Here is a day that I had the other week, in rich detail:
6:00: Alarm goes off
6-6:15: Fondle wife (P.), with unclear objectives
6:15: Pull myself out of bed, put on bathrobe, and shuffle downstairs where I croak good morning to my oldest son, who cheerily wants to relate to me something in which I have no interest. Put up coffee.
6:17-6:35: Amble upstairs and get in shower. I use the kids’ bathroom, which is less convenient but I get the lion’s share of the hot water, leaving P. to fume in a shower that occasionally goes cold.
6:40: Go back to my bathroom, letting lots of cold air in to P.’s annoyance. Brush teeth, shave, and otherwise groom and then get dressed.
6:55: Go downstairs again; prepare breakfast for the youngest child; yell at the second child to eat and get dressed; get a cup of coffee and sit down with the paper.
7:10: Pack lunches for the children; eat breakfast.
7:30: Walk to work.
8:00: Arrive at work and put computer on; resisted the urge to check email.
8-10: Good, productive work time.
10-10:15: Made myself a cup of coffee; tried to avoid co-workers.
10:15-10:30: Checked email against my better judgment and otherwise wasted time.
10:30-11:45: Slightly less productive work time.
11:45-12: Ate sandwich I brought; checked CNN and email again.
12-2: Progressively less productive time writing and reading
2-2:30: Meeting with student advisee.
2:30-3: Made some unproductive emai.l
3-3:30: I’m not sure.
3:30-4: Walked to gym.
4-5: Worked out. Felt great!
5:00: Picked up children, who are in the same building as my gym.
5:20: Walked the 3 blocks to our house.
5:30: Began to think about making dinner.
5:45: P. arrives home; we have glass of wine together as children watch PBS.
6:15: Remember that I am actually responsible for putting dinner on the table, and throw something together.
6:45-7:15: Eat dinner together.
7:15: Tell child #1 to do the dishes; child #2 to take a shower; and child #3 to practice piano until child #2 is done.
7:15-8:15: Feeling gloomy as the children make their way through their evening routines.
8:30: Two out of three children are in bed; one is soon to be in bed; and I’m settling into my chair with a scotch.
8:30-10: Drink and play on the internet; looked at some porn.
10: Joined P. in bed, tonight too tired and depressed for sex. That’s ok, though, because she didn’t want it.
Now, in reviewing this day I have a few thoughts:
1. This is, by all objective standards, a fucking awesome day. I can work to and from work; I had good uninterrupted work time; I for the most part avoided annoying co-workers; I spent some time together with P. before we were totally exhausted; I worked out; and I talked and ate dinner with my children.
2. For the time being, this is not a completely unusual day. I am not teaching now; were I, I would probably spend most mornings preparing and a few afternoons in class. There would also be far more meetings, most of which in no way increase anyone’s learning or productivity.
3. Depression begins to hit around sundown. This is not constant, and I will reflect on this further in future posts. Maybe there is an element of SAD to it, but it also comes in the summer.
This, then, is more or less a picture of my life as lived in real time.
Posted by midagedman 