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Unscheduled Stuff
Nov. 24th, 2006 03:00 pmHow one spends ones waking hours is a series of trade-offs. If economic and household needs are stable, then the give and take can be orderly and even satisfactory. So what if some of the needs don't play fair? Imagine a Darth Vader voice "I am altering the terms of our agreement. Pray I don't alter it further." Outlandish? Not at all; life is full of unscheduled stuff. I use a more pungent and scatalogical term, but stuff gets the meaning across anyway.
I deliberately avoid management promotions at work. Why? I've never seen a manager who was happy and working fewer or even the same number of hours as me. As of today, I don't NEED the marginal pay increase in exchange for the greater stress, hours and further erosion of the work/life barrier.
My health doesn't play fair. I broke my foot two weeks ago and became very dependent on assistance until I could walk without the crutches. If I catch a Martian Death Flu such that I can't go in to work, I am just as unable to accomplish anything around the house. Tasks pile up; few become safely irrelevant while I convalesce.
Work doesn't play fair. I stacked the deck in my favor as much as possible. Individual Contributor with unerring eye for details, deep systems understanding, very happy internal customers and total autonomy in deciding the fate of about $100 million worth of product every week. I can work from home if I want, keep my home and cell #s private and wear nothing dressier than jeans and polo shirt. And stuff happens.
I work as many as 20 hours a day, I'm a necessary safety net to dozens of other people who are overworked themselves and send me bollixed data, I know how to tweak my own systems to compensate for other systems' lack of functionality and I provide data analyses up to the VP level.
I don't read anymore. Even if I could muster enthusiasm, my brain can't absorb the words. I don't participate in any of my on-line forums anymore. Open ended time commitments with daily 'high-touch' and mental creativity can't fit.
Outside of sleep, I work and care for my SO and my cats. If you haven't heard from me or were expecting to see me, I'm not avoiding you. I'm just taken aback by unscheduled stuff.
I deliberately avoid management promotions at work. Why? I've never seen a manager who was happy and working fewer or even the same number of hours as me. As of today, I don't NEED the marginal pay increase in exchange for the greater stress, hours and further erosion of the work/life barrier.
My health doesn't play fair. I broke my foot two weeks ago and became very dependent on assistance until I could walk without the crutches. If I catch a Martian Death Flu such that I can't go in to work, I am just as unable to accomplish anything around the house. Tasks pile up; few become safely irrelevant while I convalesce.
Work doesn't play fair. I stacked the deck in my favor as much as possible. Individual Contributor with unerring eye for details, deep systems understanding, very happy internal customers and total autonomy in deciding the fate of about $100 million worth of product every week. I can work from home if I want, keep my home and cell #s private and wear nothing dressier than jeans and polo shirt. And stuff happens.
I work as many as 20 hours a day, I'm a necessary safety net to dozens of other people who are overworked themselves and send me bollixed data, I know how to tweak my own systems to compensate for other systems' lack of functionality and I provide data analyses up to the VP level.
I don't read anymore. Even if I could muster enthusiasm, my brain can't absorb the words. I don't participate in any of my on-line forums anymore. Open ended time commitments with daily 'high-touch' and mental creativity can't fit.
Outside of sleep, I work and care for my SO and my cats. If you haven't heard from me or were expecting to see me, I'm not avoiding you. I'm just taken aback by unscheduled stuff.
