redemption of the day

I got a fortune cookie with dinner last night that read “You will receive some high prize or award soon.”

Today… was not that day.

Unless you count something going wrong with literally everything I did at work.  Which… I don’t.

Nothing major, mind you.  Just a steady stream of annoyances.  Every single thing I touched went slightly to moderately wrong all day.

At one point, I was trying to schedule a meeting that I didn’t really want any part of  – but felt obligated anyway.  They asked when I would be available and I responded “Friday afternoon”.  

“Great!” they replied, “We’ll see you at 11 on Friday!”

Now, in what universe is 11 am “the afternoon”?  Since it’s before 12 pm, it’s literally impossible for that to be “after noon”.

Finally, as the day was winding up, I got contacted by a student who wanted help backing up their data.  And the only time they had to do it was right then – at 3 pm.  My day is usually done at 4, but I figured that we could wrap this up pretty quickly.  I was annoyed since I’d already given her detailed written instructions, but, well, sigh.

At 3:30, I got a call from the computer center saying that my appointment was there.  And that’s great, except I don’t work in that building.  So, I had them direct her across campus while I worked on a tedious project and settled into my pissy mood like I was wrapping myself up in a snuggie – assuming that I’d be there late.

The student arrived a few minutes later and we set to work.  She appreciated my help and I glanced at the dissertation files as we packaged them up.  Her dissertation was title:

“Hope and Suicide”

And things changed.  

This wasn’t just a student that needed some technology hand-holding, this was a future doctor that was committed to helping people.  And this wasn’t just some data, it was a story about people’s lives.

We got everything backed up and saved in multiple formats.  And I’m pretty sure she was about to hug me when she realized that might be unprofessional – and then settled for an enthusiastic handshake.

It was 4:01 when I grabbed my swim gear and headed out the door.  I stopped on the way to my car to look over at the bridge where I had helped stop a guy from committing suicide back in October.  Just under the bridge is part of the towpath trail and some artists have painted a mural on the side of the bridge.  It reads:

“Imagine you wake up with a second chance:”

It’s been up there for a few weeks and I’ve noted the coincidence, but never more strongly than today.

I had a good swim, read a book when I got home and had some dinner.  Dishes washed, lawn mowed and now, blog updated.

Despite the thousand paper-cuts of annoyance, it turned out to be a good day after all.