4pm. - I've been wanting to keep a monthly diary for some time now
(i.e. write regularly but only publish at the end of the month). And
I was thinking what form it could take and where to publish it. I
didn't searched long though because the solution was actually quite
simple: plain text, gopher, in my sdf lair.
So here I am, starting today.
- The week-end was exhausting, to say the least. I worked 20 hours
almost straight; from 2pm yesterday to 2:30pm today, with 4 hours of
"rest" at 1am. My wife took care of our sick baby alone until now
(he's feeling better, was just a bit of fever). She's knackered as
well obviously. So when I got home I took him with me so she could go
to sleep a little.
I'm typing this while he is playing with my highlighters in his high
chair that I stuck next to my desk. On a regular basis he throws them
on the floor so I can give them back to him. Of course, typing at the
same time is nothing easy.
And he moves so much in his chair that I feel like he's going to fall
from it. I remember agk saying in her gopher hole on sdf.org that
babies are actually very bad at killing themselves (in "Advice to
expecting mom" on July 7, 2022). I'm sure it's true and I repeat it
to myself; but still, I can't help but flinch each time the chair
seems to move too much. Again, typing at the same time...
Well, anyway; he's genuinly cute. And I swear it's said with as much
objectivity as possible, not because he's my son.
- On a totally other subject, today is our dating anniversary with my
wife. But I'm sure she forgot. It's totally her style. I'm fine with
it, because it means that my gift for her will be a surprise.
- And it's now 4:50pm. It took me that much time to write those few
paragraphs, to say how much a baby can be demanding. Did I already
said he's cute?
Monday, the 6th
11:22am. - This is not my first attempt to write a daily log like this
one. And I remembered this morning why I never succeeded: it's
because when I reread it, I always found that what I put there was
boring. So I deleted them.
Yesterday night, before going to sleep, I wandered through the
artscene/ascii section of textfiles.com. And now I'm thinking that I
could put in this file some ascii art. It certainly won't make the
content more interesting, but at least there will be cool things to
see. I'll probably borrow most of them, obviously keeping the
signatures from the original artists. I don't know, I'll think of it.
But for now I have to get ready to go to the dentist. Oh joy.
15:49pm. - Without any surprise, I've been butchered by my dentist.
This time he didn't pull any teeth though (he already took me seven of
them, all broken; long story short: I should put my mouthguard while
practicing Krav Maga). No, today, he has done what is necessary to
put me a bridge next monday. For the moment the anesthesia is still
working but I took a six pack of Asahi to help me see it coming. Not
good for our finances but certainly good for my morale.
..,:::::::::::, ::: ... ... . .
tt ,777777777:;:;:::::::::::;:::' . .. ....... ;.....
tttt '7" '777" ':::'
tt ,77
tuesday, the 7th 1pm. - Today I went back working at the airport
=============77= cargo, which means waking up very early, two hours
:::: : :: : 77 of round-trip public transportation, hard working,
::`: ' !: ! ' cold, etc. I'll be there until the end of the week.
`: ' ' The good side is that I'll have all my afternoons. The
' down side is that I feel so wasted after noon. Meh.
I spoke with the guys who are working there full time. They told me
that, in terms of sleep and because of the very staggered hours,
they're all fucked up. Basically, they sleep three or four hours
during the night, take the job in the early morning (some take their
shift at 2am, others at 4am or 6am), and then sleep again three or
four hours after noon. As a matter of fact, they have to cut their
daily sleep in half. So much for the health. Oh, and obviously,
during their holidays, they're totally out of phase for various days.
I feel lucky to go there only from time to time.
6:30pm. - The baby went to sleep quite early because he had an
exhausting day at the nursery. My wife has one last client to attend
to. She shoud be done by 8:30pm or 9pm. On my side, I'm finishing
the season 2 of Star Trek: Lower Decks, with an Asahi (or two). For
some reason, I didn't like it at the very first, but I have to admit
that from now on I'm having a great time with this series. It's
funny, well done, offbeat, sometimes scathing; it breaks the too clean
side of Star Trek (somehow in the same style as Final Space). In
addition, there are few welcome winks to the Star Trek shows (and to
others), but without being too heavy so to not bother those who don't
know the franchise. Frankly, it's really good.
