The COVID Chronicles #61: Your Procrastination Is Not My Emergency

It has been a hellish week of work. Every day felt like 2 or 3 and by the end of each day, my brain was fried! 

I don't know why feel surprised because this happens every year in the week leading up to the start of the new school term as the final rush of students comes in to get registered for a new term and deadline for the start of classes and financial aid verification looms like an executioner. We work extended, 10-hour days Monday-Thursday; a regular 8-hour day on Friday, and then a 4-hour half today (Saturday). 

The following week we always work another 2, 10-hour days as more students register late the first 2 days of the semester. 

All too often, I must repeat to myself the mantra of "your procrastination is not my emergency" and it has taken me a couple of years to truly appreciate the true meaning behind this mantra. Typically, I am on my last nerve as we approach the homestretch and end of registration, especially on the Saturday before and the first few days of as my frustration with the "Super Procrastinators" reaches its zenith. But this year, I felt more balanced. Not sure why that was, but it was nice to feel more balanced. Perhaps it was because that during my hour-long lunch periods, I would go outside to walk around a large, grassy lawn on the campus for about 30 minutes each time. I would aim to get 1500-2000 steps while doing this I think this helped keep me sane rather sitting at my desk all day. 

In the past, Wife and I have celebrated this end of the registration season by going to a local restaurant called the Double P Roadhouse and ordering some of the largest hamburgers they make (my personal favorite is the WidowMaker), but with the pandemic still raging and our aversion to dine-in restaurants, I think we're going to skip what has become a bit of a tradition. It doesn't help that I haven't exactly been sticking to my diet and gained some holiday happy weight thanks to not going anywhere during the winter break. 

Today after I got home from work at about 2pm, Wife had her version of Pad Thai noodles with shrimp and vegetables ready to eat for lunch. After we ate, we walked a fair distance to a local consignment and thrift shop that are across from each other. The dry air, combined with the wind, exacerbated our thirst and we felt very parched by the time we walked in the door of the consignment store. Thankfully & graciously, the woman who ran the store offered us free bottles of water to quench our thirst. 

I was wearing a pair of jeans that I had not worn in some time and the holiday weight gain was very evident. I couldn't wait to get them off when we got home. Now Wife and I are just relaxing. I think I'll watch the NFL playoffs via my phone's NFL app. 

All for today.