A Day in the Life: April 2014

This post is another entry for Manda’s A Day in the Life linkup. Feel free to view my previous entries.

I’m doing A Day in the Life today instead of tomorrow. I have a fun 2 minutes and 40 seconds interview lined up for tomorrow. I have been posting those every two weeks and want to keep that on schedule, so this post is on a different day to the one scheduled by Manda.

At 4:59am I am awake for some reason, 31 minutes before my alarm. Initially I am concerned whether I have gotten enough sleep, because I recall sleeping a little later than usual. I check my phone to find a handful of snaps on Snapchat.

Snapchatting (snapping?) people is fun...
Snapchatting (snapping?) people is fun…
Just past 5am. Hmm.
Just past 5am. Hmm.

I open my email to check it, and unplug my phone from the wall charger. I roll over on my stomach and contemplate sleeping again, but instead I get out of bed and grab my camera and laptop. I take them to the kitchen, then make a tiny cup of cheap instant coffee. I feel like something a tad heavier than tea, but don’t quite want a bite to eat. Stomach cramps suck.

I pull out my removable retainer to brush my teeth. Lately I have been wearing my retainer because I have come to a sudden “I haven’t worn this thing for two months” realisation, and my teeth have indeed moved. I only contemplated a permanent retainer over the weekend because a couple of my workmates have them. I don’t know why I wasn’t given the option when I got my braces taken off eight years ago.

Anyway, now I have been wearing my retainer all the time except for when I eat. Slightly unpleasant, but I am hoping my teeth move back into their proper place. It’s just the bottom teeth anyway.

I spend a little too long finding the pantyhose I want to wear but eventually I settle on an old black pair with a wavy pattern. I wear a purple skirt my aunt made for me, a top with teddy bears, and some ankle boots I got from Japan. It isn’t quite winter yet, but our office is freezing cold!

My MacBook is named Salk.
My MacBook is named Salk.
My dad left me a note of sorts, to check out this tourist attraction...
My dad left me a note of sorts, to check out this tourist attraction…
Waiting at the bus stop
Waiting at the bus stop
The bus stop itself
The bus stop itself

I head out of the house after saying goodbye to Ricky, and walk to the bus stop. On the bus, the driver points out my bright yellow beaded bracelet — he has a beaded bracelet with wooden beads.

I get off the bus and catch a train. I don’t get a seat, so I have to stand.

I am a little early to the light rail stop, arriving at 7:25am. The light rail arrives soon enough, and I board. It seems to be moving faster than usual, with doors opening for not much longer than thirty seconds. Or maybe it’s just because not a lot of people are getting off or on?

Heading for the light rail stop
Heading for the light rail stop
Ordinary pigeons
Ordinary pigeons
Walking down the wharf to my office
Walking down the wharf to my office

Throughout the day, work is a blur. It’s only worth mentioning that it was extremely busy, and by the time I decided to really slack off, everyone downstairs was gone. It was about 7:00pm by then. I am used to people still being around, but I guess it depends on the day. All day I was dealing with issues with the one thing. I took a few minutes to go to our other office across the road and deal with some stuff, but otherwise, I don’t recall getting a proper break.

My work desk, lovely and neat in the morning
My work desk, lovely and neat in the morning
Peppermint tea
Peppermint tea

I ordered dinner close to 7pm, then when it was ready, Emi and I headed over to the other office. I only ate the “toppings” of my tom yum soup; I couldn’t help it — I wasn’t up for drinking the soup.

I recall hanging out there for an hour or two, discussing work and having a couple of drinks. For me it was literally two bottles of cider; certainly my drink of choice these days, but at the same time not something I want to have day after day. I mean, I don’t drink much to begin with, on the premise that I am hyperactive without even drinking.

Bulmers Pear Cider
Bulmers Pear Cider
Photo of me, taken by James Cooper-Stanbury
Photo of me, taken by James Cooper-Stanbury

A handful of us spent some time talking about music before we decided to go home. Walking to Town Hall station at about 10pm, James (you know, one day I gotta differentiate between all the Jameses I know; this one can be jpcs as he is often known) and Martin walked as well, and then I caught a train home. Once I got home I quietly drank as much water as I could to balance the drinks I had, and very quietly crawled into bed and wondered if I would get up at 5:30am the next morning.

