A New Flow

Week two on the newest contract and I'm working on my flow.  With this kind of work, the hours and days tend to change with and without notice. This week for example:

Monday: 07:00 - 17:30 (10.5h)
Tuesday: 12:00 - 20:00 (8h)
Wednesday: 08:00 - 19:30 (9.5h)
Thursday: ??
Friday: 08:00 - 19:30 (9.5h)

Monday, Wednesday, Friday I'm "assisting" in a training class.  I have to get authorized to teach at this facility even though I've taught before (standard operating procedure no matter who the facility is). That it what dictates my hours for those days.  Right now, there is only class 1pm to 5pm but that could and probably will change.  I showed up at 7am today to get ready for an 8am class only to find out that there wasn't an 8am class.  As my department lead says "we are water, we flow with it", which I like.  You won't last long as an Epic contractor if you can't be silly putty - flexible, ready to bend, adaptable and able to copy/memorize.

It's doubly nice that at this project we have lots of dedicated training rooms with hardware that is set up and ready to go. The rooms are roomy with space to spread out, projectors for demonstrations, a box of supplies for each room and individual temperature controls.  It's miles ahead of my last project.  The management seems very different so far aw well and in all the best ways.  They believe us to be the professionals we are. They give us the information and leave us to prepare, not reading it to us like kindergarteners. They understand that sometimes we will need to work more than forty hours per week to prep, clean up, prepare, etc in addition to class hours.  They have a highly rational and logical approach to teaching and management.  The key might be SO FAR, but I have high hopes and my fingers crossed.

Since I'm working, I can no longer go to the gym at 11am.  I'll take advantage to go midday when I can, like tomorrow I'll go about 9 or 10am, but that will be a treat.  Instead I have to figure out when to jam it in to my schedule.  LAst week I got to the gym exactly zero days.  I did run my neighborhood, but nothing the rest of the week.  I saw 25 on Wednesday, went to a brewery for a special tapping with a friend on Thursday, saw 25 over the weekend and now it's Monday. I've got to balance work, the gym and a social life.  I am having a hard time believing I can get up at 4am to work out before driving to work at 6am for a 7am start but afternoon turns into the "buts" and not my butt on the elliptical machine. After work I am prone to "I could/should go to the gym but I'm tired/I have to go shopping/I need to let the dog out/I have to _____". It's easier to find a reason not to go after work. A Mariners game, a date, dinner, exhaustion are all acceptable reasons.  Therefore, it's got to be morning, but MAN! 4am?!?!

I also noticed that the weekend flew by. I'm now playing that age old game of "how to I cram fun and hafto's into just 48 hours"?

Any ideas?

A Man with No Feet

I was having a whiney, whingy day yesterday.  I was frustrated that work wasn't making a decision about my contract and as a result I sat around for ten and a half hours trying to look busy while in actuality having nothing to do.  Absolutely nothing.  There's only so much crap you can look at on the internet before you get to http://www.endoftheinternet.com/ or

The problem was I couldn't go do something.  I didn't have anything to learn or prepare.  No meetings, no emails to respond to, nothing.  I hate sitting and waiting.

By the end of the day I was in a pretty foul mood.  The fact that I had overdosed on both caffeine and sugar by four o'clock didn't help either.  I wisely cancelled my dinner plans and headed home as not to inflict my grumpy spell on anyone else.

When I got home my neighbor's son was pulling up.  He came over and asked for a ride to the shopping complex.  His mom had collapsed again and was at the hospital.  He'd come by to pick up something she needed and wanted to get the car.  I was eager to oblige.  She's always been a lovely person and great neighbor.  The medical issues have been recurrent and severe lately.  This was the fourth such fainting spell that led to hospitalization in recent months. 

As we made the three minute drive to get his mom's car, the son also told me that his son was in hospital with a 103 degree temperature and abdominal pain. He had gone from one hospital to another. I offered any help I could, which would include caring for his mom's cat that night, and wished him well when I dropped him off.

When I got back I took the dog for a walk.  On a path near our neighborhood park I walked toward a man who seemed a little twitchy.  He made a signal to look at him, then a stop action.  We both stayed on our path towards the other.  He asked "Who is behind me?" to which I replied "no one" which was true.  "Good, that's how I like it" he said with some relief. I was left wondering.

I got home and realized that I really couldn't complain.  There's a saying "I felt sorry for myself because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet".  We all fight our own battles and demons.  As much as I didn't like my day yesterday, it couldn't been a lot worse. I didn't fight my frustration but I did feel some appreciation that mine were molehills, not mountains yesterday.