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This has been the most work-intensive weekend I can remember for a long time. The thing is, in the old days I used to work much harder than this for much longer hours for many more days in a row, and I wouldn’t get nearly as much done as I do now. And let’s face it, I don’t work very hard now. That’s what makes this weekend so unusual.
Over the years of doing the same thing over and over, I’ve learned a lot about how to get through the same amount of work in less time and using less energy. But even beyond that, I’ve learned there are many parts of the job that I once considered essential that really aren’t. The reason it takes me fewer steps to get from A to Z now is that I leave a lot of steps out. I do pretty much no more than I can get away with.
July is just a different kind of month, with all the tax returns and special reports that have to be done. I even have a special to-do list for July. I print it at the beginning of each week, then cross off the tasks I’ve already completed. It starts pretty slowly, and by the last week of the month it’s cause for alarm, because there’s almost always so much left to do. Somehow I manage to get it all done every time.
I’m taking things a little more seriously this time around, though, and it’s all because Julie isn’t around for me to lean on when I need help. I could always count on her to gather the raw data from The Kennel, which made my part of the job a lot simpler. Now I have to go to the people who are still there and ask them for specific bits of information, and it’s hard to know exactly how to ask for what I need. And chances are, the first person I ask won’t know any more than I do, because Paul is no longer around, either. It’s such a muddle.
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