Grim's Hall

A Bad Day:

Some days just don't go right. This has sure been one of them.

Absolutely everything I've tried to do today has gone wrong. I planned to take the day off; there was a meeting scheduled at 11 AM, so by the time I was done with it most of the day was gone. I tried to use what was left of the day pleasantly, but rain moved in. I'd hoped to hike, but what was advertised as a "Civil War Trail" was really just a roadsign -- a fact I discovered after driving many, many miles to find it. The restaurant I'd hoped to eat in out there proved to be unfit for it. Also, though I'd memorized the map, I took a wrong turn and ended up quite a distance out of the way. During all this, my son has had an explosive temper all day (he is only two), which made most every minute grueling. What I'd hoped would be a fun outing has been an excursion in misery and exhaustion.

On top of which, my planned April Fool's Joke went awry, causing me to anger an old friend. I'll do my best to make it up to my friend, after enough time has passed. They have every right to be angry. I did check it out first -- I wasn't completely careless -- but apparently I missed a few things. I'd expected it might lead them on a wild goose chase of ten minutes or so -- if they didn't spot it for an April Fool's Day joke at once, given my sordid history with these things. Instead, it took two hours.

Nobody likes to hear that they've wasted two hours of a pleasant spring afternoon, and I feel terrible about it. If I were a better person, of course, I wouldn't play practical jokes -- not even on April Fool's Day -- but, of course, I'm not. Every year, I just can't resist. One year I created a fake webpage that appeared to be a Washington Post article on gold being discovered in Indiana, in my wife's hometown. She was so excited, and called her mother to ask about it. That one worked well, and it's always the one I think of when the day rolls around and I'm trying to think of an appropriate joke.

I haven't ever had one go bad like this before, but I see now that I've really hurt someone's feelings, and I never meant to. But it didn't go that way. Like everything else today, it went wrong and got worse as it continued. I haven't had such a downright miserable day in many months.

Maybe I'll just turn in early.