1999 january 21

edges

this week it seems as though gene and i are ships that pass in the night.

because he works from home, gene can keep whatever hours he likes. i am screamingly envious of this as his natural rhythms are quite like my own. we both would be happiest if we could sleep for five hours then be up and about for six, then sleep for three, up four, sleep four, up two... you get the idea. it is a fabulous schedule if you can keep it, but those of us trapped for the moment in corporateworld cannot.

for the longest time we were a little bit in synch. he would be awake when i got up in the morning; we would have breakfast together, watch the news, he'd give me a kiss and send me on my way. he'd sleep while i was at the office, would again be awake when i came home and we would run errands, see a movie, eat some dinner, watch some television, all that boring domestic stuff that is the bulk of our lives. no more.

tuesday was the first time we had breakfast together in weeks and we haven't had dinner together but once as well. in fact, i don't think i have spent more than two hours straight with the man, when we were both awake, this whole year. wait, i take that back. we both were awake and watching all the nfl playoff games, but that is somehow of little comfort. i miss coming home to him jumping up from the computer to yell, "my girlfriend's home!!" i miss our endless conversations about what we should eat for dinner. i miss our pillow talk.

i miss him.

**

i had to take the car in for its 20,000 mile tuneup today.

it also needed to have the motor replaced on the rear passenger window, but other than that it is in spectacular shape, especially considering i put over 20,000 hard miles on it in just one year. i do so love this car. and i am so very glad i bought it last year and didn't wait until this year's models were out. look at it all soft and roundish over there, it's lost its edges!

i love cars with edges. most of the cars made these days are so sleek and aerodynamically contoured that they look like lozenges sucked on for a few minutes then spat out. when i decided to finally buy a car, i had the make narrowed down to two: volkswagen and volvo. actually, only the jetta of the vw line had edges, but edges they were and with its lower price tag, jetta it was.

i saw something on television the other night about the resurgence of classic car makes and models. i eagerly waited to see them, anticipating the edges and fins of the fifties, already calculating what damage another car payment would make to my budget. no dice, every one of them was round.

ptooey!

vroooom, claire