The last two working days have been incredibly long, both finishing near eight at night, but that is thankfully quite rare for me these days. The reason they were so long, was because I had meetings with US colleagues and the time difference can be a killer. This is especially true on shorter notice, as the "golden hour" slots (suitable overlap period) are already taken, so it gets pushed later. At least though, both evenings have been fruitful, which is good since on both occasions the sessions were with people who are about as near the top of the business as it gets, without being the CEO.
But, my mind has also been elsewhere today, because in the morning we took Smallsteps to have the tube put in for the next 24 hours, and while it went pretty well, it still wasn't the most pleasant experience for anyone involved. The nurse and doctor were nice, but the first attempt failed and there was a fair bit of blood. Smallsteps had her eyes closed so didn't see it, thankfully.
Smallsteps was sitting on my wife's lap through this, despite me asking her several times prior for me to do it. There wasn't anything for my wife to do, but these things tend to make her squeamish and true to form after the procedure, my wife stood up, followed immediately by sitting on the ground, as she almost fainted. I knew with almost certainty that this would happen, which is why I have always been the one in the room with our daughter for these things.
Smallsteps did great.
There were some well-deserved tears, but she has always handled herself bravely through these things. She doesn't pull away from the medical staff, or wriggle, she just unhappily does what she needs to do. It makes it easier for everyone involved, but when something has to be done, it has to be done. There is a saying in Finnish that that I like which translates as,
"Do, or cry and do".
And that's pretty much how I feel about the work at the moment. I have to do it, so there is no point crying over it. Perhaps one day I won't "have" to do it and be able to walk away. However, I believe that when we aren't obligated to work, the work becomes more enjoyable anyway. Not that my work is terrible to start with, but having that freedom to leave whenever I want without major financial and life ramifications, would make the work that much better.
Tomorrow though, I am going to severely limit the work I will do and spend the majority of the day with Smallsteps. My wife will be away for a couple days, so it will just be the two of us. We will go and have the tube taken out in the morning, and then if she feels like it, go and have a nice breakfast somewhere and perhaps visit a museum. Or since the weather will still be surprisingly warm, spend it in the park and have an ice cream.
We can just do what we choose. No tears necessary.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]