February 20, 2020 Diary
Awoke around 6:45, thought about what to do first, then drifted off and woke again at 7:15. Still felt a little tired despite the fact that 7:15 is late for a weekday. I was slow to fall asleep last night, which probably explains the grogginess. Normally on a Thursday I’m up at 5:30 to play a 6 am basketball game but I’ve got a sore foot so I’m sitting this one out. The question that arises is what to do about getting exercise, which is hard to get without putting much weight on the foot. It’s a short-term thing, I think, but still frustrating. Yesterday was busy and I wasn’t able to get a workout in. When today? Since I’ve slept later than normal, a morning workout won’t fit. I’ve got some things to do at work. I’m speaking to a class at 11 and then to a lunchtime church group after that, so my schedule won’t let me workout at lunch. I force myself out of bed. Glance at my phone and see the reminder: diary day. Gotta write all this down.
Head downstairs, make tea. Settle in and turn news on to hear commentary on last night’s Democratic presidential debate. Starting to feel a little more urgency about politics now that primaries have begun. On the whole, the immediate future for the U.S. seems grim. It’s hard for me to escape the feeling that the Dems are blowing it. Maybe that’s just media hype. Hopefully there’s reason for optimism for the long term. I work through some emails while half-listening. One email is headed “should academics work 100-hour weeks.” Heh-no. Tried that in grad school and burned out in a few weeks.
Made a quick breakfast—bagel and banana—ate while still half-listening to political morning tv chatter. This election has become a kind of sound track to daily life, background noise mostly but intruding at times in agitating, unsettling ways. Don’t like the trajectory I see, which is further drift away from democracy. Should I be surprised, or is that who we’ve always been? B. joins me and we talk about this for a couple minutes and about the coming day. I push out a few emails, and head up to the shower. Do that quickly, then think about dressing and what clothes will work with what I’m doing today. I have a public presentation so should dress like a grown-up. It’s cold, so something warm. Also, since my foot is sore I need to wear supportive shoes, which means hiking boots, so not overly dressy. Settle on corduroys, dress shirt, sweater. Head off, with fresh mug of tea. Drive in is easy, as always. Listening to the end of podcast about NBA that I enjoy while driving in.
9–Get to work after parking and a bit of a walk to the office. I sit down with my staff colleague, L., to handle some admin tasks. We need to add software to her computer, which takes a few minutes to figure out. Then I do some more emails and I get to work on prep for today’s public talk. I will also be a guest discussant in a class so need to review the material for that.
Prepped for these two events for about an hour. It was just a matter of reviewing the material in each case. Nothing was new but most of it was stuff I haven’t thought about in a while. Head off to the class around 10:45.
11–The class discussion was remarkably good. The instructor had the students read an article I had written years ago and question me about it. They asked lots of smart and interesting questions. I was impressed at how well they were prepared. It was fun to talk about this work for the first time in a while. I found it invigorating.
11:50 ducked out and hustled to my lunchtime talk. It was cold on the walk over. Hating winter at this point, even though it’s been fairly mild. Arrived in plenty of time, set up was easy. Had some genial small talk over lunch. Nothing meaningful or memorable. Ate roast chicken with potato casserole and green beans. The food fit the venue: a church basement. Then the talk, with W., a colleague. It went smoothly. W. carried a lot of the load which made it easy. Plenty of questions, and some interesting discussion.
2—Arrived back at the office after another chilly walk. Conferred with L. on a couple of newly arrived emails and answered a couple of others. Then got to work on some student papers. They were not written for one of my classes. I’m chairing a session at our student conference tomorrow. They’re a mixed lot and it’s not the most stimulating reading. Even so, this is worth doing. The event always provides a good experience for participants and it’s usually fun so I look forward to it.
Around 3 pm, I realize I’m a bit groggy (again) and it occurs to me that I haven’t had any caffeine since morning tea. No wonder! I grab my coat and head across the street to grab an extra-large Diet Pepsi. (I had a cookie with lunch, so maybe I’m losing the sugar boost too. Not my normal intake at lunch.) Get back to the office and back to the papers. Dull work in this case.
At about 3:50 pm (almost done with papers) I stop to prepare for a 4 pm phone conference. It’s with my family and a pair of lawyers on what has been a long, drawn-out, and thoroughly annoying property dispute. It’s nearing its end (knock on wood) and this conference call is with a third set of lawyers, who will handle the final transaction. The call is at 4 and happily it’s quick—over in under 15 minutes. The lawyers are very formal, oddly so. I confer for a few minutes more with my sisters and send an email to the bank summarizing the call. I am looking forward for this thing to be over. Now back to papers.
5:00: I have now read the final paper, taken notes, and prepped for commenting on them tomorrow. Happily, just as I’m wrapping up, I got a text from a friend proposing to grab a beer. Just what I needed. Getting a beer means sacrificing a last opportunity to exercise. Maybe not the smartest decision, but what the heck. Makes me happy to socialize for a bit. I know B. is going to be out with a friend for a while this evening so the incentive to go home is limited.
Arrived at the bar/restaurant at 5:30, had a couple beers. Refreshing and satisfying after a full day. Had a good conversation with my friend about politics, work, family. I’m at a point in life where I don’t need to rush home. Kids are out of the house, and in this case B. was out, so no rush.
Home about 7; B arrived a few minutes later. We made veggie pizzas on naan bread. Cooked quickly, tasted good. B. turned on the TV and put on more cable news. I tolerate it for a bit but I think I will retreat to another space to read and watch a little Netflix. Happy to vegetate after a fairly basic but busy day. Read a bit—scattered stuff, news of the day—politics, sports, the movie Parasite, which apparently has earned the ire of our President. I get up and start doing the dishes. In the middle of that, M., my daughter, calls with a question about a paper assignment. We have a fun chat about a bunch of stuff. Her friends are visiting Berlin so we discuss things to do there (we used to live there for a short time) so she can advise them. She has good news about being offered an internship but I have to prod her to tell me, even though she’s already told B. (and B. told me). For some reason I’m the last-to-know parent. The conversation is fun and it leaves me in a good mood; she seems to be doing well and is happy, the ultimate parental goal.
I finish the dishes and head upstairs around 9. A little more reading then Netflix. I’ll watch an episode of Peaky Blinders, a series I started a while ago and occasionally watch an episode.
A basic day, not too stressful. Not terribly productive, which sometimes leaves me agitated, but not so much today. I knew I had a lot of little things to do and did them.
Watched my PK episode, lights out at 11. Tired.