Did you ever get hung up on a little thing and then it becomes a big thing? I do that every once in a while. You'd think I'd see it coming by now, but apparently not.

The latest instance is really stupid so I'll be brief. I had to fill out an application for Pacific Gas & Electric and they want you to fax it back to them. I don't have a fax machine any more, plus I have some questions about the application and I want to pick up some info about solar power incentives. So I figured I'd just drop the damn thing off at whichever of the two huge PG&E buildings is the right one downtown and actually talk to someone about the other stuff while I'm there. Ha!

It's taken me three days, four PG&E offices that "don't handle" my type of application - each one incorrectly directing me to the next address - to finally give up. The icing on the cake was the last office where visitors needed a security escort just to enter the building. The sign on the door helpfully gave the extension to call security, so having come that far, I plugged the four digits into the house phone mounted outside the main entrance. No answer. Eventually, a voice attendant asked me to enter the extension of the party I was trying to reach. Well, I'd already done that, but I tried entering it again. And when that didn't work, started over and didn't enter anything new. Same result. The infuriatingly pleasant voice attendant came back with, "we're sorry you're having trouble. Please try again later." Yeah right! Next time I'm looking for an excuse to go postal, I'll do that!

So I faxed the damn thing after all. It would be easier (and faster) to deliver a first-born and give it to them. But I don't have time for that either.