Donut Despair

Fifty seven minutes.
It’s been fifty seven minutes since the damned parking meter ate my credit card and I’m fuming and dancing around my car doing the potty dance.
Being that this is Southern California it took me over forty-five minutes to drive in heavily congested Orange County traffic to Newport Beach this morning even though I was only twenty miles from the seashore. After sitting in my car with just coffee in my stomach I was starving by the time I exited the freeway in Costa Mesa and drove down 17th Street…

Where there lies just about every restaurant choice you could ever imagine! There are at least five unique coffee boutiques on this street that sound phenomenal, not to mention an Australian pie place that also has Australian coffee (they really know how to make a cup of Joe down under) Restaurant choices in Orange County are so overwhelming after coming from a small town where we eat at the same five or six restaurants all the time. I love drinking coffee so as you may have guessed, I can’t wait to try all of these coffee shops. I’m already signed up for a coffee subscription because it allows you to have hand roasted coffee delivered to your doorstep, meaning I don’t have to go out for my morning brew but when I’m not at home, I still crave a yummy cup of char so these coffee shops could hit the spot. I carried on driving until I was ready to make my first stop.
My first stop in Orange County was Side Car Donuts in Costa Mesa as they have…

A EGGS BENEDECT FILLED DONUT.

My home is two hours from Side Car Donuts and I never get down here ever, ever. So I had to stop and stare and drool over donuts like huckleberry and peach Melba flavor before going with a Madagascar vanilla and cinnamon date crumble and the Benny. I know for a fact that this lovely donut institution will not let you use their bathroom facilities no matter how you cry and complain but not to worry. There were bathrooms a plenty at the parking area at Newport Beach just a few minutes down the road.
I pulled into the front parking area right next to the glorious blue Pacific Ocean and being that it was only 7:30 in the morning there was parking right up front! I have never parked this close to the ocean in Southern California before! I would have done a victory dance, but if I had, I might have peed a little.
My plan was to go for a quick mile run on the beach than bike five or six miles. It sounds like a glorious free day before I return to work tomorrow after six weeks of recovering from surgery.
I slide my American Express card into the parking meter.
And gave it a tug.
And a tug.
What exactly was going on here?!
I tried grasping it with two fingers and pulling…
It was extremely stuck.
And my bladder was extremely full.
I pulled and I pulled and to no avail.
My American Express Credit Card was very stuck.
I scanned the area around me to see if there was anyone around me who looked friendly and not homeless to help me. There was not.
This was the moment in my morning when I chose to drown my despairs in donut bliss.
I was hoping also the donut may soak up some of the urine because I really had to go and did not want to walk ( or ride my bike) ten minutes to the nearest bathroom and abandon my credit card.I called the number on the meter and left a desperate message, and then it was time to wait…
I was going over my options in my head; I guess I could’ve called American Express and cancelled my card and just abandoned it. I was thinking about doing just that when after an hour and a half and Edison truck pulled up near me. I was able to convince the driver to let me borrow his pliers so that I could get my credit card out of the parking meter
Freedom!

I could finally go off to find a bathroom. At that point it was too late, hot and humid for the run on the beach but I was still ready for a bike ride.
Six mile bike ride along the shore line done, it was time to enjoy the beach with my book for twenty minutes before driving back.
I was a sweaty mess after the bike ride so I jumped in the sea.
And than my morning got awkward.

It was 79° and overcast when I met my new family. I had jumped into the ocean for a quick swim in the water. The water was cold and absolutely perfect, I was loving it and in a great mood as I walked back to where I left my chair in the sand. I did not leave it by any other people, I mean after all the beach was practically deserted at this hour. As I wandered back and I scanned the empty area of beach, I thought to myself, where the hell did my chair go. Did somebody take it?
On further inspection I realized that a family had set up literally right next to my chair. Keep in mind the beach was empty. There was nobody else at the entire beach. I could have reached out and touched their beach towel, that is how close they were to my chair.

I was so very tempted to sit down in my chair and take a selfie with my new family right behind me.

Because that wouldn’t be awkward; like setting up a beach camp with a total stranger like she is part of the family!