A Day in the Life
Yes, I kept track of my activities throughout the day, and recorded them for posterity. While this is not necessarily a "typical day," it's good enough, since there is no such thing as a "typical day" for me.
4:00ish. Woken by Hobbes’ claw in my toe. So painful, it had made its way into my dream as a piece of glass I stepped on. I sat up, grabbed Hobbes, and tried to get him to cuddle with me up on my pillow, but he wanted to play, so he ran away and frolicked in the living room with Touchy.
5:40. Alarm sounds, or at least so I assume, since Jeff woke up and then woke me up. “Time to get up and meet Christina.” I protest (I’ve been sick, after all), and Jeff grumbles about how he is sleep-deprived and annoyed with having to get up and work out, if I don’t do it too. [I sympathize with his reluctance, but how is it my fault if (a) he didn’t fall asleep till midnight and (b) he doesn’t want to work out?]
5:45. I realize that I am awake, so I won’t be able to get back to sleep, and the idea of exercise isn’t completely abhorrent.
5:55. After stumbling around and not being able to find any of my workout clothes, I finally get out the door, leaving Jeff behind, since he has decided to go back to bed. I head down to the gym to meet Christina. It is COLD. My breath makes clouds in the air. My legs are bare. Christina is not at the gym.
6:05. I’ve waited for several minutes, and no Christina, so I go back up to the apartment to get ready for my day. Brrr.
6:50. I have showered and dressed and kissed my cats and husband good-bye. I get bus fare from the change bowl, gather my things, and leave. First stop, Starbucks—I figure, if I’m taking the bus and I’m doing well on time, I deserve a treat.
7:10. I just watched the OCTA 24 bus pull up to the bus stop, get passengers, and pull away. I was stuck on the other side of the street, unable to cross until after it has gone. Oh, the indignities of life. The bus usually doesn’t come till quarter past the hour. I decide to walk back up and get my car, and drive to work, since I’d have to wait half an hour for the next bus; i.e. by the time the next bus even got to Malvern and Gilbert, I’d pretty much already be at work myself.
7:45. Arrive at work, after a fairly mild commute. Do the usual morning stuff: check e-mail, voice mail, news, etc.
8:10. Go to get a donut, which Dave Reed always brings on Fridays. There is no old-fashioned buttermilk, so I just have half of a chocolate cake donut. Talk with Margie about Happy Bunny and body piercings.
8:20. Come back to my desk and find a Post-it note on my monitor: “I just got my flat-screen monitor and it’s BIGGER than yours. –Bryan.” Write a reply under his note, and put it on his monitor: “Size only matters if you’re MALE. –Deb.”
8:30. Open minutes from a meeting that occurred several weeks ago. I note with relief that I have no action items. Life is good.
9:20. Work is in full swing. I peruse a software spec for test parameters, discuss hardware characteristics, update a hypothesis matrix, and generally feel productive.
11:30. Jeff calls, wanting to get lunch together (he’s still home, but working on work and school). We discuss it, but eventually agree to just wait and have a good dinner together, since I’ll be able to leave at 15:45 today if I don’t break for lunch.
11:50. I realize that my neglecting to pack a lunch means that I will have to just make do out of the vending machine. I opt for cheese crackers with peanut butter, plus finishing my apple from breakfast. I wasn’t very hungry, anyway. While eating crackers, I read about the XXVI dynasty of Egypt, regarding the Saitic king overthrowing the Assyrian rule in the seventh century BCE.
12:00. Back to work, and looking forward to an end to my work day.
13:30. Drafting an e-mail to a colleague, regarding an issue that I know we’ve discussed before, and I am sure I ought to know the answer to my question, but I can’t think of it. Mind is in a rut. I’m no longer productive. I’m b-o-r-e-d. Can I make it till 3:45 pm?
14:20. Christina calls and asks, “Did I miss you this morning?” Apparently, she was downstairs in the area around the gym and pool, but we didn’t see each other. I tell her about my chat with Jordan and Becca yesterday. We discuss possibilities for working out tomorrow.
14:40. My throat and glands hurt, so I decide to leave earlier than originally planned. I’m such a wuss. I can’t make it even another hour.
