2011: Off to a Ridiculous Start

Okay, where do I begin? 2011 started with an almost immediate launch into tax season. I work within a tax center that offers free preparation for low income families along with free financial coaching and free financial aid assistance for college. Sounds awesome, right? Well that's because it is! But the problem is, like any tax preparation agency right now, it's super busy. When it's super busy and people have to wait for extended periods of time....what do they do? They complain.

But dude, seriously? It's a free service. Don't complain!



Naturally, because I'm a weirdo magnet, a lot of complaints find themselves in my lap. And daily I feel like I'm being leveled with an assault rifle. Or a bazooka. Some sort of super intense weapon. Still, I put on meh happy face at work, but when I get home I collapse and go to bed at like 7pm because it's exhausting.

Second, the dreaded half marathon. I finished - but when I arrived at the finish line I looked like a dead wildebeest. I also lost my left toenail and bled clean through one of my shoes.


Before the race, happy but scared. And I look fugly.


After. Totally jank.

Third, I'm turning over the program I run for the National Alliance on Mental Illness called In Our Own Voice over to a new coordinator because unfortunately, I'm just too busy to coordinate it AND work AND have a two year old while maintaining the integrity of the program. So I go up to the Austin State Hospital, which is a mental hospital, to hand over the reins. Saying 'mental hospital' may or may not be derogatory...so sorry if it is!

Anyway, while I respect both those who are in it and those who are employees of it, it's super freaking creepy. The walls are this icky green color, and it always smells both sterile and sickly. OH! And the numbers on the doors never correspond with the doors next to them. SO strange. One time I got lost in there, and I couldn't open any of the exit doors. It felt like a bizarre and terrifying nightmare...luckily I found an employee who believed that I wasn't a patient that let me out.

I digress on the strangeness. You get the idea. So I go up to the Austin State Hospital to hand off my well organized, top notch, squeaky clean, freaking perfect, awesome work on the program to the office staff. When I get to the 4th floor, I discover they haven't yet arrived, so I take the opportunity to go to the restroom...which is a tiny one-person stall.

After that was attended to, I washed my hands and proceeded to have the automatic paper towel dispenser unload its entire contents on me. So I struggle in this tiny little cubicle to stop the paper towels, and don't succeed. I stuff everything in the trashcan, feeling sullen at the tragic waste of the paper. I put my jacket on, and reach to unlock the door. Nothing. The knob doesn't move. WHAT? What is going on here? What do I do?


Oh. My. God. I'm going to die in here!

I start banging loudly on the door every couple of minutes to alert any passers-by.

Finally, after twenty minutes of banging, I get a response. It's the office staff. "WE WILL GO GET A KEY!" they say. They do. The key doesn't work. So we sit there in a state of pushing and pulling and turning and more banging. This goes on for 30 minutes before we finally get a maintenance man up there and manage to unlock the thing.

Like the place doesn't freak me out enough? And I lock myself in a bathroom? Only me. I swear...why does it ALWAYS have to be me?!

So needless to say my year is off to a ridiculous start, but then again that's par for the course. Naturally I will keep you posted on any further interesting events that take place.