WEDNESDAY,THE 3:30pm. - I had the nicest suprise when I arrived at
88888 88888 the warehouse this morning. The top manager gave me a
88888 88888 gift. He offered me 4 jars of honey he produces him-
8888888888888 self with his father. I already knew that his real
8888888888888 job was beekeeper, and that he was working at the air-
88888 88888 port only to pay the bills. He told me it was for all
88888 88888 the help I was giving since I've been there, even if
88888888888TH I hadn't to. This gift fills me with great happiness.
. .
' . .' '. .' '. .' '. .' '. __
. . . . . . . . . (__\_
. . . . . . -{{_(|8)
' . . . ' ' . . ' ' . . ' ' . . ' ' . . ' (__/`
Thursday, the 9th
9pm. - Well. Bad day, angry, etc. All about work. I'll not ramble
about it. Even me, it tires me. I have already mentioned too much,
given too much importance to this useless subject. But it slowly
kills me.
To chear up, I'm watching The Big Lebowski. That's the feeling I have
to adopt. For life. Some beers and then I'll watch No Country for
Old Men, to stay with the same producers. Tomorrow, again, start at
4am. Whatever.
Sunday, the 12th
11am. - On Friday was my mom's birthday, but we were only able to
celebrate it yesterday, so we could get the family together. We were
at my sister and brother-in-law's place. My mother was very happy, so
that's a good thing.
It was yesterday too when I had a notice from my bank that there were
an "odd transaction" on my account. What happened is that the nursery
charged us 300 euros for the month of January when normaly we pay less
that 100 euros. And since my salary is completely budgeted for the
month's expenses, it was quite the nasty suprise. Especially since
the administration of the daycare doesn't give advance notice of how
much they're going to collect via direct debit. But it was never more
than 70 or 80 euros, tops. I hope that it is just a mistake from
there part. Cross fingers. I'll have to call tomorrow first hour.
Meanwhile I'm off 200 bucks and if they don't pay me back I don't know
where I'll be able to find them to unlock my bank account. I'm
certainly not going to dip into what we have left at home because it's
what we need to buy food for the end of the month. Plus, tomorrow,
I'll have my second appointment at the dentist that I clearly can't
cancel. Gosh. I mean, it's only the 12th of the month and it is
already a catastrophe.
It reminds me of a joke by Coluche, a French comedian from the 70's
and 80's: "When I was a kid at home, the hardest part was the end of
the month... Especially the last thirty days."
Monday, the thirteeth
6pm. - I called this morning the nursery about the huge levy I had
this weekend, but unfortunately it was not a mistake. It's just that
the entitlement calculation for state aid that help us pay them
changed with the new year. Meh.
_ ___ Otherwise I went back to the dentist today. I got out of
/ `--'\ it with a less cracked smile, which is not bad even if
\ / (and to the great displeasure of my wife), arr, I'ave to
| , | admit that there I like th gentleman o'fortune style it
jgs \/`\/ gave me. Anyway, soon enough, he'll fill the other side.
Tuesday, the valentinth
A sweet day where I saw my parents in the .' :~.':_.,
morning. Then I picked up my wife just .' ::.::'.'
after noon for a long walk downtown in : ::' .:
Toulouse. We dipped into our tight `.: .: .:/
budget to eat at the restaurant. One `::--.:'.::'
called Le Parisien, a Parisian bistro |. _:===-'
type as its name indicates. I got the / /
address from my sister ,---.---. __,','
and it was very good. (~`. \ ) )','.,---..
`v`\ | ,' .-'.:,'_____ `.
It was sunny all day and )|/.-~.--~~--. ~~~-. \
not that cold. This was _/-'_.-~ ""---.._`.|
a very pleasant _.-~~_.-~ ""'
day. _..--~~_.(~~
__...---~~~_..--~~
,'___...---~~~ seal
Wednesday, the 15th
Yesterday, for Valentine's Day, I got a fountain pen, black ink and
some stationery. The fountain pen is a Waterman chrome finish with
engraved steel nib. I plan to use it to write to my grandmother as
well to use it for my mock exams (and, of course, for the finals in
September). It's been years (since high school, actually) since I've
used a fountain pen. I didn't realize how much I missed it. I find
it magnifies the act of writing. Maybe it will also motivate me to
start epistolary relationships. With my grandmother, but I'd love to
find other people too...
