A day in the life

So this morning I got up and pu ton my gym clothes. It was a little after five I guess. I felt pretty good since I got a solid seven hours of sleep. I must have really been chomping last night or grinding my teeth because my mouth guard seemed like it was glued to my teeth. I don’t know what it is about that thing, but sleeping with that thing makes me really thirsty. Maybe I’m sleeping with my mouth open or something and it’s drying out my tongue. I chugged a bottle of water and headed out for the gym.

It’s already daylight at five fifteen and I think the temperature is somewhere in the sixties. It feels pretty nice. Our gym is kind of small and we only have three elliptical machines and no treadmills. There are maybe twelve to fifteen freeweight stations and a couple of guided weight machines. There are two open elliptical machines and I so I grab a bottle of water and a small towel and get on one of the machines. Around five thirty the gym starts to really get busy. As a courtesy, if someone is waiting to use one of the elliptical machines, then the unwritten rule is to get off after you’ve been on for 30 minutes.

So I could tell that there were people waiting and I got off of my machine a little before six. Keith had come in a few minutes before hand and had started working on shoulders. SO I joined him and waited for Mike to finally roll on in. We worked on shoulders for about forty minutes of so and then we were finished. I was really feeling it. Keith and Mike left and I got back on an empty elliptical machine to go for a while longer.

When I didn’t feel like going anymore, I wiped my machine down and headed back to my apartment. Sean is a real stickler for locking the door, so I’m afraid that I’m going to be locked out. Not so afraid that I’ll take my key to the gym though. And when I got back to the apartment, I was kind of surprised to see that Sean hadn’t even gotten up yet. Well, I guess that means more hot water for me. Not that we’ve ever had a problem with running out of hot water, even when Shaun was here, but in my mind it’s best to get into the shower first.

After I cleaned up and got dressed I headed into the office. For breakfast I had a banana and a bowl of Special K. Not my favorite cereal, but that’s what I have stashed in the office. Mike has already made coffee, so I poured myself a big cup to have with my breakfast. Mike left for a while to take care of something and I was left in the office to read the news paper on-line with the quiet, desperate gurgle of the coffee pot to keep me company. The coffee pot is trying so hard to suck down the last of the water in the reservoir; it sounds like distant thunder. I finally turn the darn thing off just to put it out of its misery.

I wander over to Spence’s office and see the package that I turned in yesterday on his desk. It is evident that he hasn’t read it. No big surprise there. They can be pretty boring, so I nab it off of his desk for later. I go back to my office and run down my tasks of things to do. I still have five long tasks that I need to tackle. I pick two that I’m determined to accomplish today. One is a hot priority and one is definitely not a priority. But it’ll be relatively easy to knock out.

And the chance of it ever being approved and fulfilled are slim. But if I can get it done today, I’ll feel better crossing it off of my list. Besides, it’s not up to me to decide what gets approved and what doesn’t. My job is to just get my bit done.
So my next eight hours are a combination of reading, printing, researching, adding up numbers, adding them over again, making a couple of spreadsheets, editing, re-printing, stapling, re-editing, re-re-printing, re-stapling, and double checking. Somewhere in the middle of all that, we also eat lunch and dinner. I also sit down with Spence and give him the Reader’s Digest version of the Package that I took off of his desk earlier. He signed the cover sheet and I took it down to the next person who had to hack off on it.

After dinner, I finally finish up on the two packages. I nailed Spence down and brief him on the two packages that I’ve been working on all day. He seems kind of surprised that I have two more done, and he happily signs off on those packages. The next person on the staff sheet for these packages is an unusual guy who works down stairs. We call him “Too Cool” or TC for short. TC is ‘too cool’ for some of the rules around here. He’s also proud of his tan and his hair, and if you squint your eyes, he looks like Clint Eastwood circa 1978.

TC is pretty surprised to see me at his office and is really surprised to see that the two packages are done. I give him the postage stamp version of what they are about, but he already knows. He says something to me in French or Frenglish or Guinea… I don’t know. And then he gave me a hug. Like I said, he’s a weird dude. As long as he doesn’t try to kiss me, we’re good.

I headed back up to my office and looked at my computer for about 15 minutes. I don’t know why, I had no intention at all for doing any more work. I asked Mike what he was working on to see if he needed any help. Mike wasn’t working on anything either. He had to wait for Spence to come out of a meeting to talk to him about something. So I packed up my stuff and headed out the door.

Sean hadn’t made it back from work yet. I checked my e-mails and took another shower and sat down to write this entry.

That’s a day in the life of me.