Pacing myself hasn't been a particularly effective way of getting rid of this cold that's been hanging on for a week, and it definitely hasn't helped me get enough work done, so today I tried pushing myself instead. It seemed like a good idea, but it wouldn't have worked on most Mondays.

This Monday was different for two reason. First, I've been inactive for so long that I knew exactly what needed to be done, so there would be no reason to stop and think what to do next. And second, I have no idea where the Boss is. He didn't interrupt me all day long, and the momentum I had going for me never stopped.

When he told me last Wednesday that he was packing up, I was in no condition to pin him down on where he was going. He could be at his daughter's house in Southern California, or his other daughter's house in Marin County, or his girlfriend's daughter's house in Washington, or his girlfriend's other daughter's house in Texas. Wherever he is, he'd better surface soon, because I have messages that won't keep long.

But his disappearance made my day go by smoothly. I wasn't feeling perfectly fine, but good enough. The point was not to give in to the mushiness that's been dragging me down for so long. I think if I'd had to stop for any reason, I might not have been able to get going again. I definitely believe that if anything had gone wrong, I'd have felt the kind of frustration that makes me want to lie down for an hour or three.

Lucky for me, all I had to do was keep my head down and keep working. I finally got through the bills I've been meaning to pay since last week. I got the October bank statement reconciled; that's been hanging over me since before my vacation. And I got through the day without feeling any worse in the afternoon than I did in the morning. That's a big deal right now.

I don't expect to be able to keep up this pace all week. It would be nice if I could, because I have just about that much work to catch up on. But I'll get interrupted, and things will go wrong, and the Boss will remember that I'm here and start spewing faxes my way. It's kind of comforting to know that when everything works out perfectly, I can still be productive. After the last week, I was beginning to have doubts.

It rained all day today, and the wind blew, and it was so miserable outside that I wasn't tempted to sneak away and do any shopping. That helped keep me in the reins, although at the end of the day when I walked out to get my mail I got soaked, and that probably didn't do me any good at all. At least I'm fully stocked up on tomato soup, so I'm better off than I was a week ago.