ice man cometh? (gas man, too)

and the garbage man.

There are few things I dread more than dealing with Bureaucracy, with the layers of double-sided Red Tape, redundant Forms, contradicting Rules, and lack of responsibility.  So this morning, I was not overly enthusiastic when my alarm went off.  Then I realized that it was a good deal colder than it should be.  Oh, I thought, it is colder outside than it was last night.  I now realize that makes zero sense, but at Buzz O'Clock this morning, it did.

As I was leaving to go for my appointment, I tripped over a huge block of ice that had been in the Furrbee's water dish.  So I unlocked my door and went back inside and got fresh water and set off for the Dreaded Meeting once again.  I don't like to jump in a vehicle and race off, so I was sitting in my car, letting the engine warm up and my Low Fuel light dinged! on.  I knew I'd have about twenty-five miles to drive and with less than ten dollars to my name, I was wondering if I should get gas on the way in or if it could wait til the way out.  I am leery of getting gas on myself cuz I'm a ditzy klutz and the last thing I wanted to do was sit in the Dreaded Bureaucratic Meeting making my headache worse with wafting gas fumes.  So I decided it could wait til my trip from town toward home.  Except I forgot.

The meeting actually went well.  In part because I had all forms, bills, proof of income, and identification pre-copied and ready for them with amounts, names, and explanations highlighted in yellow and written in red.  Also, I repeated the mantra "just get thru this and it's all good til next year" til I drowned out the other voices.  It worked beautifully.  Altho it didn't last year.  And that is not a story for THIS entry.  And also in part because my counselor and others were sending warm wishes my way and I felt more reassured.  And also in BIG part because the Officer who I met with remembered the whole fiasco for the last several years (the biggest was last year) and so was very ginger with me.  Normally, that sort of tentative babying annoys me, but this time, it was required and a GOOD thing.  Really.  So the meeting was done and I now have seventy-five bucks in food-stamps monthly til next year, when I shall have another Bureaucratic Meeting.  But I'll deal with that then.

So I get home, and fight with my keys, the door knob, the lock, and my library books with my gloves on (my hands were wearing the gloves, not my library books; altho the books would have been just as effective) and an ungodly odor from the bowels of hellish tombs greeted me.  After feeding the furrbees, I trudged around to the propane tank which is located outside the fenced in yard behind the trailer.  And lo! and behold! the needle was resting on the absolute lowest point it could rest.  Tears of frustration were building but knowing that they would freeze in my now decidedly colder than outside home, I called my gas company who assured me that since I was pre-pay, they should have been checking my gas levels on a regular basis.  Uhm, hm, well since I haven't had gas delivered since last September, and it is a one hundred and fifty gallon tank, I'd say that no, they'ven't been checking and regardless, the point is, now I have none.  Nada.  Zip.  No gas.  As I stressed this point, I remembered that I had forgotten to get gas in my car as well.  I'm an idiot.  A very cold idiot.

So I heard a truck pulling in and thought, "yes!  the promised delivery, so soon!  they must be making amends and rushed right over to get me some needed heat! yes!"  But no, no that was the garbage man cometh.

I'm off to huddle under the quilts.  Perhaps when I wake up, it will be like the Little Princess and I will have heat and lovely things to eat and my aches and pains and sore throat will be gone.  Sigh.  I can dream, can't I?