Thank you. I just wrote the entire sorry tale down because it makes me feel better. Nobody has to read it. It contains swear words and racial slurs because those are the kind of people I meet sometimes.
It all starts yesterday morning with the quiz grades of one of my classes being announced. I've really struggled with this class and you need to have a certain cumulative score on the quizzes to be allowed to take the final. I studied really hard for this one because it’s worth a lot of points. But I fell short. I can't make it up. I'm going to have to take the class again and it's not offered again until the next fall semester. My entire planning is screwed up.
Still stewing, I go to work. We're slammed. An entire unit crew is out because they both caught the flu. Today's gonna suck because people are still protesting all over town, still blocking traffic and every day they seem to be more reluctant to make room for emergency vehicles. One of our crews actually had to get out and pick up their patient on foot because they couldn't get through. I'm sympathetic to their cause, but right now they're not just inconveniencing people, they're endangering them.
Our shift starts and naturally we soon sit in traffic in a blocked street. I'm driving, trying to make as much noise as possible so they get out of the way, which they do once they notice us, but it takes time. Our patient isn't overly urgent, but he's a wicked unpleasant person. Old guy with chest pain, overwhelming body odor, hates women and minorities, cranky as hell. My partner's getting an order for opiates, meanwhile the patient is complaining loudly. "Just run them over, girl! Fuck them, stupid useless kids! Everyone's sick of this shit! Fuckin' ni**erlovers.” My partner just kind of glares at him. The patient shrugs. "No offense to you, brother." And makes a fist in what I think was supposed to be a black power salute. Couldn't get rid off that one fast enough.
A few calls on. Elderly lady, fell, can't get up, home alone. Door's open though, so we can go right in, says Operations. It's a single family home, fenced in, and inside the fence is a big dog who immediately starts barking as soon as he sees us. I don't really know dogs but my partner does. He's cautious. We call Ops. Can someone get the dog? Nope. "The caller says he's not dangerous." "Well, he looks dangerous to us." Ops sends Animal Control. They secure the dog and they agree that we shouldn't have entered the yard with the dog loose. So we finally get to our patient, apologize for the delay. "Yes, sure, I understand." Off to the hospital we go.
A small meal break later we head back to our station. The lieutenant greets us, looking serious. As soon as the lady was done at the ER she was on the phone with our leadership, filing a complaint against us. Her dog is harmless, it's a Labrador, totally friendly, she was in agony while she had to wait for us, we're negligent. Lou says it's a bullshit complaint and not to worry about it, but for now it's there.
A little while later the husband calls. He just got home after his third double shift this week. "Ally, we got water in the basement." Apparently in the first floor appartment of our building a pipe burst or something and the entire mess seeped through the ceiling into the part of the basement that belongs to us. The husband is super pissed because he keeps a lot of important stuff in there. It might be several thousand dollars worth of damage and tomorrow I'm going to have to work things out with the insurance guy. They should cover everything, but I have no patience for this crap right now.
So now I'm sitting at home expecting the car to explode or a meteor to crash through our roof. Still got work today. I think I'm gonna break out the emergency chocolate stash.
asroc. My goodness, what a day. 
I'd say you're well due for some good luck for a change.
