I got a great surprise this afternoon.  As I was leaving the office for the holiday weekend, my boss handed me an envelope.  I did not open it until I got to my car; expecting $50 or maybe even $100.  As I opened the envelope, I almost fell over with surprise!!

He had given me a $500 bonus for Christmas!!  I was not even expecting a bonus, since I have only worked for him for a year.  But man, this was a great Christmas gift.  I have been needing a new television set in my living room for about 1 1/2 years now, mine went out, and I could not afford to fix it or buy a new one.  So, this is buying me a new television set!!!  They have some great sales going on right now.  Thank you Mr. Elliott for the wonderful gift.

I came out of work to the parking lot, where many of us who work downtown pay to park our cars; a safe place to park, one might think.
As I walked toward my 2005 Mustang, I notice a piece of paper under one windshield wiper.  My first thought was “that had better not be a ticket, my parking is paid up”.

So, I get to the car and see that it is indeed a ticket, but not the kind of ticket I had suspected.  It was information written by a police officer giving the information for the driver of the vehicle that had hit my car!!!!  Now this car was 5 years old, yes, but it was in excellent condition, not a scratch on it.  So, needless to say, I was a bit upset.  Not angry, mind you, but just upset.

I called the phone number of the driver of the pickup that was the culprit and they said that they had already contacted their insurance company to file a claim.  I was very pleasantly surprised.  Most people would have just driven away thinking that they would get away with it.  But, low and behold, there are some honest people still left in the world.

It has been a very busy week at work, been putting in a lot of overtime.  So I was just too tired to cook supper tonight.  So we went out to eat dinner at a local all-you-can-eat restaurant so I wouldn’t have to bother with cooking supper or washing dishes.  I like this restaurant a lot – you order your main course of meat (or pasta) and then you help yourself to their buffet style bars full of veggies, salads, fruits, desserts, breads, etc.  The price is reasonable, and the food is always good.  And I get to eat without having to do any of the work!

I called my best friend today to wish her a happy birthday.  She said that I was the first one to wish her a happy birthday (other than family) and was glad to hear from me.  I asked her how her day had been, and she said that she had to work today.  She said her feelings were hurt because last week one of her co-workers had a birthday and the co-workers threw a party for her, but no one at work acknowledged her birthday today at all.  I felt really badly about that because she is a really good person and does not deserve to have her feelings hurt like that.

Right before I was ready to leave work, my friend Joann called on my cell phone and I decided to answer it even though i was technically still “on the clock.” I had finished up my shift and was heading for the break room to clock out, so I took a chance that my manager wouldn’t have a fit about me using my cell phone. They can be real jerks sometimes, but this time I just decided to take that chance and if they fussed then I would beg forgiveness. If they want to give me a hard time about something this trivial, then I will start looking for another job. I’m sick of all the BS anyway. I work hard for them and sometimes go way above and beyond the “call of duty” so you would think they would appreciate that and cut me a little slack on the minor things.  Geesh!