Sometimes You Just Shouldn't Get Up
When I awoke this morning I had to fight to keep my eyes open. While this may be normal for most people, for me it is most certainly not. I'm usually wide awake. But not this morning. Oh no. Not this morning.I did the bleary-eyed shuffle to the back door and threw open the drapes. The Bay Area has slipped back into its usual summer marine layer phase so the sky hung low...very low. In fact, so low that I think I bumped my head on it. I've had a headache all day.
I brewed up a pot and read the paper, though I kept having to reread the same paragraph because I couldn't concentrate. I thought a shower might help - but I struck out. I stood in the shower for several minutes wondering why my vision seemed so poor. I noticed that I was still wearing my glasses.
After the shower, it was off to work on the job hunt. I went to all the usual sources and even some unusual sources to look for leads. Nothing. Bupkiss. Certainly not worth the tedious effort I put into it. Suddenly, I remembered it was a holiday week and likely to be that way for the rest of it.
I drank some more coffee and felt the jitters work their way up my body. The caffeine high took over, but none of the positive side effects showed up. I was a quaking, jittery man in a permanently vegetative state. I kept waiting for Jeb Bush to show up at my door and pull the plug on me.
When good daughter Claire woke up I took her for a ride she'd been asking for. Perhaps a nice drive in the country would be nice I thought.
On the way out, I stopped by the Post Office only to remember that I'd not brought the letter I meant to mail. I stopped by the bank to deposit some checks. When I reached the ATM I realized I hadn't written the amount on the envelope and couldn't remember how much it was. I bagged the deposit until later. We did manage to drop off some DVDs at Blockbuster. It was my day's only success.
We headed for the other side of the hills under the theory that the fog would have burned off over there as it usually does. I dived off the freeway onto what I thought was a back road that I had driven before. Some new condos led to more condos, which led to a traffic jam. I turned and tried another road. It was a little better, but not by much. After several attempts we headed home. On the way we were almost squashed by a huge truck.
Claire, bless the child, was patient about all of it. She made the best of the traffic and didn't even object when we had to close the sunroof to avoid the dust storm roused by the construction.
I could tell you more, but I won't. It only went downhill from there.
You know? Some days it just doesn't pay to get up.
Truth Told by Omnipotent Poobah, Tuesday, June 28, 2005
