I slept in today. Unfortunately, my slumber had again been disrupted by the constantly itchy healing process of sun-burned thighs. I finally fell asleep around 4, and in no time, it was 6, and my alarm erupted in annoying audio pulsations. Blah...I grabbed the phone and left a message for my boss, "Ummm...I'm going to be late," then smothered my face into the mattress and gobbled up another hour of sleep.

Did you know that traffic is bad in the morning? I thought "Rush Hour" was a movie with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker...but apparently, it also means "too many cars in one place at one time." The word "hour" is key: when I normally leave the house at 6:50 (okay - 7) the traffic is minimal. I can usually pull out onto the main road within 10 seconds. NOT TODAY! I sat in my driveway for about 4 minutes just waiting for a clear spot. Then, because my car is old and hates me for not using high-mileage oil, it decides to choke just as I dash for a gap in the flow that is way too short in front of a soccer-mom Hummer. Luckily, after a short sputter, the engine engaged, and I squealed (well, the tires squealed...I'm not that much of a girl) into my lane.

Usually after about 10 minutes on the road, I pull into my parking lot at work. It's also usually about then that the leaking oil from the engine starts to burn on the top of the engine block, spewing blue smoke from the hood, and I think, "if I drive this thing any farther, the car is going to burst into flames, and I will die along with all the people who stop to help at the exact moment the flames reach the gas tank, and the whole thing goes KABOOM!" Not a pleasant thought (maybe that's why I have trouble sleeping). But today I spent more than 10 minutes on the road.

Good news and bad news: Good news is, my car did not explode in a flurry of rotten seat foam and flesh. Bad news is, it might happen tomorrow. I hope that doesn't sound pessimistic, but I really can't help being a little on edge every time I drive that thing. "Fix it!" you say. Yes, that would be nice, wouldn't it. The problem is, the car is not worth fixing. It would cost more to get it in tip-top, than to by another car. I don't really feel like doing either at the moment, so I'll just pretend the problem does not exist.

Pray for me tomorrow. I'll try to leave early enough to miss Jackie and Chris, and save hundreds of lives by not detonating my car during the commute.

PB