The 15 Minute Work Day

I think it was around 430am when I first woke. And then, over the next 40 minutes, I woke several more times. My mind racing, I went ahead and got up and out of bed around 515am. I was downstairs not even five minutes later preparing to exercise.

It was a cloudy rainy start. I hit the go button on the coffee maker then whipped out sit-ups and push-ups. The coffee wasn’t quite ready when I finished. Waiting … waiting … waiting. Finally, the coffee was ready. I poured myself a cup then headed to my PC. I checked the weather forecast and the SNF results. It was currently 46 degrees with light rain. Expected to continue for most of the day. Tuesday was forecasted to much the same. The Eagles beat the Giants in SNF.

I got up from my PC at 545am and headed off to the family room to meditate. That went just OK. Finished abruptly at 605am and headed upstairs to wake Mindy and deliver some coffee. My time there was brief. Soon I was back downstairs to stretch and ready for a run.

The mid 40s and light rain was enough to convince me to wear hand covers, though a tad too warm for ear covers. I left them exposed. It was about 620am when I headed out the door. I ran 4.1 miles thinking through the day ahead, including the need to drop Lindsey at work. Thankfully, that would be far less cumbersome given that her office is now right around the corner. I also needed to contact the insurance agent to finalize all that. And then, still in the back of my mind was the less than impressive brake repairs done by Hatfield. I tossed around how best to handle that. At the time I wasn’t yet sure.

The run went by quickly. I was back home around 710am. Mindy brought Eiknarf’s leash and a bag. I called for Eiknarf but she didn’t come. I knew how to fix that. I rang the door bell a couple of times and she came running, barking. That got a laugh out of Mindy.

As usual, our walk was brief but fruitful. Took care of business and were back inside in a hurry. Mindy met us at the bridge to hug goodbye before heading off to pick-up the boys for what she hoped would be the last time.

I headed inside to start my breakfast and finish packing my lunch. Mindy had a fresh salad waiting for me in the fridge. I cut up some cheese and pineapple and threw in some strawberries, too. My lunch was ready in no time. Both kids asked for leftover homemade waffles. Jacob asked for his toasted. Bella the same. She requested a 2^nd but this time microwaved. I fried eggs for Eiknarf and I. I burnt my toast but ate it anyway.

Off to the shower around 730am. I opened the blinds that Mindy closes every morning. I can’t stand to not have outdoors indoors. The backhoe crew was already getting into place for the days work on the pond. There supposedly dredging and then adding boulders along the shore both sides of the bridge. If done right, should be much more pleasing to the eye.

I was out of the shower and back downstairs by 750am. Lindsey was there seated at the island. Asked if I planned to finalize her insurance during the day. Yes. I don’t recall if I said anything about the less than stellar brake repairs or not. We headed out to the bus stop at 808am. The bus was routinely late. Didn’t arrive until almost 822am. Lindsey hung outside while I took care of a few last minute things inside. This was a Rachel day, by the way.

Lindsey’s new work digs are literally a half mile down the road, far more convenient not only for her, but also for us. I dropped her off by 831am. Onto work. I arrived at the office near 840am and was booting up a few minutes later. I had just gotten my laptop fully logged on and my to-do list completed when my cell phone rang. It was St Mary

Magdalene calling to report Rocky being ill and their inability to reach Lindsey. Asked if I would come get him. Yes. Told them it might take upwards of an hour. Oh boy!

I walked immediately to my boss’ office around the corner and let him know that I needed to leave and work from home due to a sick kid. He understood. I hustled back to my office where I quickly gathered up my things and headed back out. Short day in the office.

There is no quick path to Magdalene from Hilliard. I got off the freeway at Wilson and headed south to Fremont and then by Westgate Park. It had to be near 945am when I arrived. In the office I ran into Leslie Dent, Rocky kindergarten and 1^st grade teacher (our neighbor too). She and I chatted briefly while the nurse went for Rocky. Leslie’s lost a bunch of weight. Perhaps even too much.

A gentleman who I assumed to be the principal walked into the main office and looked at me without uttering even a hello. He appeared to be looking down his nose at me. I was going to introduce myself, but vibes were strongly negative. I opted not to speak and instead turned my attention to Rocky who was just coming into the office. I signed him out and we left.

As we made our way to the Accord he pointed out Landon crossing the street with the rest of his preschool class.  I insisted he not call any attention to us so not to get Landon upset. We headed to the house.

Right away, Rocky asked if the kids were home. No. Also asked if he could play Wii. No. I explained that I needed to work and that he needed to rest. According to the school nurse, he had thrown up more than once. He started his new meds that morning too. I wondered if Lindsey gave it to him on an empty stomach.

Rocky took the hint and went to the sofa in the family room while I got busy logging in from home. He came asking questions a couple of times, each time I repeated my earlier mantra. Only rest for the next hour or so. We’d see how he was doing after that. He either took a nap or laid quietly for the next couple hours.

Before getting too involved in work, I called the Progressive insurance agent returned via their webpage. He was most pleasant and eager to help. He also added that he responded to me Saturday. Hmm? Didn’t see it. He asked me to check spam. Sure enough, there it was. Took all of about 15 minutes to get Lindsey fully insured. All I needed to do was print the documents from their online site. Cool!

Rachel showed up to clean the house sometime around 11am, best guess. I know she doesn't like to clean with us there. To that end, I sent a text to Mindy asking her to give Rachel a heads up before hand. Rachel didn't hear from Mindy who was probably busy with her class. Rachel hung out chatting for a while, but then said she'd come back on Friday to clean that way we wouldn't be in each other's way.

