Nearly five years ago, I randomly chose a day during which I took careful note of everything I did from the time I woke up to the time I crawled back into bed. It ended up not being the best of days, which of course made it much more readable. Nobody wants to read stories in which everything goes according to plan. That said, my primary motivation behind this kind of writing is selfish. I like to go back and look at these little slices of life, these little verbal time capsules. Because of this blog, I know exactly what I was doing every minute of February 22, 2007. Now, years from now, I'll be able to look back and know exactly what I was doing on January 23, 2012. Like the 2007 post, it ended up not being the best of days. In fact, death figures into it. Read on.
6:30 - Alarm goes off. I flail at the alarm clock until the noise stops. I keep doing this every 9 minutes until shortly after 7:00.
7:10 - I manage to become vertical and shuffle to the kitchen, where I brew some coffee and pour myself a heaping bowl of 9 Whole Grain Crunch with almond milk. While consuming coffee and cereal, I check e-mail and recent news stories.
7:20 - Willow wakes up. I make her toast with butter. She gradually gets ready and makes her toast disappear, except for the crusts, which sit forlornly on her plate.
7:20 to 7:55 - We finish getting ready. Willow makes sure to put her stuffed monkey, Monkey, into her backpack. Monkey, along with stuffed animals belonging to Willow's classmates, is having a sleepover at school this evening. Willow wonders if he'll be homesick.
7:56 - We drive to Willow's school.
8:10 - Arrive at school. I walk Willow to her classroom.
8:16 - I get back to the van and start driving home.
8:25 - The cop who has been following me for several blocks pulls me over. I have to open my door to talk to him because my window is broken. He asks the usual cop question: "Do you know why I pulled you over?" I reply that I don't. It turns out that one of my brake lights is out. Sigh of relief. At least it wasn't a moving violation of some sort. He doesn't give me a fix-it ticket, but tells me to get it fixed.
8:35 - I arrive home.
8:40 - Check e-mail, download new Jolie Holland Daytrotter session.
8:45 - Decide to chronicle my day. I start list of what I've already done while listening to Far Black Furlong.
8:50 - I start "watching" a couple of Natural Snow Buildings auctions on eBay.
9:07 - I do the dishes and gather stuff to put in storage. A couple of boxes of my dad's stuff will be joining the others in the storage space that my brother and I share.
9:16 - E-mail Jeanine, wishing her good morning.
9:23 - Finish listening to Far Black Furlong and get ready to go.
9:30 - Eat banana and discover that when I play with the round magnets on the fridge, they make interesting sounds. Think about recording them.
9:35 - Leave. iPod on shuffle.
9:40 - Once on the freeway, I see a rainbow.
9:43 - Arrive at auto parts store, buy brake light bulbs, replace the dead one, and then discover that I'd actually already had a spare in the glove compartment.
9:49 - Head for storage space.
10:06 - Arrive at storage space, drop off boxes and get wheat bag (one of those microwaveable bags, most commonly used to warm sore next muscles, but in this case slated to be portable heating unit for my python, who I'm taking to the vet).
10:28 - Arrive at work and check on python in the Nature Lab. He's in a bad way, in fact at first I think that he's dead, but he is moving slightly. Late last week, it was discovered that there was blood around his mouth, and after observing and treating him (for possible mouth rot) for a day, I decided that he had a respiratory condition and needed to see the vet. Unfortunately, the soonest I could get an appointment was this morning). It's not quite time for his appointment, so I wander up to camp. I chat with coworkers for awhile, finding out that there was a half hour power outage over the weekend, which when one considers the condition of the python, was really bad timing. I microwave the wheat bag and get the python into a pillowcase for his ride to the vet.
11:04 - I leave for the vet. iPod on shuffle.
11:26 - Arrive at vet and check in.
