Morning Madness
The power on the block went out again last night, so after awaking at 5:30AM and getting a latte at Starbucks, I headed over to my parents' house. I had to be over by noon anyway for lunch celebrating my father's birthday. When I arrived, only my mother was awake, and that was because I had woken her up with a phone call informing her I was coming over. After chain-smoking on the terrace for about two hours, I had some breakfast with my family. Soon after, I headed back to a coffee shop, this time with my brother-in-law.
As I was getting off the freeway and approaching the coffee shop, I saw a police car in the parking lot. I got quite excited, and told my brother-in-law that I was going to sell a book to that officer. He thought I was joking, but when we pulled into a parking spot I told him I wanted a latte (he had already told me he would treat this morning), grabbed a book out of the car, and then approached the squad car. The officer didn't buy the book, but he looked at it and I gave him a card with the Regular & Decaf website URL (www.regularanddecaf.com).
We eventually made our way back to my parents' place, and I retook my smoking place on the terrace. About half an hour later, my dad and I heard alarms blaring. I thought it was likely someone's home security system giving a false alarm. Little did we know that it was actually our security system, and it wasn't triggering a intruder alert, but rather a fire. Within a couple of minutes, we heard more blaring noise, this time the sound of the large fire engine that stopped in front our the house. I soon learned that my sister's flattening iron had melted a outlet while she was fixing her hair.
After another hour or so, it was time for my father's birthday lunch. By this time my entire immediate family was over, and although I like seeing them, the stress began to mount. It was an absolute mad house. The food wasn't getting done, and lunch was delayed and delayed and delayed. Many times I thought I was going to leave before we even ate, but finally one of the grilled pork chops was done, and so I wolfed it down and then made my goodbyes. I don't like that I had to leave, but if I expose myself to elevated stress levels too long I could relapse into psychosis. It is usually better to play it safe and leave early, but since it was an important occasion I stayed a bit too long for comfort. When I got home I crashed in a chair and fell asleep for several hours.
As I was getting off the freeway and approaching the coffee shop, I saw a police car in the parking lot. I got quite excited, and told my brother-in-law that I was going to sell a book to that officer. He thought I was joking, but when we pulled into a parking spot I told him I wanted a latte (he had already told me he would treat this morning), grabbed a book out of the car, and then approached the squad car. The officer didn't buy the book, but he looked at it and I gave him a card with the Regular & Decaf website URL (www.regularanddecaf.com).
We eventually made our way back to my parents' place, and I retook my smoking place on the terrace. About half an hour later, my dad and I heard alarms blaring. I thought it was likely someone's home security system giving a false alarm. Little did we know that it was actually our security system, and it wasn't triggering a intruder alert, but rather a fire. Within a couple of minutes, we heard more blaring noise, this time the sound of the large fire engine that stopped in front our the house. I soon learned that my sister's flattening iron had melted a outlet while she was fixing her hair.
After another hour or so, it was time for my father's birthday lunch. By this time my entire immediate family was over, and although I like seeing them, the stress began to mount. It was an absolute mad house. The food wasn't getting done, and lunch was delayed and delayed and delayed. Many times I thought I was going to leave before we even ate, but finally one of the grilled pork chops was done, and so I wolfed it down and then made my goodbyes. I don't like that I had to leave, but if I expose myself to elevated stress levels too long I could relapse into psychosis. It is usually better to play it safe and leave early, but since it was an important occasion I stayed a bit too long for comfort. When I got home I crashed in a chair and fell asleep for several hours.
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