What do black cats and Friday the 13th have in common? They are both considered “unlucky.” I don’t normally believe in superstitions, but after the day I’ve had today, I have to admit there might be something to it.
I have a couple of favorite authors, and when their books are released I like to get them fairly quickly. So this week, at long last, Susan Elizabeth Phillips' latest,The Great Escape, was available for purchase. I follow her on facebook and she’s been teasing us for a few weeks now. And with a cover like this…
…who wouldn’t want to dive in at the first opportunity?????
Tuesday, July 10th (release day) first thing in the morning, I stopped by the Navy Exchange, but they didn’t have it yet. Not a huge deal, because I had a busy week and when I get involved in an SEP book, the care and feeding of my family tends to fall to the wayside. So I really didn’t want the temptation in my house until the weekend.
Thursday I had to go somewhere that took me right by one of those membership clubs. To put a modern spin on an old Ben Franklin adage, a few dollars saved is a few dollars earned, so I made the long trek across the big parking lot and through the huge store, only to find they didn’t carry it!
So Friday was the day. I sent off on a mission to procure my copy of The Great Escape.
Being new to the city, I googled the closest Wal-mart and headed off, only to find out it was a Market Place not a superstore. So I kept driving, figuring I’d come to another one sooner or later. Next thing I know I’m in a very unfamiliar area of town, stopped dead in traffic. I learned on the news I was not moving because a Presidential Motorcade was moving through the area. So I used the time to plug in my GPS to find the nearest big store. I was close, but made a wrong turn and got lost (yes, the GPS was trying to make a correction, but traffic was such a nightmare it seemed I was always in the wrong lane to make my turn.) Eventually I found myself near a nice mall and knew they had a B&N inside. Armed with my trusty coupon (a scratch off that could get me as much as 50% off my purchase!) I headed into the parking garage.
Of course, I was on the wrong end of the mall so had to walk and walk and walk. Eventually got there and got my hands on the last copy of The Great Escape. I went to the counter to pay, and gave them my coupon, only to have it pointed out to me it was not usable at a college bookstore (Who’d a thunk that a two-story B&N in an upscale downtown mall was associated with the local community college? Not me!) Again, knowing I could get it for a cheaper price, I left that copy there, walked back to my car, PAID the garage fee, and drove on.
Having just moved to town I wasn't overly familiar with the area yet and ended up on the highway that involved a tunnel under the river and ended up in another city on the other side, where I had to turn around and sit in traffic to get back to my city.
By now I have an hour and a half invested in this quest, not to mention the expense of gas and parking. I wasn’t about to give up.
I knew of a Target on my way back home, so managed to get myself there without incident. It was crowded at lunchtime on a Friday. I had to park pretty far out and hike in. The books are in the furthest back corner of the store. But I just knew I was about to get my very own copy of The Great Escape.
They had a pocket for it on the end cap of new releases.
Only it was empty! Sold out! Oh, the unfairness of life!
So I hiked back to my car and decided I would be happier about battling more crowds if my tummy were full, so I headed towards Chick-Fil-A. Got into the parking lot only to discover it was wrapped around the building not once, but twice, and going nowhere fast. I was talking to my sister on the phone, sharing my tale of woe, and she informed me they were having a Friday the 13th promotional giveaway.
A-ha, so I could blame the evil forces at work here.
A-ha, so I could blame the evil forces at work here.
I didn’t really have the patience to sit in line for what looked to be a good 30 minutes or longer so for the first time EVER I tested the four-wheel-drive capabilities of my Hyundai and climbed the curb to make my own great escape.
Next stop, Wal-Mart across the street. Only I turned the wrong way on an eight-lane divided road.
At that point I admitted defeat. I didn’t have the heart to battle any more traffic or drag myself across yet another large, hot parking lots or face any more shelves empty of the book. So with one long, loud, heavy sigh, I continued on to get the rest of my errands done.
I did make one last hike into the Navy Exchange, hoping against hope that a bookstore more likely to carry Seal Team Six sagas would stock at least one new romance release. But again, I was met with an empty space on the shelf.
So that is Friday the 13thtale of woe. The Great Escape has greatly escaped me. But now I have something to look forward to reading (and reviewing) at some point in the future when good luck is on my side.
I hope all of you had a luckier Friday the 13th than me!
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