Tuesday, the 21th
Nothing much since last Thursday. Just work, work, work. Tomorrow
I'll have a day off, finally. I'm exhausted so it is hard to study
well. I'm seriously thinking to lower down my number of hours of work
per month. Maybe getting something half-time, and working two or
three days per week; two ideally, for 10 or 12 hours a day. It's
findable, I guess. Obviously it'll mean lower incomes for our familly
but my wife's ok with it. She's very supportive about my exams in
September. And, actually, it was her idea that I focus only to my
studies. She even think that I should stop totally to work for money
for the next six months so I can dedicate myself only to my exams.
But I don't know, it might be exagerated. A half-time could be a good
compromise so she don't take all the stress and burden of the bills.
I'm giving myself till the end of this week to think about it.
Thursday, the 23th
Today I heard on the radio that in France it hasn't rained seriously
for 32 days. This is a record (if you can call it that) since
rainfall was first recorded in the 1950s. A friend, who was driving
to the city of Pau this weekend, noticed that the grass on both sides
of the road was very dry. In other words, we already have a drought
this early in the year.
And yet, almost everyone around me is happy for the beautiful blue
skies we have, the mild temperatures and sunshine all day. In the
middle of February. Are they stupid? Can't they see the disaster
that is coming?
This summer is certainly going to be hellish since, according to
studies, there will not be enough rain to fill the water tables which
are at a very low level. However, the French government has already
taken the measure by announcing water restrictions of 10%. To begin
with...
- I finally wrote and published my answers to Christy's Five Questions
for Febrary.
Friday, the 24th
Yesterday night I wrote a letter requesting a reduction in my work
time from full time to half time. I also asked to work only two
consecutive days a week (and not the week-ends). Frankly, even if
they can materially make it possible, I doubt that my company will
accept this kind of request. This will then lead me to resign.
All this has been discussed with my wife who supports me in this
decision, despite our fragile finances. It must be said that she sees
her interest in it because I would be much more available for our
family (for now she's mostly doing the job with our son by herself
because of my erratic schedule), but also because I could really start
to seriously study for September.
I sent the letter by email this morning.
And GODS! It felt REALLY GOOD!
Saturday, the 25th
In today's introduction of the radio show Moteur de Recherche from
Radio Canada (a very good scientific popularization program imho),
Matthieu Dugal, the show runner, talked about the high temperatures in
France at the moment. And while he explains that many people are
happy to have a "mild" weather, he also quotes a woman (whose name I
didn't note) who is outraged and concerned that our countrymen are not
taking these alarming facts seriously.
Above all, she complains that the mass media want to keep a jovial
discourse on the issue, especially in weather programs where, she
says, they talk about a "sping winter" and "mild temperatures". I
don't have television and I don't listen to French radio, but I'm sure
she's right, knowing the propensity of the traditional French media
for novlang.
According to her, this is a serious mistake and does not help to fight
the prevailing denial.
I couldn't agree more and I have to say that hearing her made me feel
less alone.
Sunday, the 26th
So two days ago I sent my letter to ask for a half time at work. But,
after discussing it at length with my family (at large), everyone is
advising me to quit, completely, and focus exclusively on the exam in
September. It is, I must say, a difficult decision to make. But it
is now on my mind.
Monday, the 27th
Following up for yesterday, the decision is made: I'll quit
completely. I'm already feeling better, knowing that I'll put this
shitty job behind me. Now I just need to do the paper work and some
phone calls.
Tuesday, the 28th
And it's already the end of the month. I've read all this Unregular
Daily Log for Febrary 2023 and, as expected, I found it boring. I
don't know yet if I'll publish it, even if I'll made a March edition
even if I liked the act of writing this one. I don't feel the content
worth it.
We'll see. Tomorrow is an other day; an other month.
