October 3, 2006, 11:00pm

I took my roommate to go grocery shopping this afternoon. She's really brave. I was driving.

I'm about to have panic attack just thinking about driving! Nervous, nervous, nervous.

Then when we're back home, she's beginning to cook for supper. She was heating very little oil with maximum fire. So, the smoke triggered the fire alarm. Then, she's trying to rinse the oil with water but the water plus oil mixture was splashing everywhere violently.

And she's there holding the pan! I asked her to put it down... then she's putting it down on the floor. I said, no, in the sink.

Then, finally, I fanned the fire alarm for a while until the beeper's off. I also got to calm my roommate down. She's really scared. This is only her third week learning to cook. Well, I'm in psychology. I suppose I have to help her live through her traumatic learning experience.

A new driver and a new cook living together really result in a lot of surprise and anxiety. :)