this is not a time for being awake

So Z is getting on a plane this morning to go to Little Rock for some Alt-Newsweekly Conference.
Which is nice and all, but I have to drive him to the airport.

And at 12:30 last night, the publisher's assistant phoned and said, "I was just printing out the boarding passes and they say that the departure time is 6:00!"

The itinerary when they booked them said 6:30.
The printout everybody got said 6:30.
The timetable online says 6:30... in one place. But if you look at it on a different page on the same website, it says 6:00.

The girl who we're giving a ride to the airport, nobody has her phone number. We have no way of telling her we're coming early. We're going to have to show up in her driveway half an hour early and hope she doesn't have any time-intensive beauty rituals that must be performed prior to departure from her house.
Because if that plane is really leaving a half an hour early... Well, TSA doesn't let you skip the line at security. For any reason. I have my badge, and could escort one person through, maybe, but if they notice I'm not on the clock, that's a $100 fine. So, no.

Me, I'm thinking, if you said all along it's leaving at 6:30, you have no business whatsoever leaving at 6. And this is a group of 9. They're not leaving with nobody on the plane. But still. I'm going to go sit in a girl's driveway and hope it takes her less than fifteen minutes to get ready.


It doesn't help that the phone call at 12:30 jarred me out of sleep so thoroughly that I really haven't gotten back to sleep at all...

man, it's early out!

The astonishing thing about summer is how early it gets so light. I do become a bit of a morning person in the summer. I've been up since 4:15 now, and I've taken out the trash and recycling, watered the front lawn/garden, watered the tomatoes and peppers (Burpee informs me that your tomatoes always need water! OK, Burpee, I'll water them! Thanks for the email!) washed the garbage can, done a load of dishes in the dishwasher and a few by hand, watered all the houseplants, and stirred the compost. It's not seven o'clock yet.

I have only three days to myself, while Z is in Little Rock. (I got him to the airport in time, by the way. The issue with the flight times is that American Airlines is changing its flight schedule, so that the 6:30 am flight becomes a 6:00 am flight, and today was the first day of the change, and not everyone had been notified-- so it was likely they'd be holding the plane a bit anyway. Still and all, it was a nice last-minute bit of panic.)

I am left pondering the fact that I have never lived alone. I had planned on doing so, at one point. I still occasionally fantasize about my own little place all to myself with no one to interfere in my devices. I like to think I'd be more productive. But I don't think so. And my innate sense of economy could not rest easy knowing that it's cheaper to have a roommate.
Also I'd miss Z.

But I have never lived alone. I have always had a roommate, or two, or four. And I'm still kind of a slob, and would probably be worse on my own. Still and all, sometimes I wonder what it would be like.

Maybe I'll clean the house, while I have it to myself. Ha, or maybe I'll be a complete slob. I'd been joking that I should have a big crazy party on Saturday night, but, um, I have to pick Z up at the airport at midnight on Saturday, so if I did, it'd have to be over early.

wow

Today, for absolutely no reason, a man gave me $20.
On top of a 75% tip, mind you.
I stared at him for several seconds, and managed to stammer, "thank you," in a flabbergasted and wholehearted fashion.

( the story, and my bewildered theories )

In other news...
Have the place to myself tonight. Felt weird, as I was waiting to get out of work, knowing that it didn't matter one bit what time I got home. Nobody but me would know. Made myself a good dinner-- a chicken breast, grilled, soused in barbeque sauce, over a bed of homegrown lettuce and slightly overripe radishes (v. spicy!), and some store-bought carrots. (I'm tempted to grow my own carrots next year but I know our clay soil won't work well with them.) And it was really good. Feels kind of nice to putter around by myself. House seems a lot bigger. I'm not doing anything I wouldn't with Z here, but I'm spending less time distracted and wondering what he's up to. I should probably buckle down now and finish writing that novel. It won't take me long if I just do it.

Wonder if I can, before he gets back on Saturday.
*thinks about it a moment*

We'll see.

*disconnects from Internet*