Don’t bring a book if you want to read. Don’t bring headphones if you think you’ll want to listen to some music. Never adjust your routine because as soon as you do, you will regret it. As with almost all the things I write, what I was saying in my head made a lot of sense and was totally understandable. Then I attempt to type it out just as what my brain created, and out comes this drivel. I brought a book to my job today. I didn’t read the book because I had to work at my job. I’m not complaining about that, I’m happy that things came up and I had things to do. However, there wasn’t much on the schedule for me today, everyone was either sick or on vacation or working virtually and I thought I would be in this tiny office all too my lonesome. At the moment I am sitting with a 9-year-old child who is watching something on his mom’s phone, and he doesn’t have headphones. I do not know what he is listening to, but I do know it’s annoying. Granted, compared to the things I hear coming from the holding cells that are near me, it’s not too bad.

Sometimes I go on little getaways, tiny “vacations” with my wife, by myself and I always pack like I’m preparing to be stranded for days on a desert island and will need a way to entertain myself. I’ll pack video games, I’ll pack books, I’ll pack a Kindle, and like, for what? Five hours of round-trip flying. A couple hours on a bus. Why do I think I’ll magically be able to read 1500 pages, listen to 5 podcasts and beat a 40-hour game in that time span? Especially when as soon as I’m on any form of interstate transportation, I immediately fall asleep. Doesn’t this have something to do with a book? Reading is important. It builds something within you. I don’t know what it builds, but I’ve been readin’ for 25+ years now so I want to think it had some payoff.

I didn’t want to feel the need to bring a book to my work. I don’t normally ever feel the need. But when put in a tiny office and awaiting clients that are not showing up (although they sometimes do), it’s a way to kill the downtime when staring at your phone seems even less productive. Except, it’s the times when you think you’ll be alone and doing nothing that the most things start to happen. People are running late so ask you to cover their groups, folx are out and about so you must cover another group. Most of what happened was that I had to cover groups which resulted in me having one on one sessions with clients. Which again, not complaining! I want to work, I want to interact with clients, I want to actually do something! All I can say is that if I didn’t bring this book, don’t ask me how I know, but none of this would’ve happened. The universe saw me carrying a book or two (yes, it was two. I seriously thought I’d literally finish one book and start another all in the span of one workday?) and just knew that it’d set obstacles in my way to prevent me reading even a single sentence.

This is not a blog about my job, now almost two months in, or a blog about anything. This is just a way to finish off the last leg of today’s day. I figure if I can’t read a book, then I can write my own. Though this is not a book, this barely constitutes an essay. This is just a way to pass the time. Honestly? I’m surprised I wrote so many words. I’m both thinking I haven’t written enough words and realizing that I milked this very simple topic as much as possible.

It’s like the second day of fall or something, huh? Yeah, that’s cool. Not a lot of fodder for commentary there. Fallder. Doesn’t make a great pun either. I’m just gonna figure out something else to do for the next 23 minutes of my time. Then it’ll be the weekend and that’s always fun. Until next time, which, as always, I can not predict when that’ll be. So it goes.