Friday, November 09, 2007
Picture This
I wish a had a picture but I don't. I had to do some day job stuff tonight. But at home, there's no bandwidth, so I have to drive to a Starbucks, buy some tea and use their internet. So, picture this:
Carolyn arrives at Starbucks with two laptops and two mobile phones. One for work, one for me. I get my tea and sit down and begin to set up the command center. The work laptop is on the table, eventually VPN'ed to work and connected to the first server I need to work on. My work phone (a smart phone that does REAL email) is next to it waiting for the go ahead call. My laptop is on a chair and I am typing away on Chapter 19 while I wait for the phone to ring... I got some good work done on chapter 19 actually. A small but huge bit of work that brings things together nicely.
The work phone rings. It's a go. I kick off SQL job number one and then transfer a file from one server to another. During the file transfer, I go back to working on Chapter 19. When the transfer is done, I disconnect from the COLO facility and connect to my work domain and then connect to the next server. I kick off that SQL job and while I wait for that to finish I fish out my phone, call the pizza place and order a Margarita for my son's dinner. Then I go back to work on chapter 19. When the job is done, I grab the work phone, call the work guy and tell him to check while I back up my Chapter 19 and start to shut down my laptop. All is hunky dory so I can also disconnect the work laptop, pack up and go pick up the pizza.
Come home, feed the child, shoot the breeze with said child, and wonder if I should ask him about the girl who keeps texting him and who he texts back. Too controlling, I decide. They're just friends he says. I've been told by parents of other boys that I must understand this is not necessarily the exact truth. Uh-oh. We've had The Talk but now I need my brother to have The Talk with him, too. Just to make sure.
Oh, and part of the reason for this post is to demonstrate that writing time can be found anywhere. I did some important work there, and I was only there 45 minutes. So no whining about time for writing. If you're a writer, you find the time. More likely, the time finds you, because that's what you're looking for. Those moments when you can write. If you don't look for them and use them, you may never finish your book.
In 45 minutes I drank some green tea, worked at day job stuff, ordered dinner for the child, and made important progress in chapter 19.
Just saying.
Apparently, I can't get over the Whiner from Grad School. Honestly. (TWFGS couldn't find time to write because she couldn't write during lunchtime at work because it was too noisy, and outside at work was too distracting and the car was too whatever, and she had schoolwork and a boyfriend and SO much reading to do. Right. Oh, please. But I'm sure none of you are that way. Right?)
Carolyn arrives at Starbucks with two laptops and two mobile phones. One for work, one for me. I get my tea and sit down and begin to set up the command center. The work laptop is on the table, eventually VPN'ed to work and connected to the first server I need to work on. My work phone (a smart phone that does REAL email) is next to it waiting for the go ahead call. My laptop is on a chair and I am typing away on Chapter 19 while I wait for the phone to ring... I got some good work done on chapter 19 actually. A small but huge bit of work that brings things together nicely.
The work phone rings. It's a go. I kick off SQL job number one and then transfer a file from one server to another. During the file transfer, I go back to working on Chapter 19. When the transfer is done, I disconnect from the COLO facility and connect to my work domain and then connect to the next server. I kick off that SQL job and while I wait for that to finish I fish out my phone, call the pizza place and order a Margarita for my son's dinner. Then I go back to work on chapter 19. When the job is done, I grab the work phone, call the work guy and tell him to check while I back up my Chapter 19 and start to shut down my laptop. All is hunky dory so I can also disconnect the work laptop, pack up and go pick up the pizza.
Come home, feed the child, shoot the breeze with said child, and wonder if I should ask him about the girl who keeps texting him and who he texts back. Too controlling, I decide. They're just friends he says. I've been told by parents of other boys that I must understand this is not necessarily the exact truth. Uh-oh. We've had The Talk but now I need my brother to have The Talk with him, too. Just to make sure.
Oh, and part of the reason for this post is to demonstrate that writing time can be found anywhere. I did some important work there, and I was only there 45 minutes. So no whining about time for writing. If you're a writer, you find the time. More likely, the time finds you, because that's what you're looking for. Those moments when you can write. If you don't look for them and use them, you may never finish your book.
In 45 minutes I drank some green tea, worked at day job stuff, ordered dinner for the child, and made important progress in chapter 19.
Just saying.
Apparently, I can't get over the Whiner from Grad School. Honestly. (TWFGS couldn't find time to write because she couldn't write during lunchtime at work because it was too noisy, and outside at work was too distracting and the car was too whatever, and she had schoolwork and a boyfriend and SO much reading to do. Right. Oh, please. But I'm sure none of you are that way. Right?)
Labels: Scandal, writing, writing time
posted by Carolyn @ 11/09/2007 07:13:00 PM Permalink
Comments:
Wow. Excellent job, Carolyn!
I wish I could do that with my thesis, but I'd have to lug around at least 5 books and several print-out articles as well. Duh. So even working on the dratted thing at the office becomes difficult, if not impossible, with all the stuff I have to lug to uni anyway. (I so need a mule. Or a personal assistant.)
I wish I could do that with my thesis, but I'd have to lug around at least 5 books and several print-out articles as well. Duh. So even working on the dratted thing at the office becomes difficult, if not impossible, with all the stuff I have to lug to uni anyway. (I so need a mule. Or a personal assistant.)
When I was working on research projects for grad school, I would have LOVED if it had been possible to digitize everything I needed lug around and read. A lot of articles were available on line and I was careful about getting them in PDF, but books --- I kept wishing copy machines were more like scanners.
But it that were true, the copyright police would be arresting grad students left and right I suppose.
I feel your pain, Sandy. But aren't those old books neat?
But it that were true, the copyright police would be arresting grad students left and right I suppose.
I feel your pain, Sandy. But aren't those old books neat?
But aren't those old books neat?
They certainly make it easier to work with several texts at once. :) Besides, I'm working, or rather have been working, with several really old books (from the 19th century), and I simply love the look and feeling of those!
Last week I discovered the joys of Google Books for doing some quick research. I've found material I would've never stumbled across otherwise! It's quite thrilling!
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They certainly make it easier to work with several texts at once. :) Besides, I'm working, or rather have been working, with several really old books (from the 19th century), and I simply love the look and feeling of those!
Last week I discovered the joys of Google Books for doing some quick research. I've found material I would've never stumbled across otherwise! It's quite thrilling!
