Monday, September 9, 2013

Thinking



So it's Monday, early. The air conditioner is making an awful racket. Why? Probably because it's a very cheap air conditioner. It cools the bedroom most efficiently, it's just really, really noisy. I get up to set the air conditioner to the O.F.F. mode. 'Tis then that I notice something. It's only 0530.

My alarm is set for 0600.

Question - get up now? Or go back to bed, thinking that, theoretically, I can still get 30 more minutes of sleep.

Answer - um, no. I don't operate that way.

Typically, for as long as I can remember, I wake up before the alarm goes off. On a good day, that's 10 to 15 minutes before the alarm goes off. Gives me a few moments to collect myself, haul my carcass out of bed and get a start on the day.

On some days, I'll awaken 30 minutes prior to the alarm shattering the early morning stillness. (Well, as still as it can be with a cheap air conditioner roaring in the window.) Those days can go either way, could be good, could be crappy.

On other days (thankfully rare), I'll wake up an hour before the alarm goes off. Then I know it's going to be a long slog before I can "down tools" and call it quits. If I do get up that early, I will sometimes get into work a good hour ahead of schedule. So, in theory, I can be out the door a good hour ahead of schedule. Sometimes it happens that way, sometimes not.

I work with a number of people who think 0900 is early. When I leave at 1500, they go all squirrelly until I point out that I was at work two hours before they rolled in. Guess which people always need something "right now" when I get in two hours early.

Yeah, the people doing "banker's hours". Never fails.

But what's that got to do with the title of this post, and what's that "Random Stuff" graphic got to do with anything?

Well, this post over at The Stupid Shall Be Punished got me to thinking. About a lot of things. Random things really. But for now you should read that post.

One thing I've learned is that there are hardly any (read close to zero) stupid people in the Silent Service.

So when they speak...

I listen. And I think.

6 comments:

  1. I work with a number of people who think 0900 is early.

    That drove me nuts, too. I had number of snappy lines I used on those rare days I walked out the door around five-ish and got The Look, to wit: "I turned the lights on this morning, YOU can turn 'em off when you leave."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heh.

      They drive me absolutely batshit.

      Not to put too fine a point on it.

      Delete
  2. That sub guy sounds like he's got his priorities right. As for your work schedule, nobody EVER gets credit for showing up early, only for staying late. I had a department head once who noticed my work ethic as I was one of the last JOs left in the squadron one day. He called me in, thanked me for working hard and then said- "Don't try to out-work me." He pretty much admitted he was a workaholic, but it served him well; He's now an Admiral. I'm sure he didn't have as much family time as others, but it worked for them. It wouldn't have worked for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like Mr Kennedy's stuff. It's how I keep up with the sub world.

      What price glory?

      Become an Admiral, spend less time with one's family. Some can handle it, some can't. Wouldn't have worked for me either.

      Delete
  3. Wait a minute
    Wasn't The Peanut Farmer a submarine guy?

    Oh, that's right, you qualified your last statement with "hardly any"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heh. Jimmy C was indeed a submarine guy.

      I try and choose my words, shall we say, judiciously.

      Delete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

NOTE: Comments on posts over 5 days old go into moderation, automatically.