Off to Another Conference

I haven't left yet and already I'm sad about having to return.  To much work and home stress---I can feel it in my neck and shoulders.  I need to have a bit more control over my time and have less negative input from others.  These trips really are vacations, and I need this one.

Podcasts

My commute (about an hour each way) has always been time lost from my life.  Music has been a constructive use of the time.  For a while now I have been listening to podcasts and now am addicted.

The earliest "podcast" that I listened to was Prairie Home Companion;  I set a timer on my stereo to tape it for playing at a later date.  Radio has been hit or miss in terms of catching my favorite shows.

I could listen to some shows from the internet and binged periodically.

Now that my smart phone can download and play podcasts I've extended my range considerably, including movie reviews, politics, and humor.  My commute is much less onerous.

Family Visit Recovery

It's always been a physical ordeal to visit our family in NY and PA.  It is a long drive, although the kids do not scream nearly as much as they used to.

At my in-laws' house they have a mattress that is rock-hard and at my mother's house the mattress gives no back support.  My back is screaming in agony after a month.

I dread the visits less not so much because I am doing physically (I'm not). I think that I just don't care anymore.  That kind of scares me.

Another Visit with Family

Heading out on Saturday for a week of driving to visit family with my family.  The trip is much less high maintenance now that the kids are older and more self-sufficient.  With each year I become more bothered by logistics:  too many people in the house and consequently less sleeping, less access to bathrooms, etc.;  not much room in the closet, none in the bureau for unpacking stuff, living out of suitcase, etc.

I keep thinking longingly of living in a hotel each time.  Yet when I do my family causes the same issues, just not as fervently.

Looking forward to my next conference and some time to myself.

Waiting at Home for the Service Person

I guess every homeowner has experiences to share about late service-personnel.  Having an hour commute means that staying at home is not casual for me---it changes the destiny of my work-day.

In any event I didn't sleep well last night so I've got a headache and am feeling irritable.

Programming

Periodically, when I give myself permission, I become obsessed about programming.  It didn't start until my first full-time job as a financial modeler.  It was hard not to have productivity projects in mind when I was programming most of the work-day.

It's a mania.  It's hard to focus on other things when I am not at the keyboard.  Corrections occur to me when I am doing other things.

And then abruptly I feel closure, whether or not I am done.  Subconsciously I withdraw the permission.

Writing

Well, it's just me in my office, trying to write some papers and a presentation.

I'm not a gifted writer;  I'm better as a programmer and I'd rather program about a topic than try to explain it in prose.

One of my papers is something that is based on programming and seems to be flowing well.

The other paper is a revision of a presentation that I've given and is taking a bit more thought on how to express things better but the content is in place.

The talk is bogging down a bit.

In a little while my hours will be trimmed by my kids schedules after school ends.  That adds a bit of a rush to my work, which at this point in the summer is silly.