Breaking Ground

One proviso to those who might be considering taking a barista job: the work is fun, the tips can be great, but oh boy do you ever end up addicted to caffeine. I'm lucky enough to be able to wake up just fine without coffee; it's easier with, but if there's none to be found, my central nervous system sort of shrugs and moves on. Hours later, the pounding headache sets in, and getting rid of it is very difficult.

Of course, I know this, so I made sure to have coffee ready to brew no more than 20 feet from my bed. This morning was the Habitat for Humanity event that some of us 1Ls participated in, and I had to be at the law school at 7:45, so I set my alarm for 6:30. Through a series of unfortunate and sadly rather predictable events (I knew this was going to happen!), my alarm did not go off, and I was awakened around 7:15 by a disturbing dream involving needing to remove some gerbils from my bedroom without hurting them and without my parents finding out.

Dreams of Gerbils. Like Dances with Wolves, I guess. I've never had that sort of dream before.

Anyway, consequently, I woke up way too late for coffee, and barely made it to the law school on time. And now it's 4:30 in the afternoon, and I have The Headache. I also have one pair of jeans, one tank top, and one pair of shoes that are covered in red Virginia clay. Most of the job we were needed to do today at the Habitat house consisted of digging ditches into which pipes could be placed to carry rainwater away from the hill on which the house was built, thereby avoiding excessive erosion. Because I have tendonitis in my wrists, I couldn't do too much of the digging, but I did get plenty dirty and have a lot of fun. Then I went to the Cingular store on 29 and spoke very briefly with the world's worst salesman:

Him: Can I help you?
Me: Yes, I need to buy a phone, and I think I've already decided on the plan I need.
Him: Who do you have service with now?
Me: Um, I don't. That's why I'm here. I mean, I do have a prepaid phone, but I don't want to use that long-term.
Him: Well, which plan do you want?
Me: The $39.99 a month one.
Him: And which phone?
Me: The one that was listed on the website as being free... well, one of them. The LG flip phone... it was a camera phone... it was silver...
Him: Hahaha... oh, yes, we don't have that phone here. It's discontinued, that's why you can get it on the website for free. Hahaha.
Me: Ooookay... well, do you have any phones here that are free with a two-year contract?
Him: No.
-- silence --
Me: Okay, then I'm not buying a phone here.

Let's see... first we ask irrelevant questions, then we laugh at the customer's expense, then we tell the customer we don't have what she wants and suggest absolutely no alternatives. Great way to earn a commission!

So I came home and took a nap, and then I woke up, with The Headache, and decided to fix myself some coffee. I use a French press, so that means I have to heat water in a kettle on the stove. I guess I'm not that used to my new stove, because I turned on the front burner instead of the rear burner and didn't notice until the thought crossed my mind that I ought to be hearing whistling by now.

So it's back to the Mudhouse with me. Clearly I'm not competent to prepare coffee.