A Day In the Life...

Bullet your entire day:

I've actually done this a couple of times before, but have been hesitant to repeat the exercise because for some reason, the other two days ended up being kind of crappy. This attempt was yesterday's writing prompt, but I exchanged it for today's because my work "day" straddles dates, meaning I was still bulleting when I would have had to publish it. It turns out that, due to a simple oversight, I didn't manage to get anything published on Monday anyway though.

11:57 AM - I swing my feet out of bed and into my slippers.

Noon - I turn on a couple of lizard lights and my laptop. There is a package on my chair. I open it and discover it's the new Volcano the Bear 5 LP box set, "Commencing". Joy!

12:03 - I check e-mail on my phone while waiting for my laptop to boot up. 35 out of 53 messages are unimportant enough to be deleted unread.

12:09 - I make breakfast and pat Brian the kitten.

12:18 - Breakfast is 2 eggs, 2 strips of veggie bacon, cinnamon toast, and coffee (from yesterday, microwaved). Time to check Facebook.

12:28 - Listen to voicemail from my bank, informing me that there were some fraudulent attempts to use my credit card (I received an e-mail to this effect a couple of days prior). Wonder if the e-mail and voicemail are themselves fraudulent. Jeanine checks the website she uses to reverse-dial numbers. Some people claim the phone number is legitimate, but others seem unsure.

12:39 - I call the number on my bank's website.

12:55 - Call done. It turns out that the messages I received were legitimate. It's a good thing I never keep large amounts of money in that particular account. Old card is now deactivated, and new card is on the way.

12:57 - More coffee, recheck e-mail and Facebook while drinking it.

1:08 - Done with computer for now.

1:09 - Time to listen to a cassette. I finish listening to Circle "Tavastia", a live document from the end of the last century, and a very good one at that.

1:56: Shower time.

2:09 - Out of the shower and getting dressed. Listening to NWOFHM Attack Vol. 1 cassette.

2:15 - Make bed.

2:29 - Done with side A of the cassette. Time to go do something productive.

2:30 - Do dishes.

2:44 - Check e-mail and Facebook again. Delete 6 out of 11 unread messages and skim remaining.

2:56 - Paying bills.

3:00 - Get distracted by a video in which a Jumping spider attacks an Orb Weaver.

3:08 - Bills ready to mail.

3:09 - Tidy up. Delete 2 more unread e-mails.

3:13 - While listening to side 2 of NWOFHM Attack Vol.1, I look through the Volcano the Bear box set. It's beautiful, but causes me to reflect on my out of control music consumption habits.

3:38 - Done with the cassette. Jeanine is back from getting Eva from school. I notice that she is spreading peanut butter on cinnamon graham crackers. I make one for myself, and add some wasabi snapea crisps to the menu. Brian wants some too. Brian always wants whatever he sees going into our mouths. Brian has yet to learn about wasabi.

3:43 - I go out into the yard and pick up several dozen fallen avocados. Most of them have been partially eaten by the neighborhood squirrels. We're past caring, because the tree has produced way too many avocados this year, perhaps in reaction to the drought. Afterward, I lift some bricks for the chickens so they can check for cockroaches. There aren't any roaches, but the chickens find some other bugs worth eating.

3:51 - Done. Jeanine comes out to give the chickens water and snacks. We hang out in the yard for a moment or two.

4:00 - Recheck e-mail and Facebook. Delete, delete, delete. Check Brainwashed and Post Secret sites, which are updated weekly. Chat with Jeanine while aimlessly clicking around online. Write tomorrow's prompt/post (or should I say yesterday's?)

4:33 - Jeanine and Eva leave to go see The Misfits at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz.

4:35 - I leave to go get Willow from her mom's house. Swans "The Gate" is playing while I drive. It's brutally beautiful. The tops of the East Bay hills are bathed in the ruddy light of the setting sun. The bottoms are in shadow.

4:57 - I arrive at Willow's mom's house. I ring bell and can hear Willow rushing around to get ready. Alex comes home while I wait. We briefly chat. His new girlfriend is in the car and late for work, so we don't talk long. Willow comes out. We decide to eat out somewhere. We head for Aqui in downtown Campbell. "The Gate" has ended. I put in Zbigniew Preisner/Lisa Gerrard "Diaries of Hope" as we drive. Willow waxes poetic about the new One Direction album, and explains that she wants four copies of the CD version for Christmas (each cover features a different band member, apparently). She is getting her braces tomorrow too.

5:16 - We arrive in downtown Campbell.

