Sunday, October 26, 2008

7:30 on a Sunday morning??? How did I manage to do all this already???

This weekend the kid went on retreat with her school - I'm assuming she's having a great time, but haven't heard a word from her (that may be because she ran out of phone credit right before they left and wasn't able to top off, but there are other phones available to her out there).

Knowing there was a retreat scheduled from Friday through Monday I thought I had a weekend to myself - and so when asked if I could work the Sunday shift at school I agreed. It's a holiday week at school, the Czechoslovak Republic Independence Day - dating back to 1918... and so the regular staff is gone.

I went to a birthday party last night and had a great time. I got home early and went to bed knowing I had to get up early and work this am. My alarm went off shortly after 6 and another half hour or so later I was in the tub. Dressed and out the door about 7:45 as I need at least that long to get to school with the super slow Sunday transit.

At some point I noticed the clock on the computer said 5:50 while my phone and kitchen clock said 6:50. I thought about it for half a second and then attributed it to my computer acting up and doing crazy things - which it currently it.

So, I made my way down to the bus station bright and early in the thick, freezing morning fog, hopped on the first bus and met the metro. Got off the metro and went to stand for the tram - where there's another clock, reading 7:25, while my phone says 8:25... on and off the tram and I'm out in Mala Strana square - which was boarded up and deserted. I started walking towards school and then decided to stop for a cup of coffee. In McDonalds - they're different over here, and have decent coffee, and it was the only place open.

There was another customer who came in just after me, and the time discrepancy was starting to bother me. I asked him, the man with an Irish accent, the time, and he told me just about 7:30 and I know I looked confused - he smiled, and I said, oh, thanks... he kept smiling and said - yeah, the clocks changed during the night.

I was at work at 7:30 on a Sunday morning.

So I sat down with my coffee and read in the McDonalds - which started to fill up. Closer to 8, a little after, actually, I went in and opened up my school. I sat down at the computer and tried to log on.

The system wouldn't let me. I tried over and over with variations of my username and password, the reception username and various passwords around the desk, and nothing worked. It still wasn't 8:30 yet so I didn't want to bother the regular people who are all out on vacation, but after I while I texted, asking for the reception password. I got it!

And by that time I'd tried too many times and have now locked myself - and the regular Monday morning crew - out of the system! The administrator has to come back and fix it.

So, I've borrowed one of the faculty laptops from the storage unit I'm presently in charge of, and am sitting here writing this. It's now nearly 10 am and people are starting to show up...

Somehow I've managed to really mess up the course of the morning and the school computer system before it was even 9... which I'm taking to mean I've gotten out all my bad luck for the day and am looking forward to the rest of it being fantastic! Which is awesome cause I have a lot of reading and writing over the next few hours, followed by a meet-up with some of my new-found friends... more on them later!

1 comment:

Kidsis said...

I can't believe you didn't get a well-deserved hour of extra sleep....I'm sorry!!!

How was Coral's retreat?

I left my new favorite pair of jeans at the venice hostel and they're claiming they can't find them... :(