11:40 - while sitting in the plastic waiting room chair, I check on the python and realize that he is dead. The vet double checks and confirms this. I talk with the vet, and he asks if I want them to determine cause of death, although given the symptoms he agrees that it was due to a respiratory condition, most likely pneumonia. Whatever it was, it sure acted quickly, because a week ago the python exhibited no symptoms. I decline. I also decline their offer to take care of the corpse, preferring instead to bury him at work. I am not charged for the visit. R.I.P. python (No, I never gave him a name, since snakes don't come when you call them). He was 20 years old, give or take a year. In 2010, he was immortalized on the April cover of Decibel magazine. The photo shoot took place on the day that I was told my mom had died (which will have been exactly 2 years ago tomorrow). Strange coincidence.
11:50 - Back in van.
12:15 - Back at camp. I eat lunch and talk with coworkers and the teachers who have arrived with the kids attending science camp this week. We discuss classroom pets, and the fact that most districts have banned them.
12:34 - I bury the python in the garden. While collecting rocks to place on top of his grave (so local scavengers don't dig him up), I startle a small Tree Frog.
12:50 - I go back to Nature Lab, feed the Tegu some cat food, feed crickets to the Scorpion and Tarantula, get some blackberry leaves for the Walking Sticks, and give some insect food to the Hissing cockroach. I give water to the animals that need it.
1:07 - I head for home.
1:28 - Arrive home. Check mail.
1:32 - Read mail.
1:40 - Go online, check e-mail, reply to Jeanine and Paul Roland, first spending some time looking through my Paul Roland collection as I try to figure out what I'm missing so I can take him up on his kind offer of a free CD. I decide that I'm missing the most recent reissue of "Duel".
2:24 - Come up for air from the murky waters of the internet.
2:28 - Gather clothes and quarters so I can have some laundry fun.
2:30 - Stop what I'm doing to read an entertainment news article on the film speed of the upcoming Hobbit films (speed doubled to 48 frames/second to make images more lifelike. Cool!)
2:33 - Back on track.
2:39 - Laundry is now in, and I'm listening to the Far Black Furlong bonus disc while cleaning the apartment.
2:58 - I'm still cleaning. Willow, home from school, calls about softball from her mom's house. I need to sign her up for a slightly younger team because she misses the age cut-off by about 2 months.
3:05 - Finish cleaning (more or less) and go put laundry in dryer.
3:10 - Check phone messages and call back bloodsucking creditor (who is after money that my dad owed when he passed away). She is shocked to learn that I'd already mailed a check.
3:18 - Check e-mail (because, you know, there could be new ones).
3:20 - Pour a tall cup of ice water and drink.
3:21 - Update list of executor expenses and assets (because I'm executor of my dad's estate)based on new information gleaned from today's mail.
3:28 - E-mail Willow's softball league in an attempt to get her onto a slightly younger team.
3:34 - Get sucked into internetland for a minute or two.
3:36 - Put on a Valravn cdr (sent by a certain Mr. Potter with a recent CD order because we share an interest in Scandinavian folk music). Valravn sound like the bastard child of Bjork and Hedningarna. This is a good thing.
3:37 - Start week 3 of the 100 Push-Ups challenge.
3:48 - 46 push-ups completed and e-mail checked again. Willow is now on the proper softball team. Sitting and resting for a couple of minutes.
3:55 - Pause Valravn so I can get laundry.
4:08 - Valravn back on. Laundry put away.
4:09 - Check Facebook and Failbook. Laugh.
4:15 - Put on pants, still warm from the dryer. Read e-mail from Jeanine. Turn off computer.
4:17 - Go for a walk, with the intention of checking out houses for sale in the neighborhood.
4:25 - I see a nice little house for sale. As I pass, a kid leans out of the front door of the neighboring house and shouts, "Hey! You're the guy from camp!" I say hi and keep going, thinking that it would probably blow his mind if I were to buy the house next to his.
4:37 - Still walking, I notice a tree, a light pole, and a fire hydrant decked out in colorful macrame outfits. I wonder if it has something to do with Chinese New Year, or if I've simply wandered into a strange neighborhood.
4:40 - Hundreds of silent seagulls fill the sky overhead.
5:22 - Back home.
5:24 - Glass if ice water, turn music back on, check e-mail, then log miles on DailyMile (3.91 miles today).
5:29 - Rest for a minute. Read some news.
