Day 4: Argument with alarm system = policeman at dinner. And the struggles with food continue.

Let's recap. I think it's safe to conclude from my last few blog posts that Week 1 was a week of successes: new internship, nice staff, writing magazine articles, successfully navigated to and from DC, and made it a whole week pretending to be an adult and proving to the world that I know what the heck I'm doing.

I think Week 2 is going to be a little different. If the rest of the week is anything like today, I think we will be able to safely label Week 2 a week of struggles.

For symmetry's sake, I think I will invoke the usage of the timeline like I did last Wednesday. It was most effective and I think will paint a nice picture of my struggles today.

Starting with late Tuesday night:

7:15 p.m. Released from "mom" duty after my mom returns from work.

7:45–8:10 Finish last of my work for Caselle for the day

8:30 Watch some of the Phillies game and forget all impending responsibilities

9:00 Realize that it's already super late and I've not started packing for my internship tomorrow. Clean clothes? Probably not...

9:15 Start Packing

9:45 Packing/room cleaning

10:00 Realize that I also need to pack food for trip. Beginnings of the weekly struggle with food. Make egg salad and pack cooler.

10:45 Phone call with long lost friend. Eyelids start protesting about still having to remain open.

11:25 Brush teeth and hop in bed.

11:45 Still can't fall asleep

Wednesday

12:00a.m. (or somewhere around there) Blessed sleep

5:00 a.m. Alarm. Hit snooze button for first time.

5:05 Snooze button second time

5:10 Snooze button third time.

5:15 Rise. No Shine.

6:45 Finally ready to leave house

7:00 Stop for gas

7:00–9:30 Rain, traffic, and several arguments with the GPS. No matter how friendly that voice sounds, NEVER trust it.

9:30 Brief panic attack. Remember that I was supposed to conduct a phone interview for a story at 9:30. Fail. What was I thinking for scheduling a call that early on a Wednesday?

9:30–11:00 More rain, traffic, and struggles with the GPS.

11:00 Arrive at the office. Hair is standing up a bit.

11:05 Frantically send apology email to interviewee and reschedule for later in the day.

11:08 Realize that the publisher and owner of the company are at the next table over having their annual meeting with Practical Horseman. The remain there, disrupting my quiet and my privacy, for the rest of the day.

12:30 p.m. SEO training. Remembering something about not being able to teach old dogs new tricks. That definitely applies to technology and "seasoned" (you know what I mean) editors.

1:00 Hunger strikes in my stomach. Struggles with food continue as all the people in the meeting next to me decide to take a lunch break at the exact same time and they open up their nice Panera-catered lunch. I sneakily pull out my sad-looking peanut butter and jelly sandwich and eat it at my computer, hoping no one will notice.

3:28 Relocate to Jen's desk for my phone interview so I don't interrupt the meeting going on near my own desk.

3:30 Try to call interviewee from Jen's work phone. Fail. Can't figure out how to dial an outside call.

3:33 Abandon my efforts to use work phone and just use my cell.

4:00 Finish writing article. Sleepiness creeps up on me.

5:50 Leave office.

6:05 Arrive at the house I'm staying at. No car in the driveway.

6:06 Use key and open door. The alarm for the security system goes off.

6:07 Panic sets in. Cannot remember the alarm code. The alarm gets louder.

6:08 Realization that I don't have the family's cell number.

6:09 Stand outside and wait for police to arrive because I have no idea how to make the alarm sound stop.

6:15 Alarm finally stops going off. I go inside the house.

6:20 Try to go back outside to get my bag out of the trunk and the alarm gets mad at me again when I open the door. Finally remember alarm code, hit a few other buttons, and the alarm ceases to be angry at me.

6:25 Policeman shows up at the house. Finally. If I really were a robber, I could have successfully stolen everything in the house by now. I go outside and tell him what happened. I think he figures that if I were a robber, I probably wouldn't come outside and greet him, so he is friendly, accepts my story, and then leaves.

6:26 Struggles with food continue. Attempt to microwave a frozen dinner that I brought all the way from PA, and of course it says it needs to be cooked at 50% power.

6:27 Attempt to change power level on microwave.

6:35 Still no luck. Decide to microwave at full power for half the time. Mathematically, this should be a sound principle, but the food starts making popping sounds in the microwave. however, the method is somewhat effective.

6:40 Eat microwave dinner and breathe a little.

6:50 Retire to bedroom and play Angry Birds.

7:30 Decide to write blog

So that's pretty much my day. It wouldn't be a good day if the police didn't show up at dinner time for me breaking and entering. I think it's an early bedtime for me and my poor nerves tonight.