Thursday Ramble - I work too much

I have maxed out on the number of vacation and sick leave I can have with my employer, meaning I don't accrue any until I use some. So I took last Friday off, except that I well I didn't. My time sheet says I was out sick. But I woke up very early, like 5 AM, and couldn't get back to sleep, so I spent an hour in bed checking blogs, then got up, turned on the coffee and sat at my desk.

One of the reasons I couldn't get back to sleep was my brain was focused on a writing project. Eight years ago I had written a chapter for a book. The editor emailed recently and asked me if I would be willing to update the chapter for a second edition. It is a short chapter, about 2,000 words, it was out of date, but within my scope to update without too much research. I agreed. My brain was engaged thinking about that commitment (that is not due for 12 weeks.)

I logged onto my office computer and send the first email at 6:29 AM, then dove into the chapter. I stuck with it, and it was finished in 5 hours. Parts of it needed to be entirely rewritten, parts of it didn't. I added two new paragraphs. It will be sent in 11 weeks early. (I am happy with the update, there was a monumental change in the law the year after it was published, that made about one-third of the 2,005 words out of date.)

I recently put my office email back on my phone. I found myself laying on the bed Friday afternoon, sorting out details with finance on a project extension and an invoice that took 12 months to finally arrive that we need to pay (After a year of others being polite, now that it is my responsibility I simply emailed someone and said, send us the paperwork in 10 days, or WE WON'T PAY YOU!) The paperwork was sorted out in two days.

But there I am working on my "day off." The office pays me a phone allowance of $40 a month, they can have it, I want my phone back to being my phone, I want my afternoon back on my day off. What has waited 10 months, can wait until Monday. A failure to act on behalf of others, should not be a crisis on my day off for me.

I will be back to counting down the months until I can retire. 17 if I want to push it, 22 most likely.

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