When The STEVENing Comes Before The EVENing, Part 2

After narrowly avoiding drinking an entire bubba cup of ice water and licking the bottom, to make sure I got all my medication...I headed toward the dead mouse smelling post office, with The Pony riding shotgun. I didn't plan to go inside. Only to mail the payment I'd just written out for A-Cad. The drive-up mailbox was good enough.

"This mail just went out an hour ago, but this one will go out tomorrow, anyway."

I listened for my envelope to hit the bottom. I can't imagine many people had driven up to mail things over the last hour. But I DID NOT hear my envelope hit the bottom! In fact, I didn't even hear it slide down the neck of the mailbox. I reached my hand through the snout section.

I COULD FEEL MY ENVELOPE!

I shoved it more. It's like that mailbox was full to the top! Just when I thought it was safe to mail things there again. It gets picked up at 11:00 a.m. This was December 27. Even if that crew worked a night shift, and had their December 25 holiday a day later...this was December 27! That mail should have gone out at 11:00 a.m.!

Great. Better not lose my A-Cad payment! I would have pulled that letter back out if I could, and driven it over to the main post office in Sis Town.

What else could go wrong? Well. Plenty.

I got to the bank, and had to wait 10 minutes at the drive-up ATM. Only two trucks ahead of me. But they've changed out that ATM in the wall. Maybe it shorted more people than just ME a $20 bill! Anyhoo...I don't like the set-up of this one. Mainly because I don't like things to change. This one is all on-screen touch stuff. The old one had options on the keypad, too.

Here's the thing. Those touch-pad thingies don't like me. Sometimes, my own phone refuses to recognize my touch. I put in my card, and touched the option to withdraw cash. But then it wouldn't recognize my finger. Nor thumb. Nor finger after rubbing it to warm it up. I was stuck. No way to stop the transaction. No way to proceed. I had to get something on that screen to respond to my touch.

I LICKED MY THUMB AND TOUCHED THE SCREEN!

Yes. I fully realize that I was licking a germ from every other person who ever touched that ATM screen! I had no other option. I hope it wasn't Typhoid Larry in the truck ahead of me.

That debacle out of the way, The Pony and I proceeded through the drive-thru canopy. Our exit to the street was blocked by cars backed up from the light. So I went out the back alley, as I usually do. Beside the church, at the little STOP sign, The Pony said,

"You don't have to go all the way to the end of the alley. Cut across the church lot."

"But their signs say NO TRESPASSING. I'm pretty sure they have cameras around. I never go across their lot."

"They won't know. OOPS! I guess they WILL! You'd better not cut across today!"

A man had just come out of the side door of the church, carrying a bag of trash to his truck. He gave us the stink-eye, even though we were stopped at the STOP sign in the alley, and not on the church lot. I continued to the end of the alley. Going about a quarter-mile out of our way to get back out on the road.

At least the shoe-buying portion of our trip passed without incident.