5:23 - Our food is on the table in front of us already. Aqui is fast. I'm having a falafel roll up (instead of my usual goat cheese quesadilla), and Willow, as she always does, is having the kid's chicken bowl. Willow wants me to solve a debate between her and her best friend: Is death metal considered rock? I get all pedantic about it for a moment. She calls me on it.

5:45 - Done with dinner, we head across the intersection to Rocket Fizz. I buy a peanut butter cup for now and a coriander/orange soda for later. Willow wants a cardboard stand-up of some pretty boy actor. I don't buy it. She doesn't want any candy though.

5:57 - We're back in the car.

6:05 - We're back home. It's dark, so I go out and lock up the chicken coop for the night. Brian is in his pen (one of Jeanine's balloon bins turned on its side), so I get him out. I cuddle with him while checking e-mail and Facebook (damn, I really do spend too much time on the computer).

6:23 - I make coffee, and while it's percolating, wheel the garbage and recycling bins out to the street.

6:26 - Oops. I'm on Facebook again.

6:32 - I hang out with Willow while drinking coffee. She is watching Full House on TV, although she's more focused on scrolling around on her iPod. Kids these days... She shows me several pictures of a happy looking elderly gentleman holding an enormous onion. From his expression, one would think the onion contains the secrets of the universe.

7:18 - I pack lunch (leftover manicotti) and shut down my laptop, then play with Brian and talk to Willow.

7:36 - We head back to Willow's mom's house so I can drop Willow off.

7:46 - We arrive and I say goodbye to Willow. Now, it's time to go to work.

8:06 - I arrive at work.

8:08 - I check in with Otter, who is the hub host this week. There are only 93 kids at camp, which is well below the average number. He tells me that they're good kids. We discuss other random things while I wait for the cabin leaders to arrive from the hillside amphitheater. One of my duties as night host is to have a quick meeting with the cabin leaders on Monday night. The cabin leaders arrive, and I introduce myself. There are only seven cabins with kids in them this week, rather than the usual eleven. The meeting goes quickly because nobody has any issues or detailed questions. One of the leaders mentions that the Raccoons cabin is cold, so I grab the key to the heater room and go turn on the heat.

8:28 - I walk over to the hillside amphitheater and catch the end of a skit, then join Tiger Lily and Squirrel in singing "On the Loose", which is a quiet song to help mellow the kids out. Then, Tiger Lily calls out the names of some kids who need to take medicine before bed. They head for the hub while I introduce myself (every Monday is like the first day of school) and give the night talk, during which I describe my role, our behavior expectations, and the night time routine. The kids seem like a respectful group. After I dismiss the kids by cabin (with a quiet challenge), I grab the nearby hose and put out the campfire, soaking it thoroughly. I turn off the big light above the amphitheater as I had back to the hub. The hub is full of kids, some there for medicine, some there to borrow books (I mentioned this during the talk because with the end of daylight savings time, it gets light before the official wake-up time in the morning, which means kids sometimes wake up before they can get up, so books give them something quiet to do), and some there because they're missing home. I help out as needed, finding time to go outside and play my drone flute. I make periodic announcements about how much time the kids have left before I ring the warning bell, and meet a boy who I might have to wake up in the middle of the night so he can use the bathroom. He decides that he doesn't need to be awakened, but I note where he is sleeping in case he changes his mind later in the week. A girl comes up and tells me that she heard a cabin leader swearing. I ask her who, but she doesn't know his name. She describes him as a blonde male, and I tell her I'll figure out who it was. I find out that there are no cabin leaders answering to that description. I find the boy with the lightest brown hair and ask him about it. He says it wasn't him (either truthfully or because he doesn't want to get in trouble, but he looks genuinely surprised to me, so I think he's telling the truth), but I give him the talk anyway.

9:25 - I ring the warning bell.

9:30 - I ring the final bell. The teachers start night patrol (checking to make sure that lights are out and kids are silent).

9:32 - I watch a cute puppy video with Tiger Lily, followed by the video currently making the rounds about how cats get freaked out by furtively placed cucumbers. I realize that it would make an interesting introduction to an adaptation lesson.

9:35 - We're interrupted by a homesick kid named Night Owl. He says he picked the name because his anxiety often keeps him up at night. He says his stomach really hurts. His teacher and I walk him to the bathroom, and he goes inside and pukes. We look at the stars while we wait. He comes back out and we return to the hub. I get him a hot water bottle to help soothe his stomach, and then we all talk some more. We finally convince him to return to his cabin and try to sleep.

10:15 - The hub is empty of kids, so I return to chatting with Tiger Lily. We watch YouTube videos of arachnids while we talk.

10:30 - Another homesick kid shows up, this time a girl named Hurricane. She is with her partner (we have a buddy system at night, so no kids are allowed to leave their cabins alone). I help her feel better, and the girls return to their cabin. Tiger Lily and I watch more YouTube videos.