14:45. Changed my mind about leaving (not only am I lazy, I’m wishy-washy, too). Now I’m nibbling on Sarah’s Boy Scout cracker jacks and browsing the calibration section of the SRS for the GRP OGP (not SERV, mind you). What a way to spend my Friday afternoon.
15:20. Vickers comes to my office to tell me that I need to have a dry run for my briefing before I take it in front of the GRB at the telecon next Thursday. I say, "Fine," since I don't really mind and I'm fairly confident in my understanding of the topic and the fact that I'm already boning up on the software and hardware issues that may come up. Since it is Friday and I am a little punchy, I suggest that I tell the customer that reason their system is having problems is because they were too cheap to have it made properly the first time. Ha.
15:30. One of the PSE guys drops by to tell me that they are testing software downstairs in the lab, but it's failing, so they want to change the platform. I think, "Egad, if the software isn't working, it's probably the problem, and not the platform itself," but say, "Let's go talk to Cheryl, since she's the equal torquing task lead," and we trot next door to Cheryl's office. Duggins comes to explain that as it so happens, the test platform had experienced some banging against magnetic stops (which Cheryl and I vaguely remember hearing about, circa one month ago) and they have identified definite issues (like, it won't make it through cal). We agree that a broken platform should be replaced, even though it puts us in a tough spot with regard to continuation of our equal torque testing, particularly since all of our baseline testing was done on the present platform. *sigh*
15:45. Yes! I turn off my computer, close my office door, and leave. I see two trains on the drive home, but manage not to have to really wait for either of them. As I drive by CSU Fullerton and Fullerton JC, I wonder what it would be like to study there.
16:05. Arrive home. Jeff is on the phone (probably talking to Ben), and programming in the office.
17:00. Sci Fi Friday is starting now, but I think we won't begin watching until 17:30 or so. Maybe I'll sieze the opportunity to finish viewing Guilty Hands, and maybe go back through it to see and sketch Kay Fwancis' pwetty dwesses.
18:00. We eat leftoever pasta and watch Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica. I eat ice cream. Life is good again (despite the fact that sometimes Stargate Atlantis drives me wild with pathetic portrayals of leadership). I cuddle the cats.
21:15. We're done watching Sci Fi and Simpsons. It is quite warm in our apartment. I post on my blog. Day over.
4:00ish. Woken by Hobbes’ claw in my toe. So painful, it had made its way into my dream as a piece of glass I stepped on. I sat up, grabbed Hobbes, and tried to get him to cuddle with me up on my pillow, but he wanted to play, so he ran away and frolicked in the living room with Touchy.
5:40. Alarm sounds, or at least so I assume, since Jeff woke up and then woke me up. “Time to get up and meet Christina.” I protest (I’ve been sick, after all), and Jeff grumbles about how he is sleep-deprived and annoyed with having to get up and work out, if I don’t do it too. [I sympathize with his reluctance, but how is it my fault if (a) he didn’t fall asleep till midnight and (b) he doesn’t want to work out?]
5:45. I realize that I am awake, so I won’t be able to get back to sleep, and the idea of exercise isn’t completely abhorrent.
5:55. After stumbling around and not being able to find any of my workout clothes, I finally get out the door, leaving Jeff behind, since he has decided to go back to bed. I head down to the gym to meet Christina. It is COLD. My breath makes clouds in the air. My legs are bare. Christina is not at the gym.
6:05. I’ve waited for several minutes, and no Christina, so I go back up to the apartment to get ready for my day. Brrr.
6:50. I have showered and dressed and kissed my cats and husband good-bye. I get bus fare from the change bowl, gather my things, and leave. First stop, Starbucks—I figure, if I’m taking the bus and I’m doing well on time, I deserve a treat.
7:10. I just watched the OCTA 24 bus pull up to the bus stop, get passengers, and pull away. I was stuck on the other side of the street, unable to cross until after it has gone. Oh, the indignities of life. The bus usually doesn’t come till quarter past the hour. I decide to walk back up and get my car, and drive to work, since I’d have to wait half an hour for the next bus; i.e. by the time the next bus even got to Malvern and Gilbert, I’d pretty much already be at work myself.
7:45. Arrive at work, after a fairly mild commute. Do the usual morning stuff: check e-mail, voice mail, news, etc.