5:40 - E-mail Jeanine. Continue relaxing. Put on Fovea Hex CD.
5:45 - Cook vegetable fried rice with fake beef. Add lots of pepper.
5:53 - Dinner is served.
6:02 - Dinner is done. Continue listening to Fovea Hex and farting around on the internet.
6:15 - Preorder expensive Fall Of Efrafa box set reissue from Alerta Antifascista records in Germany. Chastise myself for being a spendthrift.
6:27 - Put on Fovea Hex remix disc. Nice.
6:28 - Feel cold. Put teakettle on.
6:35 - Sip Dim Sum Bo Nay tea (which is great for making Bod Jha, or Tibetan butter/salt tea). Listen to Fovea Hex remix.
7:04 - Replay Fovea Hex remix. Put away clean dishes, clean dirty ones, and wipe down counter and stove.
7:18 - Finding and reading my blog from 2/22/07.
7:32 - Put on Natural Snow Buildings CD and start getting ready to go to work.
7:38 - Interrupt myself and clean off framed photos of Willow, salvaged from my dad's apartment last November. Think about hanging them, but can't figure out where. Put them back.
7:42 - Turn off laptop and put it in bag to take to work.
7:44 - Reluctantly turn off CD.
7:47 - Put on hat, scarf, and jacket, then leave for work.
8:10 - Get to work, check in with Hub Host (it's Meadow this week), turn on heater to cabins, turn off some lights, check to make sure pool bathrooms are unlocked, and take a moment to listen to the frogs singing out in the darkness.
8:25 - Meet with cabin leaders, discovering that all but 3 of them are return volunteers. Meeting is short. Spend a minute talking with Meadow, Moonlight, and Bunny. Congratulate Bunny on his recent engagement.
8:45 - Sing closing song, "I Wish You Well", with campfire staff and kids.
8:50 to 9:10 - Do introductory night talk for campers, include some bad puns for my personal amusement, and end it with a quick question and answer session. Kids mostly ask questions on subjects that I just covered during my talk. cluing me into the fact that not everybody was listening very well.
9:15 to 9:40 - Supervise campers as they're getting ready for bed, talk to homesick kids (there are two of them, one boy and one girl) and convince them to go to bed. Play music on my tarka.
9:40 - Ring five minute warning bell. Check in with teachers.
9:45 - Ring final bell. Camper gets sent to me for talking after the bells have rung. I explain to him why he shouldn't be talking (as if I didn't cover this several times during the night talk). Teachers start night patrol (checking to make sure kids are quiet and cabin lights are out).
9:50 - Plug in laptop and clock. Get book out ("House of Windows" by John Langan).
9:53 - Talk with a teacher for a moment.
9:57 - Check e-mail. Send e-mail to Jeanine.
10:05 - A girl gets sent to me for making noise after lights-out. I find out that she is also homesick. I counsel her for a few minutes and send her back to bed.
10:08 - Go make myself some mint tea in the dining hall. Have brief conversation with a teacher who is also getting tea.
10:13 - Arrive back at the Hub to discover a whole group of boys waiting for me. They got sent over by their cabin leader for making noise (knocking on wall, fake farting, etc.). I find out which one was most at fault, and proceed accordingly. I send them back to bed after sorting things out.
10:17 - I drink my tea and read.
10:24 - A girl comes in and, while leaning over me, tells me she feels like throwing up. I tell her to go to the bathroom, because I'd rather she throw up in the toilet than in my lap.
10:27 - The girl is back. She informs me that she threw up "a little bit". I quickly discover that she is nauseous because she is feeling homesick. I counsel her for a little while and send her back to bed. Then, I resume reading.
11:23 - Check e-mail. Back to reading. Discover pretzels in the staff room. Eat them.
11:55 - Turn off heaters so it doesn't get too hot in the cabins. Surprise raccoon in the trash.
12:11 - Finish book. E-mail Jeanine, noticing thematic similarities between her last e-mail and the book I've just read.
12:20 - Briefly look at Facebook. Shut down computer.
12:32 - I crawl onto the top bunk in the Hub, and begin my several hours of light sleep. The alarm is set for 5:30 AM.
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