TheBanyanTree: A Day In

[Rob McMonigal]

I decided to take a day in today, which I haven't done in quite a
while.  Normally, I'm the busy-as-heck-on-the-weekends type, either
working an event for some overtime, hanging out with friends, or just
grabbing dinner with my folks.

But after the entire month of February featuring snow-wind-ice, six
day weeks, or being out Friday-Saturday-Sunday, it was time for a
break.

Now don't get me wrong, I liked going to a comedy club for free,
seeing live music for the first time this year, getting stuff for my
attic train platform that isn't quite built yet, and paying for all
that with some extra money in the pay stub twice a month, but at some
point, you just need to rest, and given that I've barely been able to
stay awake long enough for the eleven o'clock news cast the past few
days, I opted to opt out of everything for a day.

And boy, has it been nice!

I got up early--well, early for me--and immediately started cleaning
up.  One of the problem of rushing about a lot is that you tend to
ignore the maintenance chores at home--dishes, for instance, start
getting washed on an as-needed basis.  When you're almost out of
underwear, too, perhaps running loads all day might just be what the
doctor ordered.

Looking around, I saw it was time to Clorox the sink and perform
science on the drains (a little preventive baking soda and vinegar
brings both cool fizzies and clear pipes), a task easily performed
while grilling roast beef and ham sandwiches for lunch.  Then why not
watch that Jazz DVD you borrowed after getting out the ironing?  All
the pieces fell into place neatly, and before I knew it, most of what
I wanted to do today got accomplished.

Perhaps the hardest task was getting to the "junk table."  I hate when
I leave the card table up in the living room because it inevitably
becomes a junk table.  Grab the mail--throw it on the table.  Have
something that needs to go upstairs--throw it on the table.  Got a
newspaper you didn't quite finish over lunch break?--throw it on the
table.  Dead body the mob asked you to dispose of, and you kindly said
yes?--well, you get the idea.  The junk table is now cleared, and as
soon as it's done being used for paperwork by my girlfriend, I'm
taking it and its vile space wherein anything can be left down.

Until, of course, the next time I forget and there's a few articles I
wanted to mail to Mom...

Now today wasn't all just work.  I also plopped myself down in front
of my Playstation 2 here and there for a few sports games--rewards for
ironing enough shirts for the week, getting all the dishes done, and
so on.  I also caught up a bit on my reading and did a few reviews
(http://mysite.verizon.net/trebro/, if you care to check out where I
stash my thoughts on things visual and audio).

All in all, with the weather turning cold again for a few days, this
was a nice day in.

-Rob