Outside, the city was busy working on the pond project. Each time they dumped a truck load of boulders into the street it startled me. Very loud knocking and banging. I had to join a conference call at 1pm. By then, Rocky was again alert and bothering me about playing Wii. I asked that he remain still and quiet while I joined the call. He did. The call lasted about 30 minutes. Afterwards, I hooked Rocky up with a movie – Star Wars, but as I suspected, he never fully engaged.

After hearing another thunderous boom from the truck dumping another load of boulders, I glanced out front and spotted Carl out talking to the city crew working the pond. I decided to be nosey too and headed out to chat. I joined Carl on the bridge while a back hoe dredged the much and moved the boulders all along the bank. Never once did any one of them move a single stone by hand. Interesting. It was closing in on 3pm. I heard the workers pretty much calling it a day.

I headed back to the house. Rocky was in the livingroom, no doubt keeping a watchful eye on me out the window. He was bored. I offered to make him lunch but he declined. I fixed some tuna fish over lettuce for myself. It was quite good.

I spent the rest of my afternoon at my PC working. Rocky hounded me about every 10 minutes to when the kids might be home. Really? Kept telling me he was bored. My canned response became this … you came home from school sick. You’re not supposed to have fun. You should be resting. He wasn’t thrilled with my answer, but too bad.

The kids got home at 401pm – pretty much right on time. Jacob was stoked that he didn’t have homework and wouldn’t on Tuesday either. He was quickly off to play with friends. Rocky went into overdrive bouncing off the walls to get out and play too. I had to rain on his parade. No school. No play. Bella tinkered around the house. Mindy called around 420pm to let me know that she forgot to stop and pick-up Landon. Had to turn around and head back to Magdalene. She knew I picked up Rocky from school earlier.

Mindy was excited to see that we had all the ducks lined up to get Lindsey on the road in her new car finally. For Mindy that meant the end of leaving 20 minutes early for school to pick-up the boys and drop them at school. The only issue still gnawing at me about the whole Hyundai thing are the less than stellar brakes. They work OK but not as good as they should.

Mindy reheated leftover pasta and chicken for dinner. Took longer than I expected. I kept working until just before it was all ready. It was just 530pm when she called us all to the table. Rocky didn’t want any dinner. Landon, however, ate well. He ate some tortellini, chicken, and mashed potatoes.

I told Mindy that I wanted to move Lindsey’s car behind mine that way she could easily pull away once she arrived later to get the kids and the car. Mindy offered to move the Accord while I back the Hyundai out. I checked the brakes again just to sanity check myself. Yep, still need work. Mindy shuttled Bella off to gymnastics just before 7pm. By then I was taking a much needed nap. Came over me like nobody’s business. I woke before she was home and started work on the contract we planned to have Lindsey sign before taking the car. The contract essentially spells out the repayment plan as well as the financial management plan we all agreed to. No surprises. We planned to have the signing witnessed and officially notarized by Chrissy.

Lindsey showed up just before 8pm as expected. Me exchanged pleasantries then got to business. I showed her that her car is now insured and handed her the registration and temporary insurance card. She asked that I keep the title is a safe place. Good. That was my plan anyway.

I then showed her the contract. I thought Mindy might come unglued when she challenged what I paid for the car, as if I might be ripping her off. I could only chuckle. She went on unreasonably about the financial management stuff too. And I still have no idea what her point was about her money. It’s apparent that she had no idea how to budget, save, and pay bills.

She complained but started to pen her signature anyway. I stopped her and said we needed to walk down and have Chrissy witness and then notarize our signatures. She agreed, and we headed down to the neighbors. Rocky went along too.

Chrissy witnessed our signatures all the while Lindsey fussed about me managing her money. Again, she just doesn’t get it. It all comes off as being so ungrateful. I could easily turn my back. Chrissy tried reasoning with her some but don’t think it made much difference.

We walked back to the house where Lindsey nervously put some of her stuff in the Hyundai. I took a couple minutes to show her where everything is so there won’t be any surprises while she’s driving. She scoffed at my insistence that she make sure the mirrors were adjusted accordingly. Oh boy! And I thought she was going to die when she couldn’t figure out how to turn the wipers on/off and then get the windshield fluid flowing. I really wanted to ring her neck. Somehow I worked through most of it without killing her first. J Next, we went inside to get the boys stuff and Landon, who was sound asleep in the livingroom recliner.  I helped get both boys buckled in then they drove off. I felt a sense of relief seeing the car zoom away.

Mindy left to pick-up Bella from gymnastics during all the craziness. Mindy was incensed when she got back, upset with Lindsey and her apparent lack of gratitude. Mindy sent her a text pointing out some of the negative vibes she often sends. About the same time Lindsey rang my cell to tell me that she thought the brakes were poor. That’s all I needed to hear. I told her I would call Hatfield in the morning and arrange another service appointment. It never ends!

To break the tension, Jacob and I watched the Buckeye basketball game. Mindy joined us too. Mindy was still in a funk from an overdose of Lindsey after four straight days. She needs a break. But sadly, no one else is stepping up to help with issues such as after school care. Instead of a village, it more often feels like a one man show.

I poured myself a Jack & Coke. That and the basketball game was a great diversion from the Lindsey stress. Honestly, I am disappointed in myself for allowing all of this to get under my skin and cause stress. I have the necessary skills to think and live beyond it. However, like all of us, I am human and sometimes forget.  

The outcome of the Buckeye game was never really in question. At times they looked awesome, while at others more passé. They ended up blowing out Northern Florida by 35 points. Like most nights, I stayed up later than everyone else. Bella rejoined me downstairs briefly to eat the slice of pizza Lindsey brought home from work for her. Before heading back to bed, she asked that I stop by and retuck her into bed. OK. That was no more than ten minutes later. Good night.