Time & Me

Me and Time? We're not homies. For many reasons! But it basically comes down to the fact that there is never enough of it for me to:

a) do all the things I want to do

b) sleep

c) get anywhere on time

d) all of the above

Ugh. So here's how my day goes:

I wake up, and then reset my alarm clock for fifteen minutes later, because I didn't go to sleep early enough last time.

In the shower, I peer through the curtain (usually right above Canada on my awesome newish map o' the world shower curtain) several times to make sure I'm not spending more than my allotted time in the shower (I space out a lot when I'm not really awake).

On my way to work, I have to cover up the clock in my car, because if I can see just how close I'm cutting it, my brain starts thinking "shitshitSHIT!!" really audibly, drowning out my iPod.

I arrive at work, and squeeze my way past parents and little children, just so I can clock in at 8:59 instead of 9:00.

At work, there are three clock on my desk (phone, computer and the very same clock radio that my mom has next to her bed) and one across the room. They all say different times. So when do I get to leave?

I leave work, and there are a million things I want to do, ranging from boring yet important (grocery shopping, laundry) to necessary for my sanity (sitting on my ass, doing the crossword); from fun extracurriculars (drinking on weeknights, staying out past my bedtime) to reducing the likelihood that I die young (workin' on my fitness, going to bed early). I usually stay up too late, thus perpetuating the cycle.

Oh, and then I always think about adding in things like taking classes or going back to volunteering, but unless I magically become one of those people who only needs 5 hours of sleep to function cheerfully, goddammit, there are just not enough hours in the day for all that. It makes me feel really old and boring to tell a friend who's in town that "11pm is soooo late for me to drag my ass to the city!" I mean, WTF, man? I'm twenty-fucking-five! I'm not a grown-up! I'm not ready to squander my social life in favor of not being miserable at work! It's so hard to me to figure out what makes me more miserable: being exhausted all the time, or never seeing my friends. If there were more hours in the day, I wouldn't have to decide.

We should all start being much more European, taking more vacations and working fewer hours.

But anyway, I downloaded the Kinks' 1966 album Face to Face, and I've been playing the song "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" over and over again (in my head). It's pretty good...and a common theme for those Davieseses. I downloaded the album for the song "Sunny Afternoon", which reminds me of that limey we bunked with for our few days in Bolivia last July, and specifically reminds me of riding on a boat on Lake Titicaca, he wearing his headphones and singing, "live this life of luxury..." The boat was crappy, and we were drinking tequila. Forgetting all about time.