Long days
Today was a long day. Its summer, so I have to work late on Wednesdays. Do I get comp time for this? No. I got out of work at 7:30, and the one thing that was lovely was that it was still light, in that early-evening-late-afternoon light. In the winter if I leave work at 4:30 its pitch black out. So its nice to leave late and have it be light.
But it does make for a long long day. Driving to work in the rain -- and there's one thing Chicago drivers cannot do, its drive in the rain. They can drive in blizzards, in snowstorms so blinding you can't see the car in front of you, on side streets that haven't seen a snowplow in days, but a little rain and they lose their minds. Or else they just feel that rain is nothing, so they drive normally and suffer the consequences. Or they slow WAY down, in complete defiance of all the traffic around them. Arrogance or stupidity, take your pick. At any rate, there are more accidents in the rain and it all takes much longer.
The atmosphere at work is tense these days, so the day seems longer even when its proceeding in its normal pace. There just is no getting away from the fact that when the boss is like a spider sitting in his lair waiting to pounce life is a bit stressful. Nothing very exciting is going on right now, so there's lots of time to pick at stupid things. And my job is hovering between being absolutely boring and getting very busy.
I think that work hours should be shorter in the summer, so we can spend more time outside. Of course, most of the day today was taken up by rainstorms, so being in when its raining is not a horrible thing. But gorgeous when I left, and being so late the traffic not bad, and actually a parking space on my street ... which is a good way to end work day.
And my kid is exhausted as well, after all day at camp and then a couple of hours in my office at work reading (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, second time through on his own). So can I get him into bed at a reasonable hour? No. He needs to eat, he needs dessert, he's freaked out by the flies in the apt., he feels a need to argue with me about whether he needs a bath, he wants to watch the weather on the news .... lots of needs. What he needs is some downtime at home. What he needs is sleep. What I need is sleep as well.
Why is it so hard to get a full, decent night's sleep? I cannot get to bed at a reasonable hour myself, and then I have to get up early to get to work. I try to go to bed earlier, but it doesn't seem to work.
Work is stress. Sleep is good.
But it does make for a long long day. Driving to work in the rain -- and there's one thing Chicago drivers cannot do, its drive in the rain. They can drive in blizzards, in snowstorms so blinding you can't see the car in front of you, on side streets that haven't seen a snowplow in days, but a little rain and they lose their minds. Or else they just feel that rain is nothing, so they drive normally and suffer the consequences. Or they slow WAY down, in complete defiance of all the traffic around them. Arrogance or stupidity, take your pick. At any rate, there are more accidents in the rain and it all takes much longer.
The atmosphere at work is tense these days, so the day seems longer even when its proceeding in its normal pace. There just is no getting away from the fact that when the boss is like a spider sitting in his lair waiting to pounce life is a bit stressful. Nothing very exciting is going on right now, so there's lots of time to pick at stupid things. And my job is hovering between being absolutely boring and getting very busy.
I think that work hours should be shorter in the summer, so we can spend more time outside. Of course, most of the day today was taken up by rainstorms, so being in when its raining is not a horrible thing. But gorgeous when I left, and being so late the traffic not bad, and actually a parking space on my street ... which is a good way to end work day.
And my kid is exhausted as well, after all day at camp and then a couple of hours in my office at work reading (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, second time through on his own). So can I get him into bed at a reasonable hour? No. He needs to eat, he needs dessert, he's freaked out by the flies in the apt., he feels a need to argue with me about whether he needs a bath, he wants to watch the weather on the news .... lots of needs. What he needs is some downtime at home. What he needs is sleep. What I need is sleep as well.
Why is it so hard to get a full, decent night's sleep? I cannot get to bed at a reasonable hour myself, and then I have to get up early to get to work. I try to go to bed earlier, but it doesn't seem to work.
Work is stress. Sleep is good.