The Daily Grind

It occurs to me that y’all have heard about all my “extra curricular” activities and not really about my day-to-day existence at work. There is a reason for this. Work is... well, work. It's mundane. There are many more interesting things to talk about. Nevertheless, I suppose I ought to include it to provide the full flavor of the experience… at least for Josh’s sake, since he, lucky boy, will be in the same boat soon enough :). So, in that spirit, here is a normal weekday:

0830-0845: Arrive at work and check email
0900-0930: Listen in on ambassador’s “press briefing” (what’s going on in the local media)
0930-1000: Coffee in the cafeteria, if lucky, with Alvis and Iveta (Latvians colleagues)
1000-1200: Hopefully there will be some sort of meeting or my boss will hand me something to work on; if not, go back to the office and read emailed news articles… maybe check home email…
1200-1300: Take a nice, leisurely lunch
1300-1700: This is the worst stretch, because it’s the longest… Hopefully, again, my boss will have something for me to do. If not… check cables in the frostily air conditioned room, check email, send email, type up personal philosophizing and email to self, draw something if I’m really hard up – all to the tune of “Star FM” on Dainis’s radio or the recorded sound of running water coming from a supremely annoying advertisement across the street.

(Granted, some of my days at work have been really exciting/interesting: going to conferences and speeches, traveling somewhere as part of the ambassador’s entourage, and meeting Latvian officials. But, then, that’s interesting ‘cause it doesn’t happen everyday :).)

Fortunately, since the sun stays up ‘til about 2200, I still have about five hours of free time left when I come home – which is devoted to “extra curriculars,” dinner, etc… the fun stuff. In fact, now is part of that free time… and I must leave to meet my boss’s wife for shopping and dinner… so, toodles for now :).