Mortaine’s Blog

Another body found in Hurricane-Ravaged Indiana.

Way to go, AP. Way to go.

Monday morning.

I got up at 8:20 ish. I picked out my clothes. Everything is NEW. I got NEW CLOTHES on Friday, and wanted to wear some. Dark grey slacks and a dark rose shirt. Nothing too fancy– saving the suit jackets for another day.

John suggested accessorizing, so I put on the beige and pink hat, wristwatch, and a strand of fake pearls. All is good.

Breakfast. Toast. Banana. Coffee. OJ. Good.

Upstairs to check the fish– everyone alive. Good. Toss some betta bites into the tanks and watch the babies be unable to eat them. Put smaller pellets into their tanks.

Feed the cat– oh CRAP! The shower curtain, which our laundry was hanging on to dry, had collapsed, dropping our clothes into the cat’s water fountain and food dish! EWWWWW!!! My BRAND NEW white shirts!!! AAAAAACK!

The white shirts seem to be OK. Everything else needs to be re-washed. Fuck.

Feed the cat, including cleaning his fountain out completely and refilling it. John grabs the once-clean laundry and throws it into the washer.

Get laptop, backpack, and knitting project (I’m knitting a narrow pink scarf to go with all my new clothes).

Go downstairs and grab coffee. It is now 7:00 AM. Time to go if I want to miss all the traffic.

Splash tiny amount of coffee as I’m trying to get the keys off the hook. Have to clean up– it of course splashed on my new shirt. Fucking hell.

Spill more coffee on my backpack as I’m walking out the door.

Go out to the car. Realize I left my purse upstairs. Go back inside and get purse. 7:05. If I don’t get out the driveway before 7:10, I hit all the bad traffic between Ben Lomond and Scotts Valley, and it adds about 30-40 minutes to my drive time.

Also realize it is raining. Know that I’m never going to make it to work before 8 today.

Drive. Put a napkin on my chest to keep from spilling coffee on my shirt again.

Drive some more. Listen to radio talk about how every freeway in the East Bay is fucked up. Have great sympathy for East Bay friends.

Sit in traffic.

At about 8:00, I notice my cell phone battery is dying, so I grab the charger. Unfortunately, it has gotten caught under the passenger seat and now has grease from the seat adjustment rails all over it. I notice this after I have grease all over my right hand, but before I’ve managed to put any on my brand new shirt or slacks.

I grab paper towels and mop up the grease and wipe my hand. I steadfastly keep a paper towel around my hand while I drive in.

8:30: I get to work. It took me 90 minutes to get to work this morning. It took about the same amount of time to get home on Friday. I can’t take this commute any longer.