Well, I didn’t do much writing after work yesterday. I was a little drained and not in the greatest mood, but I went to Starbucks to write anyway. After I parked my car and started walking towards Starbucks, a middle-aged woman got out of her oversized SUV and practically pushed past me to make it to the door before me and get in line. She then didn’t have the courtesy to hold the door for me but let it shut in my face. Not a good start. I almost ripped that woman a new one for her rude behavior, but I resisted because that would put me in a really foul mood. Then the Starbucks barista showed me that she had dropped the lid of the caramel container in my drink, apologized, and said that she would need to make my drink again. Fine. I browsed the coffee cups and went to the men’s room to wash my hands. When I came back to the bar I noticed that she was turning her head away from the drinks and coughing, and she was sniffling. I thought, “Oh, great! Her virus hands are going to be all over my drink.” When my drink was ready I picked it up, and it was very light. I ordered a Venti with no foam, so I was not going to accept this drink as is. Not for $4.20. I told the barista that I ordered my drink with no foam. She had to make my drink for the third time. I was about ready to lose it at this point, so I walked over to my table where my bag was and started setting out my laptop and books. The barista handed me my drink with a free drink coupon for my next visit. I appreciated the coupon. That helped. The funny thing was my drink was all sticky from where she had spilled on it, and there was no cardboard jacket on the drink. Sigh. So, I got up and went to get napkins and a drink jacket.

After all of the above, I was not in a good place. I was probably hypercritical at this point, but Starbucks seemed very noisy, cold, and there was a loud fly buzzing by the window where I sat. I decided that I needed to calm down before I even tried writing, so I wrote in my journal and read some. About a half hour later Starbucks became quieter, and I moved to a better seat away from that damn fly. By the time that I was fully calm and started working on my writing, it was getting dark outside, and I was becoming tired despite the caffeine. I stuck it out a little longer then decided to head home.

I have an idea for a sestina that I would like to try. The challenge of the sestina intrigues me, and I think the subject matter would be a good match for a sestina. I wrote one years ago as an undergraduate. I’d like to see how I would fair now.

I think I am getting sick with a cold. My throat is scratchy, and my nose is runny. I know I can’t blame the Starbucks barista yesterday because colds take a few days to develop, but I can’t help thinking she didn’t help matters. Food workers should not be working if they are sick or getting sick. I hate being sick! This week is a bad week to get sick. I have September FY06 month end work due Thursday.