8:10. Go to get a donut, which Dave Reed always brings on Fridays. There is no old-fashioned buttermilk, so I just have half of a chocolate cake donut. Talk with Margie about Happy Bunny and body piercings.
8:20. Come back to my desk and find a Post-it note on my monitor: “I just got my flat-screen monitor and it’s BIGGER than yours. –Bryan.” Write a reply under his note, and put it on his monitor: “Size only matters if you’re MALE. –Deb.”
8:30. Open minutes from a meeting that occurred several weeks ago. I note with relief that I have no action items. Life is good.
9:20. Work is in full swing. I peruse a software spec for test parameters, discuss hardware characteristics, update a hypothesis matrix, and generally feel productive.
11:30. Jeff calls, wanting to get lunch together (he’s still home, but working on work and school). We discuss it, but eventually agree to just wait and have a good dinner together, since I’ll be able to leave at 15:45 today if I don’t break for lunch.
11:50. I realize that my neglecting to pack a lunch means that I will have to just make do out of the vending machine. I opt for cheese crackers with peanut butter, plus finishing my apple from breakfast. I wasn’t very hungry, anyway. While eating crackers, I read about the XXVI dynasty of Egypt, regarding the Saitic king overthrowing the Assyrian rule in the seventh century BCE.
12:00. Back to work, and looking forward to an end to my work day.
13:30. Drafting an e-mail to a colleague, regarding an issue that I know we’ve discussed before, and I am sure I ought to know the answer to my question, but I can’t think of it. Mind is in a rut. I’m no longer productive. I’m b-o-r-e-d. Can I make it till 3:45 pm?
14:20. Christina calls and asks, “Did I miss you this morning?” Apparently, she was downstairs in the area around the gym and pool, but we didn’t see each other. I tell her about my chat with Jordan and Becca yesterday. We discuss possibilities for working out tomorrow.
14:40. My throat and glands hurt, so I decide to leave earlier than originally planned. I’m such a wuss. I can’t make it even another hour.
14:45. Changed my mind about leaving (not only am I lazy, I’m wishy-washy, too). Now I’m nibbling on Sarah’s Boy Scout cracker jacks and browsing the calibration section of the SRS for the GRP OGP (not SERV, mind you). What a way to spend my Friday afternoon.
15:20. Vickers comes to my office to tell me that I need to have a dry run for my briefing before I take it in front of the GRB at the telecon next Thursday. I say, "Fine," since I don't really mind and I'm fairly confident in my understanding of the topic and the fact that I'm already boning up on the software and hardware issues that may come up. Since it is Friday and I am a little punchy, I suggest that I tell the customer that reason their system is having problems is because they were too cheap to have it made properly the first time. Ha.
15:30. One of the PSE guys drops by to tell me that they are testing software downstairs in the lab, but it's failing, so they want to change the platform. I think, "Egad, if the software isn't working, it's probably the problem, and not the platform itself," but say, "Let's go talk to Cheryl, since she's the equal torquing task lead," and we trot next door to Cheryl's office. Duggins comes to explain that as it so happens, the test platform had experienced some banging against magnetic stops (which Cheryl and I vaguely remember hearing about, circa one month ago) and they have identified definite issues (like, it won't make it through cal). We agree that a broken platform should be replaced, even though it puts us in a tough spot with regard to continuation of our equal torque testing, particularly since all of our baseline testing was done on the present platform. *sigh*
15:45. Yes! I turn off my computer, close my office door, and leave. I see two trains on the drive home, but manage not to have to really wait for either of them. As I drive by CSU Fullerton and Fullerton JC, I wonder what it would be like to study there.
16:05. Arrive home. Jeff is on the phone (probably talking to Ben), and programming in the office.
17:00. Sci Fi Friday is starting now, but I think we won't begin watching until 17:30 or so. Maybe I'll sieze the opportunity to finish viewing Guilty Hands, and maybe go back through it to see and sketch Kay Fwancis' pwetty dwesses.
18:00. We eat leftoever pasta and watch Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica. I eat ice cream. Life is good again (despite the fact that sometimes Stargate Atlantis drives me wild with pathetic portrayals of leadership). I cuddle the cats.
21:15. We're done watching Sci Fi and Simpsons. It is quite warm in our apartment. I post on my blog. Day over.
posted by Kiti at 9:16 PM
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