maybe steve jobs stole my shoe, too.

i am easily irritated. it's not my best quality, i admit. i don't just let things get under my skin, i let them gnaw on my bones.

this morning, my day started off well enough until i found that someone (an apartment neighbor? a guest at someone else's home?) had stolen one of my favorite pair of brown leather boots. not two, so i could understand that they were so full of lust that they had to covet the pair for themselves, but just one, so that i am left with one, a reminder of what i once had, but have no more.

a little chomp on my bones.

then i tried going to the mac store in town to ask them to explain to me why in the heavens above my battery on my 8-month-old macbook has died and is refusing to be even recognized by the operating system.

the store, a simple 8.5"x11" white piece of paper in the window of the door noted, had to close for the morning due to unforeseen circumstances. of course. when i finally find some time to get to the store, it was closed. of course.

i try not to talk to jon in moments like this. i know his strength isn't empathy, and his good fix-it nature wouldn't find a solution for this little dilemma, but i was already out on the west side and intending to go over to his house anyway ...

so i did what any angst-ridden, peace-desiring, twenty-something ought to do. i listened to kirk franklin.

a remake of al green's "lovely day," kirk has the ability to talk to me, calm me down, and encourage me to throw away the threat-filled letter addressed to steve jobs.

i listened to it on repeat in the car about 4 times over until i felt ready to be presentable and nice enough to ring jon's doorbell.

so the afternoon was relaxing. i finished a book which finally showed it had heart (it took two very long, mind-boggling, philosophically-oriented chapters to reach a place where i felt the author at last considered the soul of humankind) and ate lunch at a little tacqueria near jon's house. relaxing.

i dropped him off this afternoon so he could go work out and i could try the mac store again.

it's now 2 hours later. the mac store guy told me i really ought to call my apple care people first. i prayed that the sinking of these new teeth into my bones wouldn't hurt too much. so i sucked it up and went home to call apple.

the long story short? 70 minutes later, there is no resolution to my battery problem, but there are a couple of new issues: 1) my itunes problem i've had since day one is part of a larger keychain access issue 2) i can't download other online features because of this issue, too 3) my phone bill is officially over its monthly limit. steve jobs is stealing my patience.

and so, the first conclusion is: i hate things. everything that has cost me money has brought me more trouble than i think it's worth. maybe i will sell all my possessions. when jon and i get married, i think we may actually have to live in a tent, an old, used and donated tent. maybe we'll just register for used stuff, if we have to register at all.

the second conclusion? what does it matter if i'm bothered? i've been given crazy resources! i've been given a home and a family and a phone to call long distance if i need help and clean water and so many good things. i hate that it takes broken things to remind me that i've been given so much.

i think i feel pretty dang grateful that God's more patient with me than i am with Apple.