Just to lay with you there's nothing that I wouldn't do, save lay my rifle down

The last two mornings I've been rolling out of bed when the alarm goes off (set for dommeyourass's work schedule) and, get this, writing. On the novel.

My writing since graduation has been erratic, arriving in big bursts of energy and time, usually on some short story that pops in my head, nothing consistent, and there's nothing wrong with that per se, but I wanted to get back into a regular rhythm. Last year I was doing pretty well with the morning writings, but I fell out of the habit. I was inspired to get back into it by MFA-Husband saying he gets up every morning and gets ready for work a full hour before he needs to, showers, dresses in work clothes, and writes for an hour. And he says it makes him so calm and happy. I had forgotten this part of the comment until this morning, when I was typing and realized that I was humming some boppy made-up tune. It can best be described as a television theme song, if my life was one of an 80s quirky action hero. I was doing the same thing yesterday morning too.

I also wrote two e-mails to my senators saying I highly encouraged and completely had their back, should they decide to filibuster Alito. I know I should have called, but it's better than nothing.

My fancy new transit card arrived in the mail yesterday, so perhaps I'll use it to go downtown to deliver my teaching contract.

ETA: But first I will eat breakfast and watch James Frey appear live in Chicago, on Oprah to answer the challenges to his book! Score. I got reobsessed with the controversy after reading this quote:

John Dolan, co-editor of The eXile, a Moscow-based English-language alternative webzine [ http://www.exile.ru/ ], put it best last week, having long-doubted Mr. Frey's bona fides: "Rehab stories provide a way for pampered trust-fund brats like Frey to claim victim status. These swine already have money, security and position and now want to corner the market in suffering and scars, the consolation prizes of the truly lost. It's a fitting literary metonymy for the Bush era: The rich have decided to steal it all, even the tears of the losers."

Aaaaah......I hate you so much right now.

Nothing gets under my skin more than people thinking I'm an idiot, that I'm clueless, that they can deceive me without me noticing, that they can talk down to me, that I am incompetent, hapless, dumb, slow, and in general unable to understand whatever it is they think they know.

I just realized that the more it bothers me, the more times things happen where I feel condescended or even lied to. It's like the universe is saying, mtherfcker, you're going to learn this lesson if it kills you. And right now, I don't so much feel like I'm going to die, but more that someone else will by my own hands.

Today's examples of being extremely cranky at life and other people living it:

1) The inspection by the gas company guy who basically said, "gas prices are high. I pay that much for a single family home that's about this square footage." Yeah, well, everyone else I've talked to in apartments our size is only paying half what I do. And our apartment isn't even warm. Well, it has been lately, because I think we're like, fuck it, if we're paying $400 a month, what's $450 to actually be fcking warm? I finally convinced the guy that I wasn't a dumb whiney customer who didn't know isht and managed to have a conversation. I've learned that radiator heat sucks. All this time I thought it was better, but no, forced air heat is more economical in price and ability to keep things warm. And having the radiator next to old leaky windows doesn't really help the issue. He checked on the washer/dryer and confirmed we aren't paying for that. He also gave a whole explanation on 2 flat buildings and why they are becoming harder to rent precisely because the costs have increased exponentially over the past 5 years and they aren't as good of investments for owners.

So when he left, I felt defeated in the expenses, resigned to buying a small electric space heater, but less talked down to and grateful to have someone at least willing to change their manner of speaking to me.

But then....

2) I get an e-mail from the produce delivery people, who I e-mailed this morning saying "I thought I had a shipment for delivery yesterday, but it didn't come, then I realized it was supposed to be last week's and we never got it, even though we were charged. I've been on the same schedule for over a year with no problems, luckily. Can you look into this matter? Thanks."

Their reply was simply "You received a shipment on 1/18 so your next scheduled delivery is 2/1."

AAAAAAARGH. Thanks for only reading the first sentence of my e-mail and assuming I'm a moron who doesn't know what every other week means, even though I've been doing it for over a year. So I wrote again clarifying, and they replied "I don't know what to tell you, it says he dropped it off at 1:46 am."

Worst customer service reply ever.