So with school freaking me out and me about to be cast off into the unemployment wilderness soon yet again, I'm desperate to find a way to get easy money, and hopefully get famous in the process.
I have a friend from college whose method of contact these days is sending me several e-mails about sweepstakes he enters. I enter them on occasion, but I get the feeling that he does this all day in order to find money to get by. Not making fun of him or anything, but in the last decade I have made it a point not to ask what he is doing for a job nowadays. He, like me, probably is embarrassed the journalism degree has not panned out to a front-of-the-camera job by now. So he's going the sweepstakes route, and I can't say I blame him.
One of these things is not really a sweepstakes, but entry into a game show: Sports Jeopardy!, apparently hosted by Dan Patrick. Last night I read my friend's e-mail that the show is hosting an online audition/test. That's right up my alley. Not only do I know sports, but I love game shows, and (pipe dream) I get to be on TV and hopefully use my brain to win cash and prizes. So this was one of the few times I took my friend up on his quasi-junk e-mails and registered online.
The test started last (Tuesday) night at 9 Central. I thought I had all the time in the world to get to a coffeeshop, plug in and take the test after finishing up early from the night job, which ended last (Tuesday) night. I thought it would end early Tuesday night -- in fact, I didn't think we'd be there more than an hour, which meant I actually would have time to stop by a restaurant, get a quick bite to eat while watching the NBA Draft Lottery (the Timberwolves actually get the #1 pick? God doesn't hate us!), then mosey on over to Caffetto to get some coffee and pie and kick ass on Sports Jeopardy!
One problem: We weren't there just for an hour. I thought I had heard the boss announce the number of papers left to score, and from that I estimated that we barely had enough work to even come in. Well, either she gave the wrong number, I didn't hear her right or I made the wrong calculation, because after she told us how many papers were left to do, we would be there for way more than an hour.
So, in a practice I usually do not do, I actually sped up my production at the end of the project. I had to do my part in order to get out in time to the coffeeshop in order to set myself up for the online audition. My new estimation wasn't good: We would get out at 9, the same exact time as the test. If that were the case, at least I would be assured that I wouldn't have time to even take the test.
But unfortunately we got out at 8:30, the magic hour where I may or may not be too late, goddammit. As soon as my boss let us go, I hauled ass to my car and out onto the highway. I was looking at my digital car clock and hoping to avoid red lights and slow cars.
I made it about five minutes to 9, so I dashed into Caffetto (where I started this blog post) and before I order, I turn on my computer and get online. And I open up the Sports Jeopardy! e-mail with the link to the audition page, click on the link ... and I wait. And then I get the crash screen. Reason: Too long to respond. That happens when there are so many people on the page they can't take anymore viewers.
I was too late, apparently way too late. I wonder if I just sauntered onto the site, like, five minutes before the test started if I would be late then, too. Quite possible. Or maybe I'm wishfully thinking that this was some unforeseen blindside and not the Fates wanting to tease me into thinking if I really, really tried I could make it in time so they could screw me over. Yeah, that's probably it.
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