paisleypiper's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- end of a binding engagement This morning I climbed out of bed, without a feeling of dread. I did more than that� I woke up early, ran into the bathroom and turned on the heater a good 20 minutes before Quinn woke up. Quinn, who enjoys the morning and all sorts of pre-work activities, has the first shower. Typically, I lay in bed until the last possible second and then rush as fast as I can and run out of the door well before Quinn. It has to the be this way. Otherwise I sit and stare for long amounts of time. Void of any thoughts of which I am aware. Cliques of minutes go by, observe me looking like a dunder head, get new mates, gain and loose weight, change their fashion sense, and still I stare. Until the last possible minute, and then I rush through my morning routine and run out of the door well before Quinn. Over the years I have perfected this and think it is better to stay in bed until the last possible minute instead of being overcome by uncontrollable stares. But this morning, life was different. When the last possible minutes arrived, I ran into the bathroom and hopped in the shower. For the past four months, I have been running by a huge stack of binder-compilation materials. But not this morning. I saw wall, baseboard, artwork. The temperature was not conducive to actually stopping, but I appreciated it in a flash. And then played and replayed my tape as I stood under the dribbler trying to get all of the shampoo out of my hair. I dressed in a smart meeting outfit. I have these dark gray pants that I love. Whenever I wear them, and since I am short on clothes this is twice a week, I feel smart. Today I needed a smart outfit because I was running the faculty task force meeting for the faculty director of my initiative. The faculty director had a death in the family and had to leave rather quickly on Saturday for an extremely long drive to New Brunswick, where her family lives. But, I did not panic. Everything seemed manageable. Life feels different now that I have been rehabilitated. The binder project certainly felt like jail, minus the bad food and bars. And I hope that some good came from assembling 405 binders to match the prototypes. This entailed printing and placing 4,455 labels on index tabs, inserting sheets into those 4,455 index tabs and putting them in the 405 binders. Inserting covers and spines into these 405 binders. Also, we put 8,505 sheets in sheet protectors and collated those in with the regular sheets. We punched 42,525 holes in colored sheets of paper which were used to separate sections. We burned 270 cd�s and inserted those into little protectors and then into 270 of the 405 binders. After spending 338 hours on this over the last months, I have to believe that there was something in it. Because the pay �. Well �. There are going to be some struggles with this. But, because I was rehabilitated, I asked for the full amount, even though it exceed the contract. And KM is going to analyze the contract and try to find a way to pay for it all. After all, I am a changed woman now. I will never undertake any project of this sort for the umbrella agency, or any other organization, ever again. And no, my fingers are not crossed. Nor are my toes. Today, the world became a friendlier place. And I a happier person. I suppose these are the benefits of the sort of rehabilitation an extended, tedious, trapping and incredibly boring project that simulates house arrest can have on someone. I have been thinking that I will need to celebrate November 25 for years to come. Henceforth (isn�t this the sort of word always used in clich�d officialdom?) the 25th day of November shall come to be known as binder day. Now, I just need to write my term paper for Milton and study for the final. And then I will have my life back just in time to deal with Christmas and surrender it again to a busy final semester of my MA program. Today, I signed my last program of study and it was approved by 3 or the 6 people who need to approve it. No more binder ever! 10:59 p.m. - 2002-11-25 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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