by doug | January 5th, 2009 @ 7:20 pm
The gifts just keep coming. It was back to the office today after a nearly two-week break. And yeah, it always sucks going back to work. But I was greeted by three year-end checks (a Christmas bonus and unused sick leave pay in addition to my normal paycheck) and a brand-spanking new Dell desktop computer, complete with widescreen flat-panel monitor. Goodbye cheerless beige monstrosity from 1995, hello sleek black professional office accessory. I have so much desk space now. I spent all day setting up all my software and configuring everything to my liking. It is so nice. It is so fast. Happy New Year to me.
It is going to be an immense aid in keeping a couple of my work-related New Year’s resolutions, which include such classics as “be more assertive and confident in your own knowledge” and “be more efficient; less procrastinating; Mr. Productivity” and so forth. I have also resolved to be at the office 5 minutes early every day. Living a mere 7 minutes away from work has led to my habit of being right on time, which I would ordinarily trumpet as indicative of my punctuality. But when the rest of the guys are always in the office before I am, it just plain looks bad. Plus, since we all have the door locked behind us at 4:30 every day, I cannot score my points by staying late.
On the personal side of things, the resolutions are all about getting back into shape. I was doing well last year until we faced the Great Pork Chop Poisoning of 2008. I never got back in the exercise routine after that knocked me out of it. Now I’m rocking the love-handles something fierce. This year will be different (I probably said the exact same thing every January prior to this one, of course). I intend to do pushups and crunches in the mornings – every morning – before work, and then run or hit the elliptical machine at the Y every other afternoon. The afternoons off will be reserved for housework.
That ought to carry me through to about 6 PM, since I can usually make it to the house or to the gym by 4:45. An hour’s workout or an hour devoted to keeping stuff organized around here, and then I have the rest of the night to myself. That will be spent reading a lot more books, alternating between posting here or on my photoblog, and canoodling with the wife. Add to that regimen some healthier eating habits (more salads, smaller portions, less gummy bears) and I ought to have an easy-to-stick-to personal and professional success plan for this new year.
I kickstarted the exercising tonight, in fact – by taking a 2-mile jog in the pouring January rain. It is always interesting to see how far I can push myself. Hitting the wall is always exhilarating, and tonight was no different. It was miserable out there. Every street I crossed I was tempted to just say “screw it” and head back to the house. Pushing on past those little shortcuts felt really good, even though I was cold and drenched to the bone. By the time I crested the last hill, I wanted to keep going. It’s really all about making myself start these things. Once I’m in the groove, it isn’t that difficult.
So, here’s to a new set of resolutions. Keep an eye out for my photos in the coming weeks – I took about a thousand while we were out at the lake over the holidays.
