The things we do to make a living and a dream come to fruition.

After working an overnight shift, I arrived bright and early at my new clinic to meet the phone/ internet and the alarm instillation technicians. They were both due to arrive within the same three hour time frame of 9:00AM to 12:00 PM. That gave me an hour to go to city hall and pay the deposit for the water and sewer service. Timing was great and I anticipated being showered and in bed by 2:00 PM, resting up for my next overnight shift which begins at 11:00 PM. This is going to work out fine. My delusion of the day begins.

I was at city hall at 8:00 when the doors opened. I was third inline behind a grey haired middle aged man who wore his pants well below his waist and exposed much more of his behind and plaid boxer shorts than his age and the law should allow. To add insult to disgust, he took forever to pay his bill in cash, slowly pulling crumpled bills from his pockets. Finally, it was my turn at the window. I completed my application ahead of time and was all ready to pay my deposit fee. I presented my credit card to the attendant and was informed they don’t accept this particular card. I didn’t have my check book on me so off to the ATM. Thirty minutes later and having endured a second boxer shots exhibitionist while in line at city hall, that task was done. My delusion continues.

I arrive back at the clinic a bit before 9:00 and start my vigil for the two installation technicians. Since a watched pot never boils, I attempted to pass the time with paperwork, resisting the urge to cat nap. Since there is only so much paper work to be done, I found myself well into the arrival window with no technician from either company in sight. I then notice the truck for the cable company arrive – and it just sits in the parking lot – for 35 minutes. Now we are well past the arrival schedule. I walk out to the van and rap on the driver side window. The occupant jumps with surprise and rolls down the window. I remark “Been waiting all morning. At least one of us got a nap.“ He enters the building and gets to work.

After the first technician had been working for about an hour, the alarm technician arrives. Apparently professional courtesy is important in the technical instillation community since they spent a good 20 minutes in discussion. Finally they get back to work. After an hour, the alarm technician decides the difficulty of them both stringing wire and installing equipment at the same time is not going to work. He tells me he is leaving but will return on the following Thursday to complete the job. Thankfully the internet and phone technician stayed and finished his appointed job. What was first described to me as a two hour project took a total of nine hours, including the waiting. My dream of a relaxing afternoon and restful sleep was just a bitter continuation of the day’s delusion.

I hope for better luck with the alarm technician on Thursday. With that thought I realize the delusion is not complete, just delayed.

As a consultation prize, I opted to settle in and take a before dinner nap on one of the church pews to be used as seating in my waiting room. I lock the door and turn off the lights. This activity will be no delusion. I do have some experience sleeping while seated in a church pew.