This morning I noticed rain whipping the window panes. When I stepped outside to get to my car I was confronted by a wrapping of ice covering the car. I managed to chip enough off the get the key in the lock and to grab the door handle. After starting the motor, I went back out to scrape the ice off, fighting the wind and rain.
I drove slowly as the roads were slippery . But even after having to wait at the train crossing for what seemed to be an eternity, I got to work on time and found a parking spot less than a mile away from the office.
I stepped out of the car and right into a very deep and cold puddle. I had many bags to carry: my purse, my briefcase, my shoes, my lunch…I juggled them all as I walked against the wind, trying to find the office key and the piece of paper that has the alarm system password written out on it. The outside door was unlocked, which led me to believe that my co worker had arrived before I did, so I dropped the key and paper in my deepest pocket and walked up the stairs trying to catch my breath. When I got to the actual office door, it was locked, so I had to put all my bags down and fish for the key and pass word again. I struggled with the key for a while and as I was ready to jump on the alarm control panel I noticed a set of keys stuck in the keyhole inside the door. My co worker was already there but he must have been busy.
Today was recycling day, yet the green bins were still under the desks. Since I had my coat on I decided to carry them outside, secretly hoping to shame my co worker into coming out to help me as this is his responsibility. There were two bins, made heavy by discarded phone directories and two large cardboard boxes filled with travel brochures and loose paper. I started with the bins, I had to dig a hole in the snow bank to keep them from sliding off into the street. The wind was whipping my hair into my face, the sleet was pinching and freezing me at the same time. My feet were cold, the stairs were slippery. I had one last run to make from office to curb. It was the large cardboard box. As I got to the top of the outside stairs the bottom gave out and the contents spilled out and slid all the way down the steps. Balancing the box on my hip, holding it’s bottom with one hand, I bent down at each step to pick up and stuff everything back in, while the wind was blowing papers left and right. Once at the bottom I had to fish papers out of puddles, pry some that were wrapped around fence posts while others seemed to be playing tag with me flying away as soon as I reached down for them.
And then you have to answer with a smile in your voice when a customer calls you three times to ask if the tub is facing a window in a 2 stars hotel, in some godforsaken place.
I thought my day was done when I left work at 6 PM, but I had another thing coming: my door locks were frozen solid. I could not turn the key nor move the handle. I tried the passenger door to no avail. The only lock that had been spared was the hatch. So I had to crawl in over the back seat and the stick shift. Luckily by the time I got home the heater had had time to soften the ice and all I had to do was hit the door a few times…