Thank the lords! It's over!

So, yesterday was rather a debacle and an exersize in patience. Grrr... I was stood up. This would not have been so bad, had I not decided to be a good person and head over there ANYWAY. But I start ahead of myself. Let us start at the beginning, which would be just after the end of my last post here...


I went to the kitchen and made myself a PB&J, and sat and ate it, then got ready. Everything I was taking with me was already bagged up, with the express purpose of grabbing it hurriedly on the way out the door as the Terrible Trio arrived and whisked me away at 6 am. By 5:30, I'm ready to go, and am sleepy. So, I snuggle up on the couch, confident that I'll hear them drive up / knock on the door and I'll be ready to go.


6 am, and there's no knock. I'm thinking, ok - they're a little late. They aren't morning people, any more than I am. That's forgiveable.

6:30 - still no knock, and no call. Fred's up by this time and has made coffee. He's looking at me, curled up on the couch in my outfit, and asks when they were supposed to be here. 6, I tell him. Ah, he says.

7 am - still no knock, and no call. Fred finally tells me to go back to our bedroom and lay down, and he'll wake me up when they get here. I agree whole-heartedly because I'm exhausted already... LOL... can you tell I don't do mornings?

9:45 - I'm awakened to the sound of the phone ringing. It's one of the Terrible Trio, apologizing for not picking me up. Seems they'd decided to have some (MORE) drama in their lives and fought until 3am the night before, and didn't wake up until 7:15. And since another of the Terrible Trio was supposed to be at the Highland Games at 7:45, they booked. (insert amusement here - they have to drive by my apartment in order to get out to the Games - and they spaced picking me up until 9:45?!). I'm then told if I take the bus out, I will be given free food and promised not to do anything for the rest of the day, and they'll take me back home...


10:15 - I pick up the first of the 3 busses it will take to get me there. I could have gone for 2, but I also wanted to pick up a little something to drink on the way so as not to be completely parched. It was already warm, and getting warmer.

12:47 - I'm finally dropped off across the street from Mt. Hood Community College, where the Games are being held. I wend my way around to the main gate and ask where Will-Call is, since that's where my nametag is. They point me down to road to a green building with 3 windows in it. I walk the quarter of a mile down and don't see a green building, but do see another gate. So, I ask there - they point me to a BROWN building with 3 windows on it, which are all closed, and I'm told to knock on it. I do, but there's no answer. I walk back to the 2nd gate, and there find that Will-Call has been re-located... to RIGHT BEHIND THEM. OMG! Pay attention much?


I finally get my badge, get a map and general directions on where to find the Volunteers Tent, and head down there. For those who are interested, I passed by Heather Alexander a couple of times throughout the day, the first of which was on my way down to the tent. She was dressed nicely in a kilt. In any case, I find Iris, the first of the trio (she who called me tearfully and apologized), and she then hands me a ticket for my "free food", and drags me out into the blazing hot sun for a good hour or so. I've forgotten my sunscreen... I can feel my skin crackle.


I convince her to let us pick up our food and head back to the tent because it's really hot, and really bright, and I'm hungry. We do, and the free food turns out to be a coupon for... 1 free bangor sausage - and no drink. I'm overwhelmed - no, truly. I mean, it's something like 90 degrees out, and dozens of volunteers came out and spent their entire day in the hot sun trekking back and forth, and they get one free sausage. Of course, you can pick up all the cold, old coffee or old tea and water you can drink at the volunteer tent. But the actual food part is 1 sausage. Nice. And if you want to purchase one, it's $5. Yeah... they don't give lube for it, either.


But, in any case, we head back to the tent, and I proceed to devour my sausage, along with my water, and then end up somehow working at the front table anyway, because Iris ends up getting a headache. The other two of the Terrible Trio keep coming in and out, as the male portion of this threesome is competing in the upper field in pretty much apparently ALL the games. Ugh. He comes down and spouts off how he did with his scores, compares them with other scores and the top score, then ambles off again.


Long around 4, Iris announces that she has a migraine and so after the Major cabor toss, we can just leave. I'm totally down with that. I'd realized somewhere along the way that I'd spaced bringing my bad of goodies to keep my hands occupied, so I had nothing to do - no book, no sewing, no beadwork. I was going nuts. We watch the cabor toss from the comfort of the tent. 3 people managed to make it turn over. And then, it was done.


5:15 I looked up expectantly at Iris, who had come round to my side of the tent, and she said that she and the other two of the Trio were going to go up to get his scores, and they'd be right back. In my overly hot, completely blitzed brain, I said "OK", totally spacing the fact that he already KNEW his scores. They ambled off with two more people, and left me with another guy in the tent, Ian, who turned out to be pretty cool.


6:20 - still no sign of them coming back. Iris has left her purse there, but no one has returned to explain why it's taking them an HOUR to get scores. I'm getting pissed.

6:30 - I put in a call to Vlad, requesting that he come save me. He agrees, and soon after Iris shows up. I explain the situation, wherein she said that everything at the Highland Games takes time... I roll my eyes.


As we wend our way across the main field, we run into the other female of the Trio, and say our goodbyes. Her response to the fact that NO ONE came down to let us know what was going on, and it would have been nice was that they had to wait for the announcements of the placements. Ahhh - and all 5 of you had to do so. I see. Whatever.


Ron rolls up about 10 minutes later and picks both Ian and me up, and takes off... The Trio hasn't even made it toward the stairs yet. We manage to get Ian back home and get me back to my apartment by 7:30, giving me enough time to munch on some stir fry and have my bodice repaired, then head over to Pirate Karaoke with Fred and Vlad.


Pirate Karaoke was quiet, but nice. We had plenty of people that we knew there, and they all had a good time. The locals had a good time, and the KJ and his girlfriend had a good time as well. I got complimented on my vocals by a complete stranger, and ended up heading home early because I was totally wrung out and sunburnt.


All in all, it was a bad day turned good. And I'm glad that I didn't have to go to bed angry - just disappointed at yet another group of flakes in my world of nuts.


~M