Yesterday was Ruthless's birthday and Meghan took her out to lunch. I went along. I wanted to help take Ruthless to lunch, but extortion happened and that can really empty out your wallet.

You see, what happened was, I was driving to lunch and Megan called me because she had a flat tire and needed to be picked up. So, I exited the interstate and, with the help of four phone calls from her, finally found the hole-in-the-wall tire repair place she'd wound up at.

We're standing around, waiting on the guys to finish mounting the replacement tire she picked out (I waited with her to make sure she hadn't bent her rim by driving on a flat), when one of them, this very young guy, rushes up to her, all excited and wants to know how she's going to pay. Credit card, she tells him. He's disappointed. His accent is kind of thick, but she grasps that he's asking her doesn't she have cash? She offers him a check. Can she pay part in cash, he wants to know.

Confused, she starts digging for cash. I have a $20 bill, so I give it to her and she gives it to him. His face lights up and he stuffs it into his pocket. She can pay the rest by credit card or check, however she wants.

Why did you need cash, she finally thinks to ask him.

Lunch, he tells her.

I've never been extorted for cash for a job before, so that a company's staff could afford to eat. I'm guessing we're the only customers they'd had all day. Possibly all week.

Anyhow. What with one thing and another, we were 20 minutes late meeting Ruthless, who was sitting in a restaurant, waiting for us.

When we arrive, she said that the restaurant staff was starting to think she didn't really have friends--that she just wandered into restaurants and sat around eating free bread and butter and looking pathetic. Our friendships being what they are, we just laughed at her.

We ate. We chatted. I laughed, as they admitted that on Friday, after we all had dinner and I went home to watch SGA, they wound up skipping the mad drinkin' and dancin' evening they'd been bragging about.

Turns out that, like me, they find events that don't even get going until 10:00pm are starting to be just a little later at night than they're willing to stay awake for. Hee.

After the obligatory free birthday dessert (pineapple-upsidedown cake), the three of us wandered down to a funky used bookstore in the area and spent some time browsing. I could have spent a hundred bucks or more, easy, but I restrained myself.

After all, it's not like I have a job.

Oh--did I forget to mention that? The aforementioned (and afore-celebrated) job offer? Has not quite materialized. Yet.

I was supposed to get an offer letter. The only thing I actually got was a request to provide references and an ensuing, deafening silence.

Peculiar as it might seem, it almost appears as though I was the only person interviewed for the job and I have still somehow failed to secure the position.

I'm almost smug about that. Not everyone can achieve unemployablility (it could be a word) to that extent. It's almost epic, I think!

Sigh.

Other than that, recent good news includes the fact that the tax bill I've been talking about is not, after all, something we need to worry about paying.

I think I'll go toast my toes in the morning sunshine for a while.