How to Take an Urban Hike
Apr. 15th, 2006 12:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebFirst, get permission to take the day off to do another job. Then finish the job the day before.
Decide to go in to work after all because you prefer to have specific plans for using time off and because you definitely have some things that need to get done. Also, it's fun to surprise people. And calmly advise them not to have heart attacks.
Discover that an extremely large pile of work appeared over the past two days while you were out, so you made the right choice.
Do all of this on Good Friday, while working for the state, during an election year. There's always the chance some incumbent will give state employees some time off. You never find out until that day, sometimes not until the exact second you are allowed to take off. (I have learned to do tasks in order of priority so I don't feel like I have to stay in order to finish anything.)
Shockingly, get an e-mail in the morning (instead of never) saying that there would be no time off this year. But employees are welcome to take vacation time if they would like to leave early anyway.
Which was just as well because did I mention that you have a huge pile of work?
Then around 3:30 your boss comes around and observes that people seem to be feeling religious all of a sudden and leaving work. And says that you may leave too.
Stay to finish up the block of work you are doing which ideally should be completed before registration begins on Monday and start thinking what exciting activity you can slide into your extra time before you need to meet your friend at the gym.
Decide to take a bus to the nearest Half Price Books and look for a few things.
Then walk to the gym, perhaps while reading one of the books on the way. Recall that you haven't walked this route since you used to live in that area, ten years ago. The "evil forest" is gone (a few trees on the side of the road that creeped out my roommate because she always imagined bad guys jumping out from behind them). The bread factory with the fabulous aroma is gone. But there's a Jack-in-the-Box you've never noticed before. With an excellent and much appreciated bathroom.
Arrive at the gym already sweaty and used up. Mission accomplished!
I actually found two books! I was looking for tourbooks of New England, and I found Vermont: Off the Beaten Path.
I also found a book I've been looking for for a while, Lawrence Block's After the Second Death. I first noticed Mr. Block when I picked up one of his books on writing before nanowrimo. He kept giving interesting-sounding examples from his work, so I was enticed to try out his fiction.
His writing is competent, though mostly not all-time favorite material, and a lot of it's much too gory for my tastes, but I really enjoyed this book because our hero has such terrible, terrible problems. Forget kryptonite, this guy is an alcoholic. A recovering alcoholic, but the book does begin with him waking up, with a really bad hangover, no memory of the night before, and in a strange hotel, with blood all over his clothes, and well, let's just say he's in big, big trouble. Again. And I can't remember his other problems anymore, but it's a lot more heroic when a guy has fewer than the usual skills than when he has more than the usual skills, and it was refreshing. And fun.
Quote of the day - from a work memo: "The microwave is right next to the paper towel dispenser and all you have to do is push the little lever on the side and paper towels will dispense and you can actually wipe out the microwave if your soup exploded all over the inside. Yes, really, you can. Amazing, huh? I can even give you a demonstration if you really don't know how. I am a mom; I am good at that kind of stuff. I am not your mom, though, so please people, clean up after yourself." I love that--I am a mom; I am not your mom, though.
Decide to go in to work after all because you prefer to have specific plans for using time off and because you definitely have some things that need to get done. Also, it's fun to surprise people. And calmly advise them not to have heart attacks.
Discover that an extremely large pile of work appeared over the past two days while you were out, so you made the right choice.
Do all of this on Good Friday, while working for the state, during an election year. There's always the chance some incumbent will give state employees some time off. You never find out until that day, sometimes not until the exact second you are allowed to take off. (I have learned to do tasks in order of priority so I don't feel like I have to stay in order to finish anything.)
Shockingly, get an e-mail in the morning (instead of never) saying that there would be no time off this year. But employees are welcome to take vacation time if they would like to leave early anyway.
Which was just as well because did I mention that you have a huge pile of work?
Then around 3:30 your boss comes around and observes that people seem to be feeling religious all of a sudden and leaving work. And says that you may leave too.
Stay to finish up the block of work you are doing which ideally should be completed before registration begins on Monday and start thinking what exciting activity you can slide into your extra time before you need to meet your friend at the gym.
Decide to take a bus to the nearest Half Price Books and look for a few things.
Then walk to the gym, perhaps while reading one of the books on the way. Recall that you haven't walked this route since you used to live in that area, ten years ago. The "evil forest" is gone (a few trees on the side of the road that creeped out my roommate because she always imagined bad guys jumping out from behind them). The bread factory with the fabulous aroma is gone. But there's a Jack-in-the-Box you've never noticed before. With an excellent and much appreciated bathroom.
Arrive at the gym already sweaty and used up. Mission accomplished!
I actually found two books! I was looking for tourbooks of New England, and I found Vermont: Off the Beaten Path.
I also found a book I've been looking for for a while, Lawrence Block's After the Second Death. I first noticed Mr. Block when I picked up one of his books on writing before nanowrimo. He kept giving interesting-sounding examples from his work, so I was enticed to try out his fiction.
His writing is competent, though mostly not all-time favorite material, and a lot of it's much too gory for my tastes, but I really enjoyed this book because our hero has such terrible, terrible problems. Forget kryptonite, this guy is an alcoholic. A recovering alcoholic, but the book does begin with him waking up, with a really bad hangover, no memory of the night before, and in a strange hotel, with blood all over his clothes, and well, let's just say he's in big, big trouble. Again. And I can't remember his other problems anymore, but it's a lot more heroic when a guy has fewer than the usual skills than when he has more than the usual skills, and it was refreshing. And fun.
Quote of the day - from a work memo: "The microwave is right next to the paper towel dispenser and all you have to do is push the little lever on the side and paper towels will dispense and you can actually wipe out the microwave if your soup exploded all over the inside. Yes, really, you can. Amazing, huh? I can even give you a demonstration if you really don't know how. I am a mom; I am good at that kind of stuff. I am not your mom, though, so please people, clean up after yourself." I love that--I am a mom; I am not your mom, though.