Thursday 12th May 2011: A Day In The Life Diary (Day 1)
A few days ago, a friend told me about Mass Observation Diary Day, where people from all over the UK write a diary for a day and submit it to an archive. This would mean that in the future, people can look back and get an idea of what life was like now without the aid of a time machine or reading things with good grammar. You can find a better worded explanation by clicking the above link.
I'd never done anything like this, and I thought while I am trying to be a writer, it might be a good idea to keep a diary and document my life for a bit. I came to the conclusion that I could just do it for a day, but I wanted to stretch myself a little (without much physical extertion), so I decided to do it for a week.
So here is day one:
Thursday May 12th, 2011 Diary.
00:00
Return from a losing effort at the pub quiz and decide to check how much my lottery win is by logging in online. £2.60 for 2 numbers. Guess who is getting up in the morning?06:00
The alarm goes off. I roll over and hit snooze and go back to sleep in ten minute bursts until I hear someone moving around in the kitchen at 6.40. I get up, wash, dress and am eating my Grrreat breakfast (Frosties) by 6.55.07:00
Set off for work, listening to the local radio station (102.4 Wish FM) as I travel to the motorway. The song "Holding Out for a Hero" comes on. Reminds me of the movie Short Circuit 2. The ending of which, makes me cry to this day. The reception of the radio station fades as I reach the motorway, so I switch to my compilation CD that I made last year.07:35
Get to work. Third person in the office. PC on, milk for lunch in fridge. Just 8.5 hours until home time. Time to find something to do. Nothing in the email. Nothing in TCM tasks assigned. Back to what I was doing yesterday, trying to understand this stuff better. It isn't getting any easier. Head phones in, music on. As is customary, the first album of the day is Andrea Mann's Photograph. Beautiful voice.08:15
Someone opened the window. I made it 40 minutes being pleasantly comfortable until someone opened the window. Good thing I have my fleece.08:30
I glance at the time, think about J. She'll just be getting up. Hope she had a great time in London with her friends yesterday. She deserves it.09:12
New email. Someone I don't have contact with on a day to day basis is out sick! This is the most excitement that I've had since I've been here. Sadly, this'll probably be the highlight of my day.10:22
Listening to "The Filthy Souls" EP "Save Me" as a co-worker is making fresh coffee. I know this because of the smell. It is nice. But I dislike the taste. Just as well I wasn't offered any.10:40
A Mighty Wind album begins.11:01
Instant Message conversation with a co-worker in India. This is turning into the busiest day I've had in a long time.11:20
The Killers Albums kick in.12:20
Lunchtime.
Shredded Wheat and "humorous" replies to tweets on Twitter. (This was in the years before Twitter became a sentient being and began writing about us in 140 character bursts). I contemplate an idea for a script for the Virgin Media Shorts film competition, which probably won't come to much, and I try and write a few jokes for my potential stand up set. Find out I've been tweeted back by @MassObsArchive from an earlier tweet I made about possibly doing this diary thing. Apparently boring is good. Let's hope so. Am about to start thinking about what I will post on my blog next week when I realise the time.12:45
Back to work.13:00
Headphones and music off as its time for a conference call meeting with India. As per usual I am mostly silent and when I do speak up I it turns out my interpretation of things is muddled. This shouldn't be so hard after all this time.14:30
Conference call over, back to work. Headphones and music on. I message J to see how she got on in London.15:00
Think about S. After a flurry of messages in previous days, haven't heard from her today. I hope she's feeling better.15:30
Tell J about this diary thing, maybe she'll be interested. Maybe not. I hear back, she sounds a bit down.15:40
Ice cream truck!
Ice cream truck!
Ice cream truck!
Too fat to have any!
Too fat to have any!
Too fat to have any!16:05
Home time. Stopped on way out the door. Am I on for the team building lunch tomorrow? Yes. This should be interesting. Make a mental note to bring lunch just in case it gets cancelled and we don't go to where ever it is we are going.16:10
Just get in the car, and before I switch it on, I receive an email from J on my phone. I read it and think about her and what to write in my reply all the way home.16:45
At home.
Ooooh. Post. Oh, wait, it's a bill.
Relax, read, and watch TV - Weakest Link then Eggheads while eating food. Steak and Chips.18:30
With a full size keyboard at my disposal, write my email reply to J and send it.19:00
Buy new Lotto tickets for tomorrow and surf the web for a few hours.20:30
Hear from S. She is well. That is good. Was getting worried.21:00
R sends me a link to the White House Correspondence Dinner speech from a week or so ago. Seth Meyers and Obama telling jokes at the expense of Donald Trump. I've seen bits of it before. While we were exchanging links, I send him my blog post about the one time I had a go at stand up comedy. He tells me he is watching it with his wife but doesn't say much more beyond "I didn't think you'd have the confidence to do it" as it turns out he didn't know I'd done it. Score one for my joke writing and performing ability. This is why I need a new set if I'm ever going to perform again.22:00
Shower.22:30
Realise I should write up this diary, but I'm tired. Decide to challenge myself to writing a diary every day this week, from today (Thursday) to next Wednesday (18th May). Realise it might be a bit above me as I haven't actually written this diary yet. But maybe it will give me something to blog about next Wednesday. So -23:00
Type diary slooowly. It amuses me that this diary entry will probably be the only trace of me in history long after I’m dead. I finish just after midnight as another fabulous day comes to a close. Now where is that sarcasm font?
Hardly the Stuff on Lennon & McCartney, is it? But don't judge me yet, that's for future generations.
