Wednesday, November 26, 2008

A Working Man

When I explain my lack of leisure time to friends, they say, "It's called having a job," or, "Welcome to the real world," or, "At least you're not selling your body." I'll leave him anonymous.

My job is not 40 hours a week like my paycheck says. I must add my two and a half hour daily commute to L'Enfant Plaza in Washington, DC. Workweek: 52.5 hours.

I add my thirty minute lunch each day, not because I didn't eat before I got a job, but because it becomes part of my "total time away from home" calculation. Workweek: 55 hours.

I go to the gym on average five hours after work throughout the workweek. I actually spent more time exercising before I got a job, but since that defeats my purpose here, I will disregard it. Workweek: 61 hours.

My "time away from home" isn't the only way my new job affects me. I have to compute the total disruption to my previous workweek. I now go to sleep 2.5 hours and wake up 3.5 hours earlier, respectively. Over five days that adds 30 more hours. Workweek: 91.

There's one more variable that rounds out my calculation—the less time I can watch sports and TV. I'll make this a nice, even, conservative number: 100. Workweek: 191.

The fact that the workweek only has 120 total hours means nothing.

Related stories:
Office Drama
Call Me Hollywood

Leia Mais…

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Colors

The joy of living in the largest winter-deciduous forest in the world...

Fall colors and trees in Northern VirginiaFall colors and trees in Northern VirginiaFall colors and trees in Northern VirginiaFall colors and trees in Northern VirginiaFall colors and trees in Northern VirginiaFall colors and trees in Northern VirginiaFall colors and trees in Northern VirginiaFall colors and trees in Northern VirginiaFall colors and trees in Northern Virginia

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Wednesday, November 5, 2008

The Real First Black President

Barack Obama will not be America's first black president because we already had one: President David Palmer.24's President David PalmerPalmer was such a good president that he was assassinated, and then came back to life in the form of Sergeant Major Jonas Blane on CBS' The Unit.

Well, maybe Palmer was only the president on 24, but I'm certain that my beloved series, which first aired in November, 2001, not only warmed people to the idea of a black president, but was also the single biggest factor in Obama's decision to run.

The Rock displaying People's EyebrowI'm normally complacent when a new President-elect is chosen, but today I am excited. Obama uplifts and inspires people more so than any political leader of my generation. The reason is simple: his voice sounds very similar to The Rock, who also spent some of his childhood in Hawaii. If Obama learned some of The Rock's slogans, he'd truly be electrifying.

"Hey Palin, when are the Russians coming? It doesn't matter when the Russians are coming! Know your role and shut your mouth. Don't make me lay the smack down, jabroni. You can take your $150,000 wardrobe, turn it sideways, and stick it straight up your candy ass! If you smell what The Obama's cooking!"

Leia Mais…

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Bleach

PepperoniNip and I visited Hamburgers, who is in the UVA hospital with an infection and we think (and hope) he is improving on antibiotic treatment. Being there felt uncomfortable. It's the all-too-familiar odor that bothers me the most. Walking freely and not being tied down by IV tubing made me feel strong and healthy, like I was on the other side of the window, looking in as opposed to looking out. Historically, that is unfamiliar territory for me.

I made innumerable mental mistakes on our trip. Here is a condensed list:

  1. I forgot that I told PepperoniNip not to eat breakfast before picking me up so that we could go out for waffles, and I ate Cheerios, orange juice and egg whites.
  2. I forgot to bring my handicap parking permit so we could park for free.
  3. I forgot to contact friends to make sure we had shelter last night.
  4. I left my glasses case (for the hundredth time) at Buffalo Wild Wings, and had to go back later to retrieve them from the lost and found.
  5. I forgot to bring Hamburgers a hamburger.

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