a different kind of busy this week

The massive rollout we've been prepping for is finally getting under way this week at work. Early versions of the work schedule had us working six days a week, 15 hours a day, in shifts. Now the schedule is down to five days a week and only 12 hours, still in shifts. Since I didn't know just how bad things might get this week, I held off making any plans for my evenings. And my forethought has been rewarded, as I got tapped to be the evening support this week until 9 PM. It's not that bad a deal: I get a free dinner, a cab ride home, and I can sleep in a little bit in the mornings and come in later. However, the times do remind me of the ugly e-mail upgrade I ran six years ago at another job, which had a similar schedule and drove me to look for work elsewhere. I'm not in charge of this rollout, though; I just have to hang out and answer the phone if they need me. So I'm not afraid of this rollout forcing me to start a job search. And it's only for this week -- next week someone else will get the late shift.

With my new marching orders, Monday night was the only night this week that I got to cook dinner for myself. I wanted some comfort food, but not any of my usual easy dishes. A few weeks ago we were supposed to have a tater tot casserole for the Oscar party, but since the people who were going to bring that didn't come to the party, I missed out. But the idea stuck in my head, so tonight I threw together some ground beef, mushroom soup, green beans, tater tots and cheese and baked it. When I took a bite, I thought, "mmm...tastes like middle America." It was good, in a red-state sort of way. Hey, I don't have to be a gourmet every damn night. And there's enough left over for two lunches this week.

I'm more than a little excited that Georgetown is in the Sweet 16 for the first time in 10 years. I should get out of work on Friday just in time to see their next game, vs. Florida. My official bracket is a mess, but I did have Georgetown getting this far and facing Florida. That and $1.50 gets me a cup of coffee.