The Price of Efficiency.....or...sometimes it is better to call in sick.

Thursday morning is usually my time to do as I please...I could sleep in or head to the gym for an invigorating workout.....but instead, I usually run errands like a mad woman. Today I high tail it around accomplishing all sorts of minor household miracles and duties with the efficiency of a bee buzzing around a crab apple tree in full bloom.

I rose at 6:30 am and arranged myself in a presentable way to be out in the public. First stop, a hair cut at 7:30 am!! Carl meets me at the crack of hair dresser dawn to trim and shape my bristly mop. Then off to Price Chopper for chef's salad fixin's...lunch will be taken to Cottonwood Falls on Saturday and shared with Peggy at the nursing home. I like to get the veggies early and prep them for easy assembly tableside.

Then off to see Dr. Ying for a full eye exam...complete with dilated pupils. I look like a belladonna addict by the time I leave there.

A quick trip home to change clothes.....work will be fitted in eventually. Two long distance phone calls set the stage for future adventures.

Downtown Overland Park beckons. The Clock Tower Bakery has wonderful cinnamon rolls and scones....a cup of coffe perks me up as I quickly nibble a crumbly delicacy.

Then off to Ten Thousand Villages to look for gifts for our third year Residents...they graduate in June and I like to be Ready!! A tour of the the hand crafted free trade stock yields a couple of affordable appropriate gifts....but time is running out....no time to pay. The clerk offers to hold the items until closing time at 8 pm.

I sail out of the store and head to the Quick Trip for a fill up.....10.3 gallons ...then off to work.
I arrive at noon and eat a semi-leisurely lunch before clocking in. The next several hours are busy....time flies.

I feel a little squeezed for time as I leave work at 7 pm. I catch a lot of green lights as I coast to my Waterloo......the stop just before my 8 pm deadline at Ten Thousand Villages.

The traffic light is green at 79th and Metcalf so I float around the corner at 15 miles per hour....accelerating as I straighten the wheels.....my mind completely focused on the cool purchases I will soon make at the trade store......but wait....what is that shining in my rear view mirror?

Yikes...it is one of Overland Park's finest flashing all of the lights the car possesses. I realize he is after me so I pull over....driving over the curbing as I swerve to a halt. As I watch the cute young officer approach I wonder if I will soon be doing a sobriety test along with handing over my drivers license.

I lower the window....and blurt out "I have to get to Ten Thousand Villages before they close!" He is not impressed with the importance of my errand. "Ma'am may I see your license and proof of insurance." After brief check of my credentials the patrolman thanks me for being courteous and hands me an $81 ticket for speeding (29 in a 20).

I head for my destination.......arriving before the store closes. One clerk shares a similar experience along that stretch of roadway....the other wants to know if the officer was wearing a wedding ring. I offer to research that for her....I can speed through that territory again I say, but better yet, why don't you try it your self.

By the time I arrive home, all errands completed, I realize that I would have been further ahead if had just called in sick today.

One clerk wants