Tonight I performed an exercise in futility. The plan was this evening, and for the next two, I'd do bunch of grunt work at my family's business. It would require me to work nights, basically 8PM to around 1AM—in addition to working all day, mind you. Essentially, I'd be doing 16 hour shifts instead of the usual 10 to 11 hours.
(I think the fact that I don't sleep is something I should have kept to myself.)
Anyway, tonight I got nothing done. Not an electronic sausage. Instead of accomplishing the mindless monkey-job, I struggled with a piece of faulty machinery until after midnight then gave up and came home. That means I'll have to fix it tomorrow, pushing everything back a day.
It is very frustrating to work from 9AM to midnight only to drive home knowing that by giving up “so early” I'll have to work this weekend as well.
There is a good thing that comes with doing such grunt work, though. I've been listening to some excellent courses from The Teaching Company on my iPod. This evening I listened to five hours of a literary criticism survey course called “From Plato To Postmodernism.” For a book nerd like me it was a delight, and it turned the time spent doing brain-free labor into something of value.
