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Feb. 20th, 2002 10:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mangosteenHelpful Safety Tip: Going for 24 hours without eating or drinking while doing technical tasks that require your full mental faculties is dumb.
I was in a large climate-controlled datacenter (read: 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and 20% humidity) for about 10 hours today. I not only lost track of time, but I forgot to take a break, eat, or drink. In exchange for this, I know a whole lot more about the administration and inner workings of FreeBSD, as well as feeling vaguely burnt-out and drained.
It dismays me somewhat that the only time I feel like I'm really earning my salary is when I completely dive into my work for a bunch of hours at a stretch to the exclusion of all else, complete with the crispy-around-the-edges feeling afterwards. To be sure, I'm quite happy that I'm employed and that I am getting paid for taking advantage of the learning opportunities around me. On the other hand, it does point to there being an odd "reward circuit" in my head.
When I got home, my sweetie had dinner ready. It's a very rare occurrence that I actually ask her to have dinner ready when I get home. She has her own life, job, etc., and it seems vaguely unfair to ask for it. However, she said that it's precisely because I ask for it so rarely that shows that I have a real need for someone to take care of me at that moment, so it's okay.
Observation: Brewing four teaspoons of Lapsang Souchong tea in a half-liter teapot for about 30 minutes is just on the verge of being non-potable, but it's so tasty.
There's a couple of days ahead of me that I expect will be just like today. Rewarding in terms of skills acquired, but otherwise fairly long and tiring. Perhaps one builds up a resistance to it and it becomes easier to work long days like this. That would be useful.
I was in a large climate-controlled datacenter (read: 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and 20% humidity) for about 10 hours today. I not only lost track of time, but I forgot to take a break, eat, or drink. In exchange for this, I know a whole lot more about the administration and inner workings of FreeBSD, as well as feeling vaguely burnt-out and drained.
It dismays me somewhat that the only time I feel like I'm really earning my salary is when I completely dive into my work for a bunch of hours at a stretch to the exclusion of all else, complete with the crispy-around-the-edges feeling afterwards. To be sure, I'm quite happy that I'm employed and that I am getting paid for taking advantage of the learning opportunities around me. On the other hand, it does point to there being an odd "reward circuit" in my head.
When I got home, my sweetie had dinner ready. It's a very rare occurrence that I actually ask her to have dinner ready when I get home. She has her own life, job, etc., and it seems vaguely unfair to ask for it. However, she said that it's precisely because I ask for it so rarely that shows that I have a real need for someone to take care of me at that moment, so it's okay.
Observation: Brewing four teaspoons of Lapsang Souchong tea in a half-liter teapot for about 30 minutes is just on the verge of being non-potable, but it's so tasty.
There's a couple of days ahead of me that I expect will be just like today. Rewarding in terms of skills acquired, but otherwise fairly long and tiring. Perhaps one builds up a resistance to it and it becomes easier to work long days like this. That would be useful.
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Date: 2002-02-20 11:04 pm (UTC)"Just on the verge?" Honeychile, it vaulted over that verge the moment you put the tea into the pot. *grin*
You are a mutant. :) But we love you anyway. *hugs* Sorry you had such a difficult day, but hooray for sweeties that take care of you when you need it.
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Date: 2002-02-21 09:22 am (UTC)also, this is how you end up with situations like saying "great, while bgp is converging, i'm going to go pee" on conference calls that contain (among other people) vice presidents of a fortune 100 company.