Many pithy sayings exist about possessions: “A Boat is a hole in the water you throw money in” “Boat is an acronym that stands for Break Out Another Thousand” “If it has wheels or wings, it’s trouble” (There’s another variant, but this is polite company) To this I’d suppose to add: “A House is a mechanism to kill you, but at least you get to sleep there. That’s why it’s called a ‘mortgage’.” ...
From time to time, I like to check-in on what daily life is like. Yeah, it’s mundane, but it helps me remember what I was like at any given moment. 5 am: Alarm Clock Goes off. Hit snooze bar. 5:09am: Alarm Clock Goes off. Hit snooze bar 5:18am: Alarm Clock Goes off, wakes 6 week old infant. Wife hits me. I turn off alarm clock and get up 5:30->6: Wash dishes from night before, read RSS feeds on Google Reader, listen to podcasts on iPod (particular favs: “Things you missed in History class”, “FLOSS weekly”, and “Wait, wait…don’t tell me”.) 6: wake-up Joey for school, walk him to the bathroom. 6:15: go back to bathroom to rouse comatose Joey 6:30: Shower, shave, yada yada yada 7:15: Leave to take Joey to school 7:45: Pick up Del for carpool 8:15: Arrive at work 8:30->10:30: Most productive time of the day 10:30: first SCRUM standup of the day. Dysfunctional, slightly dramatic team. Lots of contempt. Good product, though. 11: second SCRUM standup of the day. 11:30->1: Intend to get lunch. Usually hack on code problems identified during morning standup meetings 1->5: Program on my bread-and butter project. Ah, heaven! 5:15: Leave for home 6ish: Arrive at home, take screaming infant from wife 6->6:30: Converse with wife while she prepares dinner 6:30->7:30: Family dinner. Yes, we actually sit down to dinner most nights, and I LOVE IT. My wife’s an awesome cook, and I’m an awesome consumer of her cooking. 7:30->8:30: Bath time for Maria, get Joey into bed. Grace usually has a feeding right around this time. 8:30->10:30: Adult time, usually spent staring comatose @ television thinking we really ought to go to bed, because the baby will be up for a feeding soon. 10:30->11:30: Last feeding of the ‘day’ for Grace 3:30->4:30am: Give Grace her nightly bottle, if it’s my turn (Whitney and I alternate.) So, it’s a busy, structured day almost every day. Back when I first got married, the above would’ve driven me mad. I hate/hated repetition and routine, and the daily grind got to me often. Two infants drive that sort of hubris right out of you, apparently. Nowadays, I yearn for those nights where I can get 6 uninterrupted hours of sleep. ...
:-) Anthropologists love the mundane. They study the way people live day-to-day, the things we take for granted. So, here’s a snapshot of my typical Monday: 4:54 am: Wake up and realize it’s almost time to get up, but fall back asleep anyway, entering the depths of REM just in time for… 5am: Alarm goes off. Hit snooze bar for 9 minutes. 5:06am: Inexplicably wake-up, turn off alarm and arise from bed. ...
Ugh…what a weird, up-and-down day. I’m currently on a very strong DOWN… - Up at 7:00 when Dad calls. He re-confirms we’re going to the Farm Machinery show in Louisville tomorrow. Up - I have to go to work today Down - I take a vacation day. It’s nice outside, and I can go ring shopping and relax. Up - I realize just how dirty my apartment is Down - I clean it up and organize Up - I head out to the ring shop that Scott suggested. Up - While at the ring shop, Dave calls me and tells me they’re sending him to Luxemburg tomorrow and that they need me. Down - The ring shop only sells loose stones, and then gets them set. Up - They’re out of princess cut diamonds Down - As I’m pulling into the parking lot, I get a call from my beloved, and she’s very happy Up - She thinks I bought her two dozen roses. I hadn’t. Down - I get the work done in about an hour, calling Whitney as I leave. Up - She’s mad and disappointed I didn’t send her flowers. I’m disappointed that I didn’t send her flowers. I make an offhand remark. Hilarity ensues. Down…WAY down. ...