I started the day moving furniture so Martin -- the contractor -- would have a 3 foot clear area to work. As I dragged my stereo across the room, I noticed one of the speakers had been disconnected. Perhaps the wire was severed. I dunno, I didn't care enough to examine it. Because it occurs to me I literally cannot recall the last time I had it on. I don't really listen to music at home much anymore. So why do I still have this massive dust collector?
Martin arrives late, but he's really nice and very quiet and thorough. So far, so good.
I go into the den and start cleaning out my closet. I collected a bag of pants and tops that no longer fit. (Let's give up the fantasy that I have "fat" pants and "skinny" pants; I'll save myself time in the morning if I admit I can't fit in my "skinny" pants.) Again, it's all going good.
Then I hear from my boss. Some muckety-muck wants me to change the opening of the letter that's part of the 1:00 presentation. We're talking one sentence, maybe two, of a presentation deck. You really need me for this? No one else is qualified to do this? It is, after all, my day off.
So I toss something off while we're talking. I tell myself my boss included me because he respects all the work I put into this project. In retrospect, I think that's about 20% of his motive. (80% was laziness.) But I chose to concentrate on that 20% because I was trying to stay positive.
I try to communicate to Martin -- who speaks little English -- that I need quiet between 1:00 and 2:00 for the client call I agreed to participate in on my day off. He understands! He'll let the paint dry between coats. Isn't it nice when things go well?
If only they really did. For, just as the meeting began, my neighbors began pruning their bushes. With the loudest bush pruner in North America. So I took the call in my bathroom, huddled up against the door to minimize the telltale bathroom echo.
But the call went well. Yea! The client liked the work. Yea!
My hole is fixed. Yea! The wall is painted. Yea! Martin even replaced the rod for me after I washed my drapes. Yea!
Then, at about 3:30, I got a message from one of my coworkers. My boss was copied. She wanted to know where this other project was. Which she knew I hadn't started.
"It needs to go out tomorrow at the latest."
via GIPHY
I'm at home! I don't have all my files with me! It's my day off!
And even if I wasn't at home on my day off, it's 3:30!
Here it is, 6:02 as I write this, and it's finally out the door. A project done in little more than 24 hours.
In response to all the thank you's I won't get ...
YOU'RE WELCOME!
Signing off now. Thank you for listening.
