January 12, 2000

Keith and I had a bad morning.

First of all, last night when I was driving home, the battery light came on. I made it home, and after looking through the owner's manual, figured out that it was probably a problem with the alternator belt. We've had a squealing belt for the last two months or so, so this was not a difficult problem.

The car problem was very annoying because today Keith and I both had plans for the car. Keith was going to drive to work, because he has a meeting in Redmond, and taking the shuttle from Bellevue to Redmond really bites, and driving the car would have been much easier. Then he was going to make it home by 5:45-6:00 and I was going to take the car to my hair appointment.

Well, no car. Keith got home last night too late for us to be able to go out and get a new belt and fix it tonight. So, this morning we both had to take the bus.

This morning he also told me that he thinks it would be a good idea if we alternated taking the car to work so that every day at least ONE of us would get to sleep in. I reacted pretty badly to that suggestion. First of all, I really really really like the time I get to spend with him in the morning when I drive him to the bus stop, or sometimes even drive him to work when we miss the bus. It's one of my favorite parts of the day.

Second, I don't want to take the stupid bus to work every other day. Especially considering that I just joined a gym that is not particularly easy to get to on the bus. If I drive to work, drive to the gym after work, then drive home, my total travel time is something like an hour. If I take the bus to all those places instead, it's maybe two hours. Or more, I don't even know.

Of course, it's not fair to Keith that he has to take the bus to BELLEVUE every day, either. HIS commute time is also increased by at least an hour by taking the bus, and since even when he drives the car, it takes about half an hour to get there, that's a significant chunk of the day that he loses to transportation. But I kept asking him if he minded the bus, and he kept saying that it was OK because he'd rather have an hour and a half to read stuff on the bus than spend 45 minutes or whatever in the car.

He changed his mind this morning, I think because he was really looking forward to sleeping in and taking the car. Keith is one of those people that really needs to get eight hours of sleep a night, and he hasn't been lately, so he's just sort of been tired all the time. It really sucks.

So, he wants to start taking the car every other day. And frankly, I'm really tired of 1) him being tired all the time, 2) constantly having the car be this issue all the time, 3) constantly having our bedtime be an issue all the time, and 4) taking the bus, at all, ever. I hate the bus.

I realize that this sounds totally selfish. I am not entirely happy with myself, because I feel like I should be more giving and altruistic on this issue, but dammit, I want another car. I am so very tired of talking about how much sleep Keith gets and how much sleep he needs to get and how much sleep *I* get and how much time it takes to get to work, and which one of us wants the car the next day, and... AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!

Before today I was fairly committed to the idea of getting a brand new car, but now I don't even care. Old, new, whatever, we just need another car. I told Keith this and at first he sighed, but then he said that he agrees, and that we just need to figure out how high a priority it is.

I thought about that for a minute, and told him that as far as I concerned, it's a higher priority than anything except the vacuum cleaner. And he said that the vacuum cleaner doesn't count, we're talking about pricey stuff like a new bed. I said, I can wait for a new bed, I don't want to wait for a new (to us) car.

So, I guess we'll be used car shopping before too long. Which is good, because I am ready for the car not to be a huge issue anymore. I mean, really ready.

I feel like a big selfish pig. Sigh.

In other Keith-related news. Fret fret fret fret fret fret fret. What if Keith is disappointed in me because I hate the bus so much? What if he's mad because we need a new car? What if he secretly curses my name every morning when I drop him off at the bus? What if he thinks I'm a big selfish pig?

Fret fret fret. Sigh. I'm sure he doesn't. Well, sort of sure. Pretty sure. Almost sure. Maybe I should just stop worrying so much.

Finally. It snowed in Seattle today.

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