The Chronicles of Nerdia ...

Thursday November 13th

Here is a little breakdown of my day today. Thought it would be interesting to chroncicle something like this (probably just this once) for you to see, and for me to see, just what the heck a day in my life is like. And so I present to you ...

The Chronicles of Nerdia

5:45am
Alarm goes off.

6:30 am
I have guilt from the dog whining in her crate so I stop hitting snooze and get up.

7:00 am
After normal morning routine of getting ready for work, I leave to begin my 45 mile trek to the office. Along the way I listen to talk radio and wonder just how much longer this world has to exist.

7:55 am
Pull into the coolest parking lot ever, stocked with old buildings where my company has worked on trains for the last 100 years or so. I take a moment to admire the architecture and think about the people who built this great country of ours as I walk across the parking lot to the building in which I work. I also begin wondering "what's for lunch?".

8:05 am
Ah the magic of the internet. I check some chicks blog, check my personal mail, check my peronsal mail again, check my blog for comments, browse the headlines in the news, check my mail for work, check my personal email, talk to my wife for a few minutes, see who else is on chat, and then check my personal email again.

8:14 am
Open some windows to begin working on my project.

8:15 am
I've set a blistering pace thus far so it's time for a soda break with my buddy Frank. We talk about how things have gone so far today and what we're planning on doing when we get home tonight (playing WoW, etc).

8:30 am
Frank follows me over to my cubicle and talks some more about WoW while I glance at my windows to make sure they are properly positioned so as to appear very busy.. Occassionally I turn to check personal email or chat windows. Can't fall behind on important things you know.

9:00 am
Consider working my projects, poke around for a bit with a few coding ideas, squaring off against the problems of the day.

9:30 am
Pretty much completed my important tasks for the day. Send some test data over to another department and of course they bounce it right back for "corrections". Geez, don't these people know I'm busy? They could just change it to what they need as it comes in to them instead of asking me to change my side right?

9:35 am
Complicated changes done and test data resent to the 'omg whiners'. Ball is in their court now. Time for a break.

9:55 am
Back from break. Time to check personal email, websites and see if anybody is on chat. Wife says they are heading to the dentist. That girl works too hard, she should slow down and enjoy life more.

10:00 am
Potty break.

10:10 am
Randomly begin selecting windows and re-running programs that I already know work. But the important thing is that it "appears" like you're busy when the boss comes by. Always nice to set up a query against the database that you've rigged to take awhile; then when the boss comes by, lean forward and stare impatiently at the screen while waiting for it to run ... finger tapping helps as does moving the mouse in counter clockwise circles on the screen. "I'm a busy man", it all says.

10:15 am
Read and re-reading emails in your inbox with a thoughtful, intent expression on your face, while waiting for a chat window to blink, is a great way to pass the time and stay "busy".

10:20 am
Boss emails to give me a task that's due by 2:00pm. There is 2-3 "hours" of work for free. I'd better get busy.

10:26 am
User comes by to drop off some work at my desk for data they need deleted. These people are everywhere. I'm a very busy person, can't they see that?

10:30 am
Done with that task I received at 10:20. Time to begin doing random aimless things again.

11:30 am
Read up on emails I've missed in the last hour. Fire up some more talk radio.

Noon
Lunch

1:15 pm
Return from lunch.

1:30 pm
Old guy from other department comes by to tell me I have all my data wrong and it needs to be re-done. Briefly contemplate his demise. Then instead fix the data and resend. The waiting game begins while I chat about WoW with somebody on online. All I know is that her indian name means "wipes dungeon in one pull".

2:00 pm
Old guy has disappeared and haven't heard from him in awhile. Gosh, I hope it's something serious. Begin to close up shop for day. Sometimes it takes a long time to chat with 4-5 other people and tell them you're leaving at 4:30.

3:00 pm
Somebody must have used Redemption on the old dude. He's back and crankier than ever. He's brought another of his wagons for me to fix and so I do (that was a joke get it, "I fixed his wagon" ... maybe that's a Missouri saying). Time for a break.

3:45 pm
Break's over. Man they work you like a rented mule in this career don't they. I need a raise. Start checking my code in for the day. Need to talk to the new guy to make sure he understands what needs to be done while I'm off tomorrow. I've been working too hard and need a vacation day.

4:45 pm
Omg overtime! That new guy is alright. We had a good talk and I think tomorrow will go fine for hime.

4:50 pm
Time to shut er down, I'm bushed. I'll get back to this ol' grind after a long restful, weekend.