by PS Gifford

Created on: June 09, 2008

Chester

Have you ever had one of those daysYou know the kind, the sort of day that everything you attempt goes awry. Even the easiest of mundane tasks get somehow far more complicated than ever before. Well, last Saturday, I had one of those days.

It all began when we decided to take my sisters niece and her husband out to dinner in celebration of his birthday. There is a seafood restaurant near to their house, and after calling we discovered that they do not take reservations, so we decided to make an early start to miss the long wait. The restaurant is situated on a pier, a beautiful location. We pick them up at half past six and drive to the restaurant. Everyone was in great spirits and hungrily expectation of a wonderful night combining delicious seafood and light hearted banter, with a couple of libations thrown in for good measure. As we approached the pier we noticed an unusually large amount of traffic. It has been particularly warm in California over the last few days, and that, combined with all the tourists, means very crowded beaches. We soon discover that not only does the restaurant not have valet parking; they do not even have a parking lot. Anyway, I am not easily defeated so we dropped them off to add our name to the waiting list and set out to look for nearby parking. As we drove along I was still optimistic. "At this time of the day dear people must surely be heading home from the beach," I chirped cheerfully to my wife as we scoured the road for a parking spot. After fifteen minutes of driving over a mile along the road, and contemplating the excessively long walk back to the restaurant, the reality of the situation was beginning to fully sink in. "A healthy walk will sharpen our appetite dear," I said not quite as chirpily as before. I could feel my teenage son rolling his eyes in the back seat. My wife remained silent, but a strange expression was forming in her eyes, she was after all wearing four inch high heels. After another five minutes I turned the car around and headed back to the restaurant. If anything the traffic seemed to be getting worse not better.

Another ten minutes and I make it back to the restaurant. "Screw it, let us go someone else," I suddenly blurted. "Call them and tell them we shall pick them up." As my wife dialed I had to drive a quarter of a mile up to find a red zone to pull over in.They, after some wonderful persuasion from my wife that would be a used car salesman to shame, agreed to the new plan And after a

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