11:00 - Our security guard, Apple Juice, arrives.

11:15 - Tiger Lily leaves for the night. I go check the lodge and turn off lights. Then, I check my e-mail and Facebook.

11:30 - I resume reading the novel I'm working on, "Fever Dream" by Preston & Child.

11:45 - Night Owl is back in the hub with his partner, wanting me to put more hot water in his hot water bottle. I do this, and he goes back to bed.

12:15 AM - It's lunch time. I go microwave my manicotti, then continue reading while I eat. I drink my coriander/orange soda too. It's good. Not too sweet - almost more like flavored mineral water.

1:22 - Check e-mail, Facebook, and Discogs.

1:31 - Start my walk around camp (I walk circles at night, ostensibly to patrol, but really just so I can get a little exercise and be outside). I put on my scarf (it's quite cold) and my headphones. I'm listening to "Gore Motel" by Bohren & der Club of Gore. 74 minutes of music that would provide the perfect soundtrack to a spaghetti western in slow motion. The music is appropriate and the stars are beautiful.

2:43 - On one of my circuits of camp, I notice a girl and her cabin leader heading for the hub. The girl is named Waterfall, and she misses her mom. I give her a pep talk which seems to work. They return to their cabin. I finish my walk.

2:48 - I'm done with my walk. I walked 4.16 miles. That's 32 loops around camp. I do some more internetting.

3:00 - Back to "Fever Dream".

3:55 - Done with "Fever Dream". It's a page turner. I finished it in two days.

4:00 - I hang up the little wooden plaques with cabin names on them for the breakfast and lunch hoppers (meal servers) for Tuesday. Hawks are handling breakfast, and Raccoons lunch. I bring my used mug (oh yeah, I had mint tea earlier) and fork to the dining hall. Then, I realize that I never posted my Monday writing challenge prompt. It's Tuesday already. I rectify my oversight.

4:13 - I'm leaning back in my chair and closing my eyes. It's quiet and chilly.

4:20 - Oops. I notice an Indiegogo campaign to raise money for the new Alejandro Jodorowsky film, "Endless Poetry". I donate $15.00. That's the problem with sitting there in front of a laptop all night. Problem for me, not for Jodorowsky, who is now $15.00 closer to meeting his goal (although it looks like the initial goal has already been surpassed).

4:24 - Leaning back in my chair again...

5:55 - Night Owl is back for more hot water. He seems to be doing better though.

6:03 - I turn on the cabin heaters (which I had turned off around midnight). More internetting ensues.

6:35 - Six boys from the Newts cabin get sent to the hub for talking. I lecture them and show them where to put their names on the discipline clipboard. I then take six points off of their night patrol score. Their perfect 10 becomes a less-than-acceptable 4.

6:45 - I wake up the Hawks and tell them they're hoppers. Then, using an old trombone, I play loud music to wake up the other cabins. One day I'll learn to play the trombone correctly, but for now, it's a useful tool for ending sleep. Our health aide, Moonlight, arrives. We briefly talk about how the night went. Her husband,Scooby, who tells stories in the morning, is sick, so I'll be taking over the storytelling part of the routine this week.

7:10 - I ring the bell that calls the kids to the amphitheater. Once everybody is gathered (the Newts are lagging this morning), I dismiss the cabin leaders to go meet with Moonlight (she is taking over that duty for me so I can take over for Scooby), and then arrange the kids around the Scooby Tree (yes, he has a tree named after him) and tell them a story (it's a creation story about how the stars and the moon came to be, and also answers the question about why moths are attracted to lights) that I used to tell during our astronomy program years ago. The kids laugh and clap in all of the right places. About five minutes into the story, and hawk calls from the top of a Douglas Fir tree on the east side of camp. I pause so the kids can all get a good look at it. It's really big, and kissed by the morning sun. It's either a Red-tailed Hawk or a Red-shouldered hawk, but it's far enough away that I can't tell. I'm leaning toward Red-tailed though. Then, I finish the story and introduced the kids to Eagle, our custodian. He does his usual schtick about helping keep the bathrooms clean, and the kids laugh in all of the right places. Kids make such good audiences. Then, I turn the kids over to Spider, who is one of the early shift field instructors this week. He'll be leading the pledge, telling the kids their night patrol scores, and dismissing them into breakfast.

7:57 - I depart. Blyth Power's "Ten Years Inside the Horse" accompanies me on the drive home.

8:22 - I arrive home. I chat with Jeanine and play with Brian for a few minutes.

8:49 - I get into bed. Good day.