Derry, Northern Ireland

Derry, Northern Ireland
A book I'm working on is set in this town.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

I got no luck

Whenever I try to get away with something, I get caught. Even when I'm really sure it's okay. Like today -- I was en route to Seattle's Airport to meet with the shipping people about the booksellers we'd handled for the Seattle Antiquarian Book Fare. Now, upon arriving here Saturday, I bought 2 round trip tickets on the light rail system, knowing I'd be making two trips away from and back to the airport. Well...they're only good for the day they're bought, which I realized once I had them. BUT...since no one asked to see my ticket en route to downtown, I figured I'd just use them up, anyway.

Bad idea. Transit cops checked everyone's ticket on the trip down and noticed mine was for the 9th instead of the 11th. I got off with a warning since I could show I was from out of town (and played dumb), but if I get caught doing it, again, it's $140 ticket. So I'm out $5.

Seattle needs to learn some things from New York about transit. In NYC, you can buy a ticket and put money on it and it's good for a year. But their tickets have magnetic strips on the back to hold the money. The only way to do that in Seattle is to buy an Orca card (for $5) and then you have to "tap" it against a reader upon entering and exiting the station. Every time.

Anyway, this once again proves to me whenever I try to get away with something, I'm gonna get caught. I've had it happen over and over and I never seem to learn. Dumb. Just dumb. And the way my life has always been.

Another case in point -- Dr. Pepper. I don't drink, I don't smoke. I don't do drugs. I don't fuck around. My one big vice is Dr. Pepper (and no need to discuss how pathetic that is). Well, they had a promotion going where you could win a car. I knew I'd never get that, but they also said that 1 in 6 bottle caps is a winner. So...I start buying the 20 oz DPs and going online to enter the codes in them...and you know what I got out of nearly 100 bottle caps? Nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada. I mean, I drink the stuff, anyway, so it's not like I went out of my way to buy it...but you'd think I'd at LEAST get a free DP. Nope.

That's why I don't play the lottery; it's a waste of money on my part. That's why I no longer enter my scripts into competitions; I haven't won one outright in 20 years. I got close a couple of times, but not with competitions that were based in LA. In fact, none of my winners were LA competitions. So after thousands of dollars in entry fees and copies and postage and such, I got nothing.

BUT...I did finish a polish of BC-3, at least. And I've had 6 books published. And while my publisher hasn't paid me a penny in royalties, I know they're selling. Trust me to find the one guy in the publishing world who's out to fuck over everybody and make it their fault they got fucked.

Christ, I'm tired of this...this...shit, I don't even know what to call it. Unluckiness? Lack of wherewithall? I dunno. I just know I'll be working for at least the next 10 years at a job that's livable...but isn't what I really want to do.

Shit, the luck I got, you'd think I was Irish.

Okay, whining over. What's next?

Another polish of BC-3...then completing the story and moving on.

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