More work

There is definitely some truth to the saying “if you want something done quickly, ask a busy person.” Let me run you through some of the day’s scheduling.
 
At 6.30, I was summoned from my sleep by Mrs. Ottawacker. I climbed into my clothes, wandered down the stairs and drank the coffee Mrs. Ottawacker had made before going off for her daily swim with Ottawacker Jr. in the Rideau River.
 
I read the emails that had come in, deleted the junk, started answering the good ones. At 7.15, I started work on the case study I am supposed to be writing for an NGO. I worked through till 10, when I had to interview someone for an article I am supposed to be writing for another client. At 11, I went downstairs, made Ottawacker Jr. his third breakfast, called the pharmacy to see if my blood pressure medication was in yet, and was back upstairs by 11.15, working on the case study.
 
At 1.30, I stopped, went downstairs and made Ottawacker Jr. his second lunch, ate it with him (after introducing myself), ruffled his hair, told him to go and start digging the hole in the garden he had been promised as a holiday treat, and went back upstairs.
 
At 2.45, I dropped off a duvet at the dry-cleaner’s and went on to the cardiac centre for an EKG. (Nothing serious, I think, just ruling out reasons my previous vasovagal syncope – although for all the doctors tell you here, they might suspect I have rabies or something.) Following the usual ultrasound-related puns (“is it a boy or a girl?”), they decided I needed dye in to increase the resolution of the image. They didn’t laugh at my suggestion to by a more expensive machine, and instead spent the best part of 10 minutes finding a vein.
 
By 3.45, I was out and drove home, showered, and got back to work on the article, this time. At 5, I came downstairs, made a fresh juice apéritif for myself and Ottawacker Jr., cooked dinner, put a load of laundry on. Leaving Mrs. Ottawacker to clean up, Ottawacker Jr. and I went and watched Coast (his nightly hour of education TV). At 7.45, he went to bed, I did an hour’s work. The Mrs. Ottawacker and I settled down to watch Episode 3 of Victoria, which is not quite as bad as I had feared.

At 10, Mrs. Ottawacker went to bed. I did a little more work, including a cheeky request for a 300-word translation for “tomorrow morning”. I did it in 20 minutes and sent it off, then wrote an email to a couple of friends, before heading to bed at midnight.
 
I seriously doubt if I could have done this had I been drinking. I also seriously doubt it is sustainable. But I am getting up at 6.30 again tomorrow to see if it is.

Took this photo as I went to bed. I had completely forgotten about the blip for the day.