Day 106, er 107 (It is after midnight, after all) - Deadlines: Gone the Way of Units from the 80s?

As you can tell from the time stamp (or maybe you just don't give a damn, which is understandable), this post comes a little late in the evening for me. Normally my bedtime routine is wrap things up by 9, tuck myself into bed at 9:30 and then read until unconsciousness hits me (usually around 10.) And yet, here it is - after 1 a.m. and I'm still awake AND coherent. What gives?

It's simple. I'm being naughty and breaking my (very new) routine. (Hey - Austin immigration demands that new inhabitants fulfill at least 25 hours of live music viewing within a 2-yr time frame. I'm a little behind. Thus, the late night.)  Now that I have (somewhat) steady contract work, I've been cultivating a norm to help me acclimate to the world of 9 a.m. meetings and the unthinkable - (gasp) - deadlines. (I thought, during my disinvitation from full-time employment that deadlines would cycle out of fashion, as did Units did after the 80s, but I have no such luck.)

So my start of day shapes up into something like this:

5:30 - Alarm goes off
5:31 - *Snooze*
5:40 - Alarm goes off again
5:41 - *Snooze*
(Lather, rinse and repeat until 6ish. For the sake of this post, we'll go with 6:10 a.m.)
6:10 - Alarm (yet again)
6:10 (and 20 seconds) - Alright, alright ... I'm up.
6:20 - Alarm (yet yet again)
6:21 - Legs move from bed top to bed side. This is progress. It almost always means I'm up.
6:35 - Teeth brushed, face washed, vague idea of walking recaptured
6:40 - Dog gets first walk of the morning. Result: Much relieved (literally)
7:00 - Vitamins taken, first slug of coffee achieved, work can now commence. Wow - hello e-mail box. Does that much really happen overnight?
1:00 - Time for a jog. But I wait too long and it's too hot (90+ degrees and counting). Mostly I end up carrying the 20-lb dog while I lopsidedly trot like Quasimodo.
2:30 - Holy crap. Why do I feel so bad? Did I eat breakfast? Wait - did I eat lunch?
3:30 - I haven't showered yet today, have I? Hmmm ... do I have to go out into public today? No? Well, a shower can wait. Note to self: If home smells like "sweaty person" to visitors, must immediately take shower after jog.
3:35 - Back to work. Self-imposed deadlines are the hardest to break. (You ultimately look like a jackass if you do, especially if you've shared that information.)
6:00 - Wait. It's 6. Does that mean Miller Time? Not quite yet.
6:25 - Now?
6:45 - Cue the Fred Flintstone "end of day quarry horn." It's quitting time!
6:55 - Oh, one last thing.
7:30 - Have I really spent 12+ hours in front of a computer? Egads!

And then after much calamity, I'm back in bed at 9ish, muddled deep into a book and waiting for the alarm to go off at the (somewhat) break of dawn.