Everything, apparently. I have not been driving my car since like, April in the hopes of resolving its “issues” before all hell breaks loose. Also I am taking legal action and have been advised to drive the car as little as possible, but it is probably wiser not to really post about it until after settlement. That last sentence wasn’t really “posting about it” so let’s just move on.

Basically for the last 2 months I have been riding my bike, or, more often, being carted to work in Katsumi’s Volvo. And although the biking provides a wonderful built-in exercise regimen and although I do enjoy the early morning drive with the boy, the not-driving is wreaking havoc on my home-life.

Example:

Mobile:

I wake up around 9, take my time getting ready for work, brew a pot of coffee and do dishes. I leave for work after Katsu and get home before Katsu, taking the free time to do grocery shopping, sort mail, read books, do laundry and generally keep shit in line. When Katsumi gets home, we prepare a healthy dinner and then drink ourselves silly while watching Star Trek DVDs.

Non-mobile:

I wake up between 7:30 and 8:15, rushing to get ready so that Katsu will not be late. There is no time for dishes so I brew my coffee in a dirty pot and cart it to work in a dirty mug. There is no time for makeup and rarely time for showering, so I leave the house looking (and smelling) like a commune refugee. I work until 7 or so, when Katsu emerges from the hell that is the Pike at rush hour, and at that point we are too blown-out from our 10-hour day to cook. The vegetable market is already closed, Whole Foods has lost its allure, and dinner is usually take-out or pub fare. When we get home, we throw on a DVD and watch about 30 minutes before deciding that we are both too tired to keep our eyes open.

Granted, a lot of this disorder has to do with the fact that in the past 2 weeks we have pulled several very long days, but seriously – I haven’t run out of underwear this frequently since I was in college. There are clothes EVERYWHERE, our counter is COVERED with empty bottles and glasses (no plates, because we don’t eat at home anymore), and the carpet is generating new life forms from the crumbs and hair that have been festering there for weeks.

Did I mention that every day this week I have been waking up just before dawn and OBSESSING over this shit for an hour or so while trying desperately to fall back to sleep? That I’ve had to buy earplugs because I wake up right as the birds come out and once you hear those birds you know it’s over and the sun is coming up and if you don’t fall back to sleep RIGHT THIS MINUTE, there’s just no hope?

Because I have. Every. Fucking. Day.

I love driving to work with Katsumi, but the companionable commute is having some cumulative and unforseen after-effects that are really messing with my head.