Need To, Got To Vent…

Hey there fellow bloggers. It’s after three AM in PA now and I can’t sleep a wink; not that it’s unusual for me. But today (yesterday, actually) started out a really bad day.  First off, I told my roommate that I would set up a few things for her around the house because she was having a realtor come with a possible buyer to look at the property, since she is planning to sell. Fine, no biggie. So, about 15-20 minutes before the expected arrival time, I start opening curtains, lighting the tea-lights, opening the sliding doors, etc.

One of the last things I do is turn off the alarm system, which is always on ‘stay’, and unlock the door. No sooner do I unlock the door and start heading up the stairs, when all of a sudden the alarm starts blaring. Because I am still recovering, I get easily overwhelmed and proceed to freak out at the noise. I frantically try to make my way back down, put the code back in to silence the alarm. After that’s done, I have to make my way back upstairs to the bedrooms so I can wait for the alarm company to call so I can tell them it’s a false alarm. Meanwhile, this whole time, I’m shaking and tears are streaming down my face. Let’s all remember that I’ve also got that slight gait issue going on also. 😦

About three minutes later a call comes in. It’s not the alarm company; it’s the State Police. Apparently, they got the call in from the alarm company as a panic alarm, so there must have been some sort of malfunction with the system or keypad. Either way, the operator advised me that I needed to call the alarm company directly and cancel them since they’ve already been dispatched. Now, I start to freak out even more. As I’m getting off the phone with the operator, my roommate is calling my cell. When I answer, I try to blurt out that she needs to call the alarm company and cancel the State Police before they get to the house because I don’t have their number. She tells me to calm down and she will take care of it. End of call.

Maybe two minutes later, she calls me back. I’m still hysterical, trying to calm myself down. First question out of her mouth is, “What did you do?”  I was still so shaken and upset that it didn’t hit me immediately what she asked me. Finally, in a rush of stuttering words I told her that I didn’t do anything wrong and tried to explain what happened. She tells me “I can’t talk to you when you’re like this,” and proceeds to hang up on me. What boggles my mind is that she works as an EMS dispatcher for a living. This is how you speak to distressed callers? I know I’m just a friend, but give me a break. After what seemed an eternity, (which was about 20 minutes) I calmed down enough that I was able to freshen myself up and make myself look halfway presentable. After all that, she then decides to text me and speak to me like I’m three. “In case the Police do by chance show up at the house, just remember, they’re  your friend.” Really? I’ve worked with them my entire EMS career. Really? Thanks for the words of wisdom there, Sherlock. Don’t need them now. I’m sorry if I’m sounding just a wee bit angry, but those 20 minutes were probably the worst 20 minutes I can recall in a very, very long time.

I’ve never suffered from panic or anxiety attacks of that nature or magnitude before. My heart breaks thinking about how people live life every single day feeling that way. Thank goodness these people looking at the house didn’t show up until nearly noon.

On the bright side, and there was a beautiful bright side to this day; my close friend and former co-worker came up from New Jersey today to spend the day with me. She called me right after my little fiasco with the alarm and said she was already on her way. We call each other PIC (partners in crime) because every time we used to work together, we would always get ourselves into some sort of shenanigans… so we did a bit a shopping and some lunch and caught up on some goings on. I love this young lady too. She is yet another one of my adopted daughters. Briana! You’ve got another sister! 🙂

Anyway, speaking of New Jersey,  while I was debating about whether I wanted to vent on the blog or not; I went through some YouTube videos and came across this one with Gov. Chris Christie and Jimmy Fallon slow jamming. Made me laugh. Goodness knows I needed a few. Until tomorrow; I hope you enjoy.