Sunday, September 18, 2005

All In Two Days' Work

I woke up at 4pm for once. That's a little abnormal for me, especially when you take into account the fact that I had been sleeping for 14 hours straight. It goes back a couple of days.

Friday - The subtle art of negotiations.

  • 13:00 Negotiations - Don't accept a pay cut.
    My job has asked big changes of me soon. I had to get a car and a place of my own and move. This change was not going to be fun, so I had decided to leave my job. It just wouldn't be worth it. This brought on negotiation talks. As initial talks on Tuesday went a good 270 minutes in Windsor at the Chatham St. Grill, I expected no less for the second round at the company headquarters. So it turns out it took 4 hours again. I got what I call a fair settlement, in which both parties compromised. So I will keep my job in Michigan and move to Windsor. For now.
  • 20:00 Happy Birthday
    When I finally got back, my friend Shanna who I met at swing dancing invited me to her friend's birthday at the Ann Arbor Brewing Company. I had to eat anyway, so I drove to the place and had food and fun. Then I came back to my "home" and crashed into my pillow at about 3am, knowing that I would have to get up in only 4 hours. Read on to find out why.
Saturday - No rest for the busy:

  • 07:45 Habitat Landscaping
    After less than 4 hours sleep each night this week, I woke up at 7am as I'm in a group of people from my church in Ann Arbor and who volunteered for Habitat For Humanity Michigan, a great charity, in Jackson, Michigan, about 40 minutes away. We took a yard with a pile of mud and rubble, and created a really nice garden complete with stepping stones and borders and proper drainage. I'm good with a pick-axe! It was really satisfying, and I was amazed at what we did with the Jackson city chapter. I'll get a picture out later.
  • 15:00 Choir Rehearsal
    After getting back, I sped away to play piano for a choir rehearsal from 3-5, which I was late for. This was embarrassing, since some of the people who were working with me earlier were on time. Anyway, they have a wonderful Yamaha piano that I just love playing. Its pretty close, but I think the newer Grebel chapel piano is better.
  • 17:00 Church
    We then provided music for Saturday mass at 5pm (Donny once called Saturday mass the Catholic Church's greatest innovation). The sermon was based on the servant who was forgiven his debt and refused to forgive the debt of someone else.
  • 18:00 Confession
    I regularly talk with a familiar priest about my spiritual life. This particular talk was excellent, and although it felt like 45 minutes, actually lasted 90 minutes. When I was younger, I thought "confession" was about listing your "sins" and receiving "absolution". But more and more I am finding its simply about being honest within yourself and with God, and becoming free to trust that God is with you, and that if you live out of love, and not selfishness then you're going in the right direction. I'm amazed how it helps in feeling the freedom that you have to be responsible for your actions.
  • 20:00 The Symphony and the Schmooze
    I then received a call from a friend of mine Becky Walsh, Director of Programming for the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. She had a ticket to the premiere performance this year that she told me about earlier, and her husband could not be there. I jumped at the chance, sped home, put on my suit and tie, and rushed out to meet her at 8pm. We had a great time listening to live music! I then went to the after-party and schmoozed with important people in the city and even with the conductor, Arie Lipsky! And they even gave us food!
  • 26:00 Sleep
    By the time I got back in to bed, it was 2am. You can see why I needed 14 hours (about par for a 6- to 12-month old baby). My average for the week is now 5 hours per night.

I am feeling a little rested now, but really really hungry seeing how long it took to post this. Time to get some 9pm breakfast!

Daniel [Life_]

4 comments:

Patrick said...

Daniel,

Your adventures sound great! We should combine forces and see how long we can go before the opportunity of sleep arises!

Also if your contact with the symphony owe you one, liz is still looking for work and is looking for cultural and/or museum work.

Cheers,

P

Anonymous said...

Hi Daniel!
Welcome to the world of "people whose blogs I try to read because I want to hear what they're doing but who, in reality, become terribly neglected and read in marathonic proportions". Marathonic. Now there's a new word for me.

Anyway, it's always good to infuse my life with Danielisms, and remember, you're still welcome to drive down to Elkhart to visit me! I promise I'll cook for you! I also heard about a Wailing Jennies concert in Ann Arbor that I'd love to come up for... argh, the busyness of school!

Stay well, my friend!
Alissa

Anonymous said...

Dude, it's no rest for the WICKED! If you need a 90 minute confession, you must be seriously wicked.

Actually I think that's pretty cool, that you're having good spiritual counseling. More people need to think about that. I'm planning to read lots and lots of St. Jerome this term. That crabby old misogynist should be thoughtprovoking!

Anonymous said...

Parental unit:

Daniel: a 90 minute confession - is there something I should know ...