Recreational Efficiency

I made Minchin laugh yesterday with my use of the term "recreational efficiency" to describe how I am trying to manage my social/creative life within the confines of my new job structure.  I decided this was more of an off-campus discussion than something for the Finishing School. This is not one more "having it all" rant; it is a system for using the time I have available (such as posting at 7:35 on a Sunday) to do the things I like so I don't have to feel like all I do is go to work and thread needles, then come back from work.

My hour commute would be more pleasant by train or bus, where I could be reading, but I have my podcasts to keep me company and the occasional audio book.  Here the efficiency is finding audio books already on my booklists rather than starting another list of books just for this purpose.  The challenge is that I am very easily irritated by audio books, and for the pettiest Seinfeldian complaints such as Barak Obama's whistling S or the way Scott McClellan pronounces the article "a" as "ay" long A.  This approach also requires a library trip, but since other parts of my recreational life do too (parrrr-tay!) I can combine those trips and take care of it all at once.  See, recreational efficiency.

I still drive by the gym on the way home, but now I am much closer to home than to work when I do, so it requires an extra push to make that turn into the parking lot.  If the gym bag is always in the car, I minimize my excuses for not going.  If I can also use any opportunity I am in that town to visit the gym (such as lunch at Minchin's or the aforementioned library) then even better.

I used to be a very efficient person in this regard.  I had to be, because I traveled by public transportation and I didn't work near my house.  When I packed for the day, it was packing for the whole day, and sometimes the evening (which can be tricky with just a courier bag and the late 1980s).  Of course, the kids today dress for work like Saturday at the Maine cottage, and all you have to do to go out for an evening is take off your pants.

I don't have a lot of morning time anymore, and I've lost 2 hours in the evening in order to get enough sleep to make that 7am drive.  Minchin takes a 6 o'clock train and has 2 children.  So I am not complaining.  just explaining.  (I just lost a few minutes exploring the Latin root plangere in both of those words.  sigh).  So I shifted my coffee and letter writing to the office, and my fruit and/or energy bar to the car.  Lunch making, shower, ironing (hell yes I do) moved to the evening, and can be done in under an hour if I do it right when I get home.  While dinner is cooking.

Household crap has to wait for weekends.  sorry.  I am just not that into you, my house.  And bills and checkbook, you are right in there with him. Talk among yourselves.

I am being set-up by RFBandD to begin recording from home (ironically, audio books), which will both save and spend time.  In exchange for this set-up, I am committed to giving them more recording hours per week, which will likely eat into my Netflix time.  But I can watch TV while eating dinner, and I can't record while doing that.  If I could come up with some other chore I could knock out in the shower.....

I have not gotten any better at blogging ahead of time.  The Finishing School takes up a lot of time, and that is without actually writing anything.  This post started out to be my Oscar Picks, but I realize I don't have time for that article this morning.  I need to shower before meeting up with Otto and though he won't care if I am shaven, I need to get the shave in for the week to save myself a second shower today.  Fortunately, I have already had my Cheerios.