The World's Common Tater

One thing hasn’t changed with working from home for almost three months – watching the clock.

I wake up early every day. My clock watching starts then. Dreading the time when I have to clock into work and turn my home into my office.

I then watch the clock for the morning right at 9am call from my boss.

I then watch the clock for the 10am release of the state’s Covid data.

I then watch the clock for when it is late enough for me to eat lunch. It’s hard because I tend to get hungry early and since I’m home I can eat whenever I want. I try not to.

I then work and watch the clock for the time I can clock out and my house and my time is mine again.

I watch the calendar and I long for the weekend when I can try not to think about anything. I can watch TV, read, do whatever I want.

I watch the clock in dismay all weekend wondering why time moves so fast still on Saturday and Sunday.

I look at the calendar in dismay counting down ho much longer I have before I can retire.

We are watching the calendar as we get closer to my daughter’s school announcing the plans for fall. Can she go back? Will she be stuck at home with us again?

I see a lot of talk about how people are losing track of time. There were some days early on when I forgot what day of the week it was, but it is becoming less common. The above is more common. I am hyper-aware of the date and time.

All of this clock watching is probably not healthy, but I crave my personal time more than I have craved anything for a long time even though I can’t really do much during my personal time.

And now it is time to clock in and start my clock watching again.