Prioritizing Time for Myself and Others

Because my first class was cancelled today, I got settled in front of my computer to work on homework prior to leaving for school. That usually takes me longer than it should to do; it's hard to get focused, especially when I'm stressed, which is most of the time. After ten minutes or so of writing, my brother came by and asked if I could give him a ride to school because he overslept and missed his bus.

When this kind of thing happens, I feel obligated to help. But I'm sometimes frustrated by it. I was frustrated this morning because it represented a particularly thorough disruption of my schedule. Rather than rare extra time to myself in the morning, I'd have to get in my car and be at school an hour earlier than I needed to be. I also wouldn't be able to get my bicycling in today, which is important to me. (Though driving would have made it easier to do a little grocery shopping.)

I feel like these things are mild disruptions and shouldn't bother me very much. But they do, and I feel like a jerk expressing that. I'll try and explain this more understandably to said brother this evening I think.

I wish that he'd get his driver's license so that he could just use my car to drive to school. I asked him what the status of that process is and he said, as he often does, "I don't know." I asked what he needs to do to accomplish that, and got the same response. I suggested he call the DMV to find out. He'd have to get his learner's permit again, he said, and he has anxiety about driving. Ah-ha!

I asked whether he was simply planning to never get a driver's license, which was perhaps not the most diplomatic way of expressing myself. I didn't mean it entirely rhetorically though; there are places you can live without having to drive. Anyway, he again expressed a lack of knowledge on the topic.

In the end, he asked my mother, who happened to not have left for work yet, whether she would give him a ride. The issue was resolved that way. I also feel a little guilty about that because I know my mother stresses about time and if I had agreed to drive, she wouldn't have had to chauffeur my brother. But I stress about time too. Quite a lot sometimes. I just find it really hard to prioritize my time equally to other people in these situations. Especially when it comes to a very legitimate need and want, such as not missing a class.

Anyway, now it's time for me to get to school. At least I got three sentences written for my essay due tomorrow....

Working

I wrote a four page essay, sent my regrets to UW-Milwaukee, and worked on planning my trip to Syracuse in a few weeