Accept the fact that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue

Today will not go down as my favourite day ever. It could be one of my longest ones though as I greeted it at 1:30 this morning. I tried to send it back to sleep but to no avail. Knowing that you will go to work with three hours of shut eye in the bank isn't the best way to start things off.

The news on the radio said highway conditions were poor with blizzard-like conditions (possibly official blizzard conditions, my memory is fuzzy on the exact details.) I first thought of The Beefcake Boyfriend as he has to drive outside the city about 20 minutes to get to work. I waited until what seemed like a sensible hour (6:30) to text him a good luck with the drive message. I chose my words carefully so as not to imply that I didn't think he could manage the drive, just that I hoped it went well. I've read Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus. I know that you don't tell a guy you doubt his abilities. And I'm a PR girl, so ambiguous yet positive messages are my bread and butter.

"No work today!" he wrote back. His workplace closed due to the conditions. On three hours of sleep it's a big challenge to dig deep and pull up happiness for my love's luck. I dug. I found it. It didn't taste very good coming out, but it was genuine.

From there the day continued to take a gentle but steady tumble. I submitted my expenses for payment and one receipt was rejected for not being a receipt.

"This isn't a receipt," the cashier said.

"But it says receipt," I said. It even said it in two places. How much more receipt-y could it get?

"But it doesn't say on here that you paid. It only says what the total amount was. It needs to show paid with a balance of zero. Did you order this item from the Internet?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, we see this all the time. Just contact the vendor and ask them to send you the paperwork."

I was expecting $87 back. I got zero because of that one "non" receipt. I've plead my case to the Internet and am holding my breath. I've been advised I may have to do this for two business days.

More antics from other grumbly people ensued. Details not really important here. But this afternoon came with a small ray of sunshine.

On Tuesday I was in a meeting. One of my co-workers was about 10 paces ahead of me leaving the room. I was looking down and saw a twenty dollar bill flutter to the floor. I picked it up and wondered if it had fallen out of the coat pocket of my colleague. She was hoofing it out the door to get home to her kids so I couldn't catch her. I emailed her when I got to my desk to ask if she had lost $20. I hoped it was hers and not some other hospital visitor's, perhaps someone who really couldn't afford to lose $20. I also hoped that the security camera didn't judge me for picking it up. I wanted to go up to it and explain my planned attempt to reunite the funds with its proper owner. If it didn't belong to my co-worker, plan B would be to donate it to the hospital anyway.

Today I heard back from my co-worker.

I did lose 20$, got stuck in the parking lot and used my husbands visa to get out, lol. Thanks so much for you honesty.

 Are you paying attention, Karma? I did something nice. Yah. It's really not like me to be nice, I know, so how about a little encouragement to do it again? What's that? Two business days to process? Sounds good. Thanks.