It's 5:30...

...in the morning. I've been awake since 4:15.

The phone rang at 4:15. It's not easy to be pleasant when someone drags you from sleep at that hour. That's the time when emergency calls come in, when disaster has struck and you have to deal with whatever crisis is at hand while the brain is in a sleep-induced fog. Makes the heart race.

I would have managed a nicer response if it had been the call I wanted to get, need to get, from the one person who is welcome to call any day, any hour, but hasn't called. Yet.

Instead, it was my two friends who have been in Europe for the past three weeks. They need someone to pick them up at the airport. Tonight. Thirteen hours from now. They're not real swell about figuring out the time difference between Milan and Los Angeles.

It was especially irritating because they were calling from a car, and the background noise made it impossible to hear them. Hope my shouting didn't wake any neighbors.

I was having a nice dream that was shattered by the ringing of the phone, and that made me even more angry. These days, dreams are just about the only places where I get any pleasure.

I guess I'll be taking a nap this afternoon. Can't go back to sleep now.

And yes, I will pick them up tonight. My temper -- and pulse rate -- may even be back to normal by then.

Coffee. Must have coffee.