Leave work early (if you can only swing a half hour early, so be it).
Get on the train and put on the most relaxing classical music you can find on your iPod.
Close your eyes.
Try to be aware enough not to miss your train stop.
When getting off the train, ignore the fact that with each step you take, your head feels like it’s growing too heavy to sit atop your neck.
Drive home.
Enjoy that no one else is home yet and have a snack - maybe you’re dehydrated or your blood sugar is low. A glass of water and some fruit should help.
Settle into bed with a book, but set it aside and just close your eyes for a bit.
That feels nice, but the headache isn’t leaving. Have some more water.
Put on a movie, silently, to give you something to think about and listen to that’s not the suddenly-loud pounding in your skull.
Doze off and miss a phone call from a friend.
Call friend back and then speak briefly, kindly turning down an invitation to go out.
Finally, take some Motrin. Four pills should do it.
Realize that the headache isn’t going away anytime soon, drink more water and then plan on reading until sleep settles in.
Finish reading the book that’s had you captivated since you started reading it on the train on Monday morning. It’s only been your train reading, but it’s something you can’t put down… “Freddy and Fredericka” by Mark Helprin.
Close the book, thinking, “That was a good funny read, but it wasn’t fluff. That’s cool. How to describe it? A satire of the British royal family that has the Prince and Princess of Wales being temporarily exiled from England due to many PR gaffes, then parachuting into Bayonne, New Jersey, to start conquering the United States under assumed names?” That’s basically it… but very basically.

Other things that crossed my mind today:

• Having to attend IT training is really really boring if you are comfortable with Windows-based applications or have a good sense of the order and flow of information systems. I almost embarrassed myself by getting caught nodding off in the midst of a two-hour training session (my notebook slipped off my lap and I found some random scribblings in the margin, which indicates that my hand was writing but I wasn’t aware of it). The beginning of the training was interesting, but the second half was stuff I already knew or could have easily picked up from playing around with the program.

• I highly recommend discovering/rediscovering the fact that Nutella on a croissant is delicious.

• If you want to watch a really visually stunning movie - but only for ages 14 and up, since I think it’s creepy for any kids younger than that, and despite the benign appearance of the movie - acquire a copy of Neil Gaiman’s “Mirrormask.” It’s a great story and it’s just beautiful to watch. It’s not happy, it’s not bright; it’s dark, it’s sort of sadly humorous, and is in the same vein as Edward Scissorhands, Alice in Wonderland, and most other films which capture the feeling of being a stranger in an extremely surreal and strange land, or just an “outsider” trying to be understood, while also dealing with the guilt and insecurity of adolescence or even blossoming adulthood. Or at least that’s how I see it.

I am quite glad that tomorrow is Friday. I sort of wish I could call out sick tomorrow, but I have no reason to, and I really shouldn’t. I’m going to take a day off next week to spend some time with my cousin, so this is not the time for a mental health day. Besides, I know I have things to go over with my boss tomorrow, and I even took a few minutes earlier to write an email to myself at work with a list of “things to do” which I forgot to write down in my notebook before leaving work.

I’m usually good like that. It’s probably the best/most gratifying part of my daily routine and when I don’t do it, I feel really out of sorts for the rest of the night and the next morning. Before I leave work for the day, I like to take 10 minutes or so and create a list of the things I need to do the next day. It might be something as simple and “administrative” as sending a copy of a book to someone I promised to send it to, or it may be something as involved as “developing a marketing plan for XYZ project.” But I like to have it all down - everything I can think of - so I don’t stress about it that night. It’s on my list, I won’t forget, and as anything else comes up, I can simply add it on. Some days, I’ll only get a few things crossed off the list. Those days, I’ll rewrite the items that weren’t accomplished onto the next day’s list, and so on until they are done.

Sometimes (most often, actually) it’s not a matter of me not having the time or the ability or the desire to do things on the list that keep them from getting done. Most often, it’s a matter of waiting for responses or information or data from other people I work with. Everyone is busy with his or her own work, so while providing me with a response or information is PART of the job for other people, it’s not the highest priority. I can be patient, and I have no problem following up with people; but I realize that I can’t hold everyone to the standards that I expect. In “my” world, I’d like to receive a response to any email I write within 5 minutes… that’s totally unrealistic, but it’s what I would like. Some people get back to me instantly, while others take a few days or even a few weeks at times. And that’s just how it goes. Some people prefer doing business face-to-face, while other prefer using the phone. I prefer email to all other forms of communication at work - I find it to be the clearest for daily interactions and projects. My second choice is face-to-face contact/conversation, especially when it’s a group. I dislike the phone and voicemail thing. That’s just me.

I also like mixing mayonnaise with ketchup when I get fries, I enjoy running my air purifier to create white noise and only enjoy the air cleaning benefits as a secondary benefit, and I like creating to-do lists for work while I’m at home. I’ve never tried to pass myself off like a normal person (if such an archetype exists) and I think that all my quirks are what grant me and define my character.

However, my eyelids are growing heavy and the headache has lessened a wee bit. I will attempt to sleep, even without a new bedtime book at the ready.