Furiously Heartbroken

So I've been planning on going to Comic Con this year. By planning I mean discussing what outfit I would make... scratch that, what outfits I would make, which panels I for sure would have to attend, what friends I would want to experience this with etc. 

So my day started off as I expected, woke up at 6 am and waited til 10. I was mostly alright for most of the morning. No anxiety, no worries, just really pumped.  I had the screen up with a local time clock for California so I was literally just sitting and watching time pass for 4 hours. But it would be worth it for comic con. Or so I thought.

As soon as the clock turned to 09:00:00 AM (which is 10 GMT time) I clicked the button and at first the page slowly loaded for a minute and a half then I got a time out error and my heart sunk. So I refreshed and clicked it again, this time after a minute and 15 seconds I got another time out error. So I tried again and instead got a blank white screen that said "This service is unavailable". Even now I still had some hope so I kept trying and trying but then at 10:10 I got the "We are sorry, but the EPIC online waiting room has reached capacity and it is unlikely that badges are still available. Please click here to return to the Comic-Con website.

If you were unable to purchase a badge today, please check our website frequently or follow us on Facebook and Twitter for important badge resale announcements later this year." And my heart broke. 

As illogical as it sounds I continued to refresh and attempted to call their service line but either got a busy signal or if it did dial, after 3 rings it would say that the number was not available. I am at a loss for what happened.  I did everything they said to do. I pushed the button at 10. I have fantastic internet speed and I just don't understand how some people were able to get in. Myself and friends had three computers up and clicked the button at 10 and none of us could get it.

So here it comes, the rant. 

What the hell Comic Con? You switch to this new online system (EPIC) to ensure customers get the best opportunity to get a badge but then the system crashes and you don't even mention it? You don't even acknowledge that the customer service line is a sham at best? Are you kidding me? How is this fair? I don't know what is most disappointing, the fact that I waited and foolishly believed it would be possible to get a badge or the fact that what you consider to be customer service is far from. To all the people who got a badge I don't want to hear it. I don't know what made your internet better than mine, or why EPIC let you into the waiting room and not me. I'm jealous and proud of it. And if anyone I follow on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram is one of these proud extremely lucky few, consider yourself de-friended. 

Rant over? No, this rant will never be over. I know how to hold a grudge. And I'm holding on it.

The Tale of a Rather Strange Child

Once upon a time I needed braces and so off to the orthodontist I went.Within a couple hours it was determined that I only needed to fix a slight overbite and that the braces would be off in a year. Just one year!

So on the way home I begged for braces, as it was of course only for one year! When I finally knew that I had convinced my parents that braces were a great idea I hid a pack of my favorite gum (Big Red) in my room as my treat for once I got my braces off... it made a lot more sense in my 6th grade mind.

Anyways one year passed and I still had my braces. Two years came and went. Now it's not like I refused to get them off. I loathed their very existence in my life but with my orthodontist changing three times that can cause some difference in opinion when it comes to the proper treatment. 

By the time I reached high school I still had my braces, but in the middle of my freshman year I got the go ahead to get those suckers off. This had been roughly 3.5/4 years. Have you ever had braces? Have you ever had braces for 4 years? It. Was. Terrible.

Back to the point of me being weird. Needless to say I forgot about my prize that I had hidden. Until one day while rearranging my room (this was right about my senior year) I found said gum. At that moment I remembered what it was like when I first got my braces off. The freedom. The joy. The awesomeness of it all. So I ripped the pack of Big Red open and after I got over the intense aroma of cinnamon I opened one of those gum pieces up and threw it in my mouth.

It was at this point that I realized Big Red is not made to last for that long. The gum turned to powder. Have you ever seen a movie where someone picks up and old artifact only to have it turn to dust in their hand? Yea that's what happened.

The moral of this story? When you are a weird kid you leave weird gifts for future you and that really makes you wish you could go back in time and just ask... Why?

Update

I made it back from Paris and pictures are coming, bet your buns they are coming but first things first, I got really really sick.

The flu is rampant and of course I got it, then got a secondary bacterial infection, not sure what the infection is and quite honestly I'm just happy to not be sick anymore, I was going on a week of pure misery. It was rough. The worst part though, when I went to campus health. 

Shall I tell you my tale?

First things first, the last thing I want to do when I am sick is go out and be in public, so having to go to campus health was just draining in itself and add to that the people. It was then that I realized that there are three kinds of people in urgent care. THREE.

1. The receptionists

These women mean well, they are dealing with sick people and are trying not to get sick themselves but still that does not mean that the second one person coughs you give them the stink eye and them shame them to wear a mask. I was shamed. These women gave me the stink eye. They wanted me to "Speak Up!" when I clearly had NO voice. They also questioned my job status. Yes I am employed I promise I wasn't pulling one over you and yes I receive a paycheck every other week "Just like [you]!". Please receptionist, if I look miserable and sick just leave me be til I talk to a doctor.

2. The Pretty Ones

"Oh I'm so sick [pretty cough cough]". [Imagine me prettier and more peppy]

If you've ever been to college campus health you've run into these girls. They are "super sick" and yet look fabulous. Hair perfectly straightened, make-up so perfectly done, and outfit looks casual yet chic. And the receptionists love them, they pity their "sickness" and try to speed along the process. 

3. The Ugly Sick Ones (me)

When I get sick I get ugly sick. I don't look cute, I look utterly miserable, I look like every cell in my body has given up and has accepted the fate of dying. I get the receptionist stink eye and get shamed into wearing a mask. I just want to crawl up in a ball and await my fate. 

But at least I got my medicine and beat whatever the heck I had. I've decided I'll start taking a vitamin mix so that I never EVER have to deal with that again.