May 15:
12:00am – In bed, drifting off…tomorrow is a looong day. So sleepy…must keep my laptop with me…I think I will roll over now…so comfy…
4:00a – “So with this, you don’t even have to drill out the middle”…I was showing somebody a metal pipe…apparently this was something society hadn’t heard of before. I guess we only ever had solid metal dowels thus far. What a weird dream. Woke up, checked time, and was horrified I only slept this long. Alarm is for 7:00, so I really hope I can get more sleep.
6:55a – I did! It’s just before my alarm and I feel pretty ok. Laid around until 7:30, now I’m up, and getting ready for the day. Have to be out by 8:30. Work a very long shift today, 9a-8p. Unavoidable 9am meeting, combined with an event tonight. I decided to work the whole day instead of a split, so I could shave off time tomorrow. (Only work until 2:30 then!)
7:57a – Finished with the shower, and looks like I can leave by 8:15 instead of 8:30. This leaves plenty of time to stop for coffee.
8:26-8:34a – People are at their worst behavior when driving. The Starbucks on Tillotson was a zoo. Cars pour out of the drive-thru and into the road, blocking cars and almost causing collisions. The line blocks parked cars in their spaces. No one cares. I came out to my car, and had to ask the person parked in line to back out, so I could leave. The BSU 20-year-old had a look on her face like “all I want is coffee…what could I possibly be doing wrong?” On the way out, 2 finches fought mercilessly under a Honda for bread. I reminded myself that it’s only a matter of days before the campus area clears out, and I can make my summer return to The Cup! Listening to Jonathan Bree while driving.
8:45a – In to work now at our Southside location for a meeting. Since I have my laptop out, typing this, let’s see if I get pulled into recording the meeting minutes. Fine if I do…I don’t mind helping out.
10:21a – The meeting went well, and I went back to my office to check a couple of things off my to-do list. I was reading through the Star Press comments section about the recent City Council meeting. I was curious about allegations of “Donati throwing a temper tantrum,” so I played the video while doing some work at my desk. I saw a couple of people I knew in the crowd. Maybe I should attend these things…would it do any good?
11:53a – Lunchtime at home. Now I’m home, to do some dishes, take out the trash, fold some laundry, and maybe even eat lunch! Seems I don’t get to use lunch breaks for taking an actual break. I try and do all my chores during the week so I actually have weekends to myself. Sitting down to eat, I pick up this fantastically-trashy horror novel from the 80s that I bought for $1 at White Rabbit Books this past weekend. It’s not one of the Valencourt re-issues, but a genuine Zebra from 1980. I think I lucked out a bit when I found it. If you’re going to read or watch trash, make it good trash. A little gross-out horror was a nice way to let real-world meh go away. It’s finally a nice day outside, and I’m eating/reading with the back patio door open. The cat wants cuddles. I’m officially 3 hours into my 10-hour workday, so it could be worse. Now if I could jut get my upstairs neighbor to stop throwing trash off their balcony, and onto my back porch, 10 feet from where I’m sitting. As I pack up to go back to work, I look over and a lone chipmunk snacks on some birdseed on the back porch. Well met, buddy! Listening to Josh Ritter while driving back.
1:03 – Just getting back in…I am reminded that I need to pick my gaming session for GenCon this August. My husband and I are going for the whole 4 days. It will probably be wall-to-wall Dungeons and Dragons from 8am to midnight each day (if I don’t go crazy from it all before it’s over with). I make a plan to sit down with that some time in the next 2 days, since I’ll be off work. I wish I didn’t have to drive so far to do things. Everything is in Indy. Bands are playing there, movies are premiering there that wouldn’t ever find their way here (I really want to see Hail Satan?) There is only ever super-popular garbage at the movies here. That and opera live broadcasts, which I have tried, but can’t quite get into. There is something to be said for living somewhere with such a dearth of these sorts of events…you can put it on yourself, and you can be sure things like that are not happening anywhere else in town, and some people will gradually start showing up!
4:29p – The logy is very real today. Taking a break now, and it’s really too nice to be stuck inside. I can’t wait for the next 2 days off. Nothing against my workplace or co-workers, but I jut need it. Apparently I have a Vitamin D deficiency, so it’s really easy to feel sluggish as a result. I need sunlight!
10:36p – Oh wow, I ended up with a 12-hour day. 8:30 to 8:30. I am beat! The event at work went really well, and it’s stuff like that that makes me feel like I am in exactly the right line of work…I wish I could go into more detail, but suffice to say I am proud to serve the city in the way I do, and I really hope I am making a positive impact. I went home, and my hubby was here waiting for me, with dinner ready! I missed him a lot, and was glad to be home. Dinner was good, and we watched a couple episodes of the CNN 2000s documentary series. We told each other about our day, and I was in a very happy place. “Home” was the best word for it. After that, I saw that I was only a few hundred steps from my daily goal, so I went for a short walk…it was still very nice out, so why not? Music on Pandora for the walk: the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Placebo, Fugazi, and TV on the Radio.
I came back in, grabbed a quick shower, and soon after collapsed in bed by 11. Doing fulfilling work is quite nice, but now I’m exhausted. Good night, fair people!
Total steps for the day 13,922.