Actually, not so quietly, since right now I am definitely getting a bit of a headache. Hmm. It’s a good night if you say it is, though! ;)

Comments on this post

The one thing that caught my eye among these photos is that can of FOX’S Crystal Clear candies. I haven’t had them in ages! I still can’t decide on which flavours are my favourite after all these years…

James gave them to me a couple of weeks ago; I am surprised I haven’t gone through the whole tin. They are very nice — in fact, I associate them with my mum’s cousin, who always had a tin of them on the table in her lounge room, and I always looked forward to having a few when we went to visit…

The fruit ones are better than the mint ones. :P

They have permanent retainers? What do they look like? I had no idea. & Of course, I wasn’t given the option either. I haven’t worn my retainer in forever either…and I started up again, wore it for 3 days and now the past 2 days I’ve forgotten to put it in. X.X I really have to do a better job at remembering to put it in. aklfjlkaf hate it when it hurts though…
Do you brush your retainer while you are brushing your teeth? I usually try to use mouthwash on its container and everything but I go back and forth between that and brushing it.
I’ve thought about wearing it all day one day but I haven’t decided what I will do when it comes to brushing my teeth and cleaning it. Plus, it would get super annoying since I don’t have anything to distract me from the thing that is in my mouth. Lol

Sounds like you had fun. I’m sorry about your headache/hangover but I’m sure it got better.

You work for a long time, dang…but I guess I worked those same hours at my previous job without realizing it. Lol

If you imagine a piece of wire behind the back of your teeth, a little close to the gum… I guess that is what a permanent retainer looks like. I started wearing mine every day, and it is also a bit tight, but the important thing is, it stops your teeth from moving any further than they actually have. I grind my teeth at night, apparently, so I really should wear mine. But even if your teeth have moved and may not move back, the retainer will at least stop it from getting worse, which should be your reasoning to keep wearing it. At least that’s the way I choose to see it!

I take my retainer out, otherwise I won’t be brushing my teeth properly. Usually you can clean it with mouthwash, some people use vinegar if it is really dirty. But mine is pretty horrible looking because it is old.

I guess I don’t realise I work so much either — I think the important thing is that you enjoy it. I hope you weren’t too stressed at your previous job. I worked similar hours at my old job, but I got very stressed there. I enjoy my current job so it doesn’t bother me all that much.

Oh, that makes sense. Would probably be annoying at first though but then after a while you could forget about your teeth. :P

I’ve been wearing mine really well this past week. Practically everyday. YAY! It isn’t hurting as much either. WOO!

I agree. I just got a job, I’m going to blog about it, and I feel like I would enjoy it though I am not 100% sure. I hope so!

Ew. Vinegar. I bet that tastes disgusting on top of toothpaste. /pow /poo /ehh
I usually just use mouthwash. Though recently I’ve been “double brushing” my teeth. I brush my teeth and if the retainer needs cleaning I do it then (using toothpaste) and then I put it in my mouth and brush my teeth again with it in. It’s been helping keep my bad breath down, cause I used to wake up with it. O_O /ehh

I am in absolute heaven at your MacBook case!!! Want. I’m totally inspired by this ‘day in the life’ series. Definitely going to consider doing one :)

Gorgeous Macbook case. Want.

Also now trying to remember when I last had tom yum…

Wow… Your Macbook is so slim and nice looking. :O

I have the MacBook Air! So it is pretty thin. I got the case from eBay — it was a bargain, and I think they are quite popular on eBay as well.

Whoa your day is SO LONG! I love your Macbook case as well… I have a similar one in a kind of teal colour.

TOM YUM. One of my favorite soups in the universe, although it’s hard for me to turn down anything with lemongrass…

Your Macbook case is gorgeous. I love a snappy red :D

Wow how do you make it through the day? It’s so long from being up at 5am and then working through until 7pm! I would be so tired!

I like the photos of the pigeons! I love watching pigeons and seagulls around town. I find them to be funny little creatures. :)