Eight Hours

s there something wrong with going to bed at 10:30 and waking promptly at 6:30? Should I feel like I'm 40 years old and raising triplets? (I'm not. I'm 26... and raising my standards.)

I'm starting to get really sick of bad coffee. When I make coffee at home, it's magical. I put in a bit of dream creamer (dairy-free, thanks) and try hard to find time to enjoy this glorious chemical in the comfort of my own home. Mornings are my favorite time of day. There's so much hope. Maybe TODAY is the day I'll come home and write. Maybe TODAY is the day I'll watch that Netflix movie I've had for two months while the Folks at Netflix are sitting pretty, gladly taking the $22 out of my checking account every month and in return sending me three DVDs which I never have time to watch, or worse, I find the time to watch them and fall asleep and miss the end, so then I feel compelled to keep them longer to actually FINISH the movie, so really, I'm paying $22 to rent three movies for 2 months at a time. If I weren't a member of Netflix, I would never rent movies anyway. Am I saving money?

Anyway, so yeah, the morning. It's a new day. I like to bask in the glory of it. And my living situation is such that I have the perfect roommate. She likes to stay up late, I like to get up early. So when I'm actually home (which seems to be rare), we both get to have alone time - me in the morning, her in the evening. I make coffee as soon as I wake up, and usually drink it sitting on the couch, reading, or just contemplating life in general.

Unfortunately, there are times when I don't have time to make coffee, or I make it, but it's not enough. It's these times I want to be able to walk somewhere near work and BUY a cup of coffee. There are two coffee places within walking distance - a donut shop across the street and a 7-11 down the street. These places make money selling what is arguably the worst coffee in California, if not the lower 48. And people like me keep buying it, justifying the purchase by saying something like: oh, maybe it'll be a good pot this time... OR I'll just put more/less sugar in it this time. Yet, it's always disgusting. I'm not talking about a disgusting that is manageable. I'm talking about the kind of disgusting where your lips curl involuntarily when you're bringing the cup to your mouth, and you can almost hear your stomach screaming: WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING HERE?? Really. It's that bad.

And I sit. In need of just a little more buzz. The nearest Starbucks is driving distance, not walking distance. You know, there are three Starbucks and one Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf within walking distance of my apartment. Yet at work, nothing. THIS is another reason to HATE the VALLEY.

I hope as you're reading this, you're full of good coffee.