la vie en rose

Usually our bids are in the afternoon. Usually I have the morning to prepare the bid documents.

Last week we had a bid in Maple Valley (approximately an hour away) at 11am.

I got to work around 8:15am, pulled out the bid documents, made my copies and attached the appropriate forms to the bond. I made the labels for the envelopes. All this while the phone is constantly ringing - "Hi, just calling to see if you're bidding today?" "Will you be bidding as a general today?" "Are you bidding the job tomorrow?" I checked over the documents again right before I left and saw that I needed to notarize an affidavit that is very rarely included in the bid process (maybe 1 in 10). I signed and dated the form, quickly stuffed everything into the envelope, wished everyone good luck, and set off south.

I made it to Maple Valley City Hall in very good time. It was just before 10am when I arrived. I decided to look over the paperwork again, just to make sure I knew where all of the numbers needed to go. I saw that I would need 6 total numbers, as well as a subcontractor listing. Actually pretty complicated as far as bid forms go. I thumbed through the prequalification statement and suddenly I saw the affidavit.

I had not stamped the affidavit.

I had signed it and dated it. But no stamp. I started to panic a little. Could I go to a bank and have them stamp it? No, it's my boss's signature that's being notarized, not mine. They'll never go for it. I called J. Maybe he could go to the office and pick up my stamp and meet me halfway. No answer. I tried again. Straight to voicemail. (String of vulgarities.)

I called the office. "Hi. We have a problem." I was put on hold. The thought pops into my mind, "Start driving now." I screeched out of the parking lot and back onto Highway 169. My other boss got on the line, "I will bring your stamp. We'll meet somewhere in the middle." I said, "Okay, I'm already on the road."

We met on the side of I-405 in Bellevue. He tossed the stamp in my open window and said, "Don't get pulled over." It was 10:27am. The bid was due at 11am, no exceptions. I peeled out as I pulled away. I stamped the affidavit as I was driving, just in case I didn't have enough time once I got back to Maple Valley.

And then it got even worse. I had to go to the bathroom. The more I tried to put that thought out of my mind, the worse the pressure became. I said to myself, "Well, I'm going to pee my pants. I'm going to have to tie my coat around my waist and turn the bid in with wet pants. I know where a Target is close to there. I'll have to go into Target soaked in urine and buy a new pair of pants. Probably sweats, so I don't have to try anything on. I actually think I am going to pee my pants. If I get pulled over or if an animal jumps in front of my car, I will pee my pants on the spot." Whenever I have to go to the bathroom really bad, I think of the time when I was 14 and I stayed the night with a bunch of friends at a fort that they built in the woods behind their houses. I didn't want to get up in the middle of the night and pee in the woods on the off chance someone might see me, so I waited until morning. I could barely walk. I always compare whatever I'm feeling to that experience. This was worse.

At 10:52am the estimator called me. He started telling me the subs to list. "Uh," I said, "I'm still driving." "You're kidding me." "I'm close, I swear. I'm stuck behind a semi and it's a one lane road. I'll call you as soon as I get there."

I finally got there. I grabbed the documents and jumped out of my car. I'm lucky I didn't leave the car running! I checked the official bid clock. It was 10:55am. I called the office. "I'm here." I scribbled the numbers in. I misspelled "mechanical." I turned the bid in. It was 10:58am. "Excuse me, ma'am, is there a restroom that I can use?" Thank goodness!

Oh, and we got the job.