Friday, September 23, 2005

Tickin' in my head

I once believed that transitioning from student life to work life would mean more free time. No more homework clogging my "off" time, no research, no writing papers, etc. Work would be, ahhh, stable, 9-5, free time galore, so much time for things like...blogging.

Well, work life is stable; but my lack of free time is also quite stable. How the hell do you 9-5'rs get anything done? Sheesh. I get home at 530 exhausted, barely scrape together dinner, eat, slouch, do a bit of necessary but annoying admin, and then go to bed.

My work situation is a lock down. No internet time, in fact no internet on our computers. So, unlike Gaunilo, I cannot make more productive use of my work time by blogging. Hence, the little free time I do find, the shards pieced together from the life shattered by a corporate jauggernaut (waah), are devoted to more pressing matters.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dude,
You totally need to read some Marx. It'll make sense now in a way it never did before. Trust me.

noirah said...

My transition was tough too. I remember experiencing a new kind of tired. Not the satisfying exhaustion after pulling an all-nighter but a deeper, more physical exhaustion followed by a weird numbness. But I think the worst part was the way I could actually feel and see (clocks, timecards) hours and days slipping away. Oh and that horrible trapped feeling when I couldn't take care of midday errands or go sit under a tree and read. I mean even required reading gives me the unique experience of being happily alone but tapped into something grand or at least other. Anyway, I feel ya. My only suggestion is to get knocked up. It totally worked for me. :)

Melvin Ming said...

Anon: yes, I've been thinking a lot about the "factory floor" and Marx/Engels' reflections on how time gets reworked based on the labor process. And even though I'm in a slightly more advanced situation (ie I'm working in front of a computer, not an assembly line), there still is a sense that the "foreman" is keeping an eye on all my/our doings.

Noirah: one of the hardest parts too is that all this time I'm burning away is devoted to someone else's gain and glory. It's not like I'm spending a ton of time working toward something that will really add up. Besides the paycheck and the ambiguous "transferable skills," vat de hell am I werkin foh? And as soon as you hear about some technology or procedure that'll allow me to get knocked up, lemme know!

guanilo said...

What are you saying? That I wasted time at work by blogging?

God forbid! I'm shocked - shocked! - that you'd make such an accusation.

guanilo said...

Actually, it's totally true. It took me a while to figure out why I was having such a hard time blogging once I left work.

*Duh.*

Anyway, good luck with that, brother. I find not sleeping helps. And remember, commenting on my blog is always more important than blogging on your own. We agree on that, right?

noirah said...

If I hear about such technology, I promise you'll be the second to know.

Bird On A Line said...

I hear ya! Loud and frickin' clear.

myevilterran said...

No internet at work? Wow. It's a scary scary world out there.