didn't see the guy behind me. Both cars were fine. I had a smudge and he had a smudge and the plastic of his bumper popped out. It popped back in fine, nothing broken.

Then I went to the bank to cash in my jar of coins. I asked if they had a counting machine, knew of another branch that had a counting machine, or if all else fails if I could have the little baggies to separate the coins into, in that order.

They said no, the nearest branch was a 20 minute drive away (and it was already after 4:00), and yes BUT... the other bank next door had a counting machine and they didn't think you had to be a member to use it.

I went back to the car to get my jar which I had been driving all over town with, and despite the fact that I used the seat belt to hold in place, was spilling all over ever few minutes. That's when I found I had locked the keys in the car with the engine running... again.

Thankfully, the last time I did that I joined the RACQ. But since I had transferred my cell phone over to Richard to get out of my hellish contract with Satan (aka Telstra) I didn't have a phone. After a few minutes I found a phone booth (wow, how quaint) and called RACQ.

The time I spent listening to the automatic hold messages: A very very long 15 minutes in which time I shouted back at each of their little, "Aren't we great?" messages that wanted me to pay more money to sign up for more insurance features.

The time I spent waiting for the guy come after the call: A very quick 15 minutes in which I assured numerous passers by that I didn't think the car would overheat despite the noises the fan was making trying to keep it cool.

In the end, the jar of coins was just shy of $140 AUD, a little less than last two times which topped $150. I didn't shake it as much this time trying to cram more coins in so as to avoid having to go cash them in.

I am supposed to have some people come to look at the house today but they are about 30 minutes overdue. Jeremy put in an application to take on the lease but we still haven't heard back from the owners. Cross your fingers, because if he doesn't get the lease I am going to have to scramble to sell my furniture and white goods at the last minute.