{"id":333,"date":"2009-02-26T08:01:00","date_gmt":"2009-02-26T12:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=333"},"modified":"2009-02-26T08:01:00","modified_gmt":"2009-02-26T12:01:00","slug":"feeling-like-ziggy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=333","title":{"rendered":"Feeling Like Ziggy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_yytsDp42pSs\/SaaEt5CXd1I\/AAAAAAAABHE\/qNKO-N6uye0\/s1600-h\/ziggy.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 279px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_yytsDp42pSs\/SaaEt5CXd1I\/AAAAAAAABHE\/qNKO-N6uye0\/s400\/ziggy.jpg?w=584\" alt=\"\" id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307075134842435410\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><span style=\"font-family:verdana;\">Ziggy is an age-old comic strip.  The main character always seems to have his challenges with life.  Usually for poor ol&#8217; Zig, anything that can go wrong does go wrong. This strip is my partner&#8217;s very favorite, and we often laugh at the daily comic shown on a calendar we keep in our kitchen.<\/p>\n<p>Today, I&#8217;m feeling much like Ziggy.  With all great intentions of getting my day started extra early, I left the house a half-hour earlier than usual so I could drop off two tax returns that I had completed for some &#8220;elder buds&#8221; at their respective homes.  They live in a nearby gated retirement community, and I have a pass.  As I drove up to the gate, I held up my pass for the guard as usual, but he stopped me, and became overly officious.  He asked to see my card, then my driver&#8217;s license, and gave me the third degree.  &#8220;Where are you going?&#8221; among other questions.  This poor rent-a-cop kid was bored, I guess.  I answered his questions but was frustrated by the unnecessary delay.<\/p>\n<p>After dropping off the tax returns, I drove to the Metro station where I usually board my train to get to work in the city.  Some nitwit was stopped in the driving lane at the entrance to the parking garage.  I kid you not: it looked like she was applying makeup while just sitting there.  I gently tapped my horn, and she gave me a dirty look before giving her car some gas and moving forward.  She entered the garage and parked, and I happened to park next to her.  As I was walking toward the station entrance, she huffed and puffed and said, &#8220;you didn&#8217;t need to honk.&#8221;  So I couldn&#8217;t resist, and asked, &#8220;just what kind of makeup emergency were you having that you couldn&#8217;t park first?&#8221;  She glowered&#8230;.and didn&#8217;t say anything else.  She knew she was guilty as charged.<\/p>\n<p>Then just as I got to the platform, the train pulled away.   If Ms. Make-Up didn&#8217;t delay me, I would have made it.  I hate it when I just barely miss a train, but that happens sometimes.  Another should be along momentarily.<\/p>\n<p>9 momentarilies later, another train finally pulled up.<\/p>\n<p>We board the train, and I scan the newspaper.  The daily free rag is so ultra-Republican.  Its shrill negativity about our President and his actions gets to be so &#8230; boring &#8230; blathering &#8230; I dunno, awful.  Too bad I don&#8217;t have a parakeet any more.  That paper would be great to line the cage.<\/p>\n<p>Then at one of the stations, the train operator announces that we all have to get off due to a train malfunction.  Oh great, there we go again&#8230;. this happens all too often.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone disembarks, and waits&#8230; and waits&#8230; and waits some more.  Meanwhile, there are announcements &#8220;regretting the delay.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Another train finally pulls up, we all board, and in a spot of luck, I even got a seat.<\/p>\n<p>When I arrived at Union Station, I queued up to get off the train, only to be almost bowled over by commuter train passengers who had rushed off their trains from far-flung areas to board the Metro.  Why they never let others off before trying to rush on&#8230;.  Alas, life in the big city, where everything generally is &#8220;me, me, me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, the rest of my morning &#8220;commute&#8221; as it were, was fine, though I did arrive to work about 15 minutes later than usual.  And in my typical optimistic approach to life &#8212; making lemonade out of lemons &#8212; I beheld an unusual cloud formation as it was growing lighter.  It really was pretty to see dawn breaking behind the U.S. Capitol building.  I paused for a couple minutes to watch.  Heck, my schedule was already &#8220;blown&#8221; and the display of God&#8217;s handiwork brightened my spirits a lot.<\/p>\n<p>Some days are Ziggy days.  Despite all best efforts, things go wrong.  Oh well, such is life.  My attitude though remains bright, and I&#8217;m singing, just for the heck of it (and also because no one else is here yet LOL!)<br \/><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ziggy is an age-old comic strip. The main character always seems to have his challenges with life. Usually for poor ol&#8217; Zig, anything that can go wrong does go wrong. This strip is my partner&#8217;s very favorite, and we often &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=333\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home-life"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}