Feisty Bento #380: Seriously FML

That was lunch.  A big container of Stew Leonard's New England clam chowder.  I ate half of it already, so the remainder was the perfect size for lunch.  I went to the Elevated Acre to sit and watch the boats go by while I ate.  Actually, I studied for my English quiz, but y'know, same thing. 

But I added lobster.  See, Stew Leonard's is this giant supermarket that's about 30 minutes away from my home.  I had a terrible end of week last week - as anyone who read the last two posts knows - and I just was freaking out and then I saw this on the Midtown Lunch forums: lobsters for $3.99/lb.  Uhh, hi?  I managed to convince my boyfriend that we should go; it didn't hurt that porterhouses were on sale for $3.99/lb. as well.  So I bought 5 lobsters and we spent 2 hours in there walking around and buying stuff.  Final total: $120, which isn't bad considering the amount of stuff we got.  However, I later went to Trader Joe's (to get eggs, because I have yet to find a place that beats their egg prices, except that once at the Asian supermarket where it was $2 for 3 dozen eggs...), and realized that some of the things at Stew's was priced similarly to Trader Joe's, but slightly more expensive.  Doh!!!  I have to remember my prices!  Oh well, it was fun walking around when you can see things like:

Creepy doll, far left, girl reading healthy food book, man in cow costume waving to everyone.  And behind me, a family listening intently to the story, eating french fries.  I mean that was their entire lunch - they sat right next to us, and ordered like 5 orders of fries for 5 people, and maybe 2 hot dogs. 

We had a good time though; the store is really large and kind of walks like a maze, you almost have to walk through the whole thing to get to the end, and there's a ton of good food.  The container of soup I bought is $5, but really good - actually I've mentioned Stew Leonard's before here and here - cuz I really like going there, but rarely do.  Because 30 minutes isn't far, per se, but it's not close, either. 

This seagull started freaking out when I tried to take his picture as he stood in front of me.  Guess he thought I could actually shoot him with my camera, har-har-har...

So, the most wonderful thing happened!  Thus the title of this post.  Well, that's sarcasm for you.  I'm flabbergasted by the whole affair, actually. 

I mentioned that I now have a vehicle.  Last semester, I took public transportation straight to my school after work, which kills lots and lots of time (I get to school very early this way), but there's no very good nor direct way for me to get from my apartment to my school via public transportation.  It would probably take an hour or an hour and a half, while driving only takes 10-15 minutes.  20 if there's traffic. 

Now that I have a vehicle, I go home first, walk the dog, eat dinner, clean up a bit, you know, do things that are semi-productive as opposed to sitting on my butt at school, waiting for class to start.

Last night, I got in the car to go pick up my CSA on my way to class. 

I turned the key in the ignition.

Grrr, then silence.
Grrr, then silence.
Grrr...
THEN ABSOLUTE SILENCE.

Nothing.  It wouldn't even grind a little.  I did what I normally do when I have trouble starting a car (this has happened in the past; when I was younger, I used to start my parents' car for them and as the car got older, it had issues with its starter).  But it wasn't giving me that funny lil noise like the starter went bad. 

Obviously, I was having battery issues, but I didn't leave any lights on or anything battery draining! 

I sat there in shock, really, because it was just that point where I laugh and say "Seriously?  Are you kidding me?"  I had one of those teetering on the brink of being terrible day yesterday, so this was just pushing me towards the edge.  I tried again.  And again. 

Someone came by and gave me a jump; he pointed out that my battery had corrosion on the top, so it was the battery.  Which isn't an expensive fix by itself, but added to everything else just makes me throw my hands up in the air and think, WHAT THE F???????  Is this car cursed or what?  None of these problems a short 4 months ago, before I took ownership of the damn thing!!! 

The worst part is that I switched bags before I went to the car.  I wanted to go to class anyway and risk it; if the car didn't start after class, at 10pm in the middle of nowhere, I could still take the 1.5 hour route home, at least I wouldn't miss what was the first instructional class for the semester in this class.  (Last week was just talking about the professor's expectations, etc., what was required of us - one of those things being ATTENDANCE.)  But because I'd switched bags without thinking this would be a possibility, I left my MetroCard (for the non-NYers... it's basically a transit card that you put money on and swipe when you get on the subway or bus; I have an unlimited card, so forgetting it at home is not a choice) in my other bag, plus I only had like $3 on me.  I had to go back upstairs to get the card, but I couldn't leave the car running on the street!  AND I STILL HAD TO GO PICK UP MY CSA SHARE. 

I let the car run for 10 minutes, then ran upstairs and ran back down.

Grrr.  Grrr.  Total silence. 

Totally dead. 

I sat there, shaking with fury and anger.  Not at the world, not "Why did this happen to me?" and not even at myself for being so stupid to go upstairs.  It wasn't stupid.  It was reasonable because I couldn't get home without my MetroCard.  I was just angry and upset and I couldn't keep hold of my emotions any longer; the day took its toll on me.  I almost started crying.  Almost. 

A minute later, I looked at the clock and realized that it was 7:50 and I needed to pick up my CSA share before they shut down for the night at 8 pm.  I ran out of the car, grabbed my grocery bag and nothing else, ran to the train, swiped the MetroCard I'd just liberated from my apartment, and didn't stop running until I got to the CSA pickup spot at 8:01.  It's actually pretty far from the train station, but because I ran, I cut down the time drastically.  Hah!  That running paid off as training for this!  I grabbed my veggies and turned to go home. 

Class starts at 8:10.  There was no way I could take public transportation and get there in any normal amount of time.  I might get there... just as class was ending.  What was the point in that?

So I went home, calmed myself down a little bit, and decided that if I couldn't be productive and go to class, I would do something else productive. 

I made bread crumbs by hand from a baguette I'd bought from Stew Leonard's that already hardened. 
I baked mac & cheese (and didn't take a picture of the finished product, oops). 
I made the ultimate lobster salad and packed it for lunch.  (Initially I was just making it, thinking it would be good, but it turned out to be ultimate, so a recipe is forthcoming.) 
I caught up on some writing.

I did not, however, touch a drop of schoolwork because the mere thought of school made me sick to my stomach.  I didn't miss ANY classes last semester, and even though I had a totally valid reason, it just really upset me.  I had to distract myself from my missing class.

Sigh.

Think outside the lunchbox!  And if you have a working car, just for going from point A to B, that you want to sell for less than $1,000... let me know.

Sigh.  More car troubles.  More money down the drain... and I apologize for talking about money so much lately, I know it's tacky.  My bad... it's just what's on my mind the most lately.