Yesterday was extremely stressful at work, so much so that my friends and I decided that we weren’t gonna let it get to us, and that we were determined to have a good day. LC sent me a message that said, “You want to walk over and get some doughnuts for everybody?” I jumped at the chance, naturally. “Great idea! Let’s do it.”

We walked the handful of blocks to PunkRockDoughnutShop, to find one person in the back, working by herself, with Metallica’s Master of Puppets CD blaring throughout the whole place. We ordered two dozen doughnuts, in random combination, and it took her a while to get them together. When we went to pay, she told us that they only accept cash. We didn’t have enough between us, so we asked if there was an ATM nearby. She said there was one across the street, but that it was out of order. LC said, in an empathetic way, “Oh, man, you’d have to put them all back.” She got mad and started to do that, but I said, “No, no, we’ll be right back.” We walked out the door, trying to figure out where to go, and then I remembered that there’s an ATM across the street at the Sandy Hut.

Cash in hand, we returned to PunkRockDoughnutShop. In our short absence, two of the woman’s co-workers had materialized. She walked to the back and announced to everyone, “I need to breathe; that’s what my therapist told me.” We kinda looked at each other, and then placed our order with one of the other employees, and the woman reappeared, saying, “I’ll take care of it. Remember those two guys I told you about? These are the guys.”

“I told you we’d be right back,” I said, smiling. “I was surprised to see you putting them away.”

She said, “Oh, I didn’t hear that. All I heard was, ‘I guess you’ll have to put them all back.’ ”

The guy behind the counter laughed and quoted Led Zeppelin. “Communication breakdown; it’s always the same.” Perfect thing to say.

So she refilled the box and we gave her twenty bucks, and told her to keep the change, for all her trouble. It all worked out for the best; I love it when that happens. LC and I happily walked back to work and e-mailed our friends. “Doughnuts are in the break room, but keep it on the down low. You’re welcome.”

Throughout the morning, we were talking about music and feeling nostalgic, so on lunch break, we walked over to EverydayRecordStore, and found a bunch of 80’s metal records and CD’s, including Ozzy Osbourne’s Bark at the Moon and Ratt’s Out of the Cellar. Those were two of my favorites when I was about fourteen. I had a huge smile on my face listening to those again after such a long time.

Now I’m on the hunt for more of my favorites from that time, some of which are extremely hard to find, so I recruited a couple of my more tech-savvy friends to join me in the cause. And why not recruit you too? I’m looking for Lick It Up by Kiss and All Systems Go by Vinnie Vincent Invasion. There are others, of course, but those are the main ones I’m dying to hear again. Please and thank you!

Now I’m going to the basement to dig out Creatures of the Night.