I was searching one of my work folders on my computer this afternoon for a spreadsheet that I used back in August to analyze our company’s printing costs. I was very important that I find this spreadsheet because there was a new number that I needed to plug in to a formula.
I couldn’t find it. Now I have to remember 14.4 cents per sheet so when I do find that spreadsheet, I can forget which column 14.4 cents per sheet goes under.
I did, however, find another very important spreadsheet. I created this spreadsheet almost one year ago. I carefully named said spreadsheet “2004 Josh’s Hours.xls”
A year ago, my boss-at-the-time made a particular comment that didn’t sit well, so I started logging my hours. I was working over 40 hours per week, but now felt it was necessary to meticulously log my hours at the office. I went so far as to log my lunch breaks – what I ate and if I ate out, where I went. Ninety percent of the time I ate at my desk. Usually it takes me all of 3.4 minutes to eat a generously constructed brown bagged sandwich. For padding, I would log that I took 15 minutes for lunch if I ate at my desk.
I maintained my log for nearly five months until ownership of the company changed hands and we consolidated offices in Marble Falls. Although I had no reason to be, I realize now that I, as well as others, were paranoid. Big Brother. Micromanagement. In that 30 seconds that it took me to maintain that log on a daily basis, I could have been putting the new cover sheets on the TPS Reports before they went out.
Elise called me earlier this afternoon. I joked and said “Wanna go get lunch?” We work some 60 miles apart. Having lunch together would end up being an all day affair for the one who opted to travel, assuming we didn’t meet somewhere in between. In my “2004 Josh’s Hours.xls” spreadsheet there are many “Lunch at Central Market with El” entries. I miss those days. Life is too short to not have lunch with your wife.
So, the moral of the story: 14.4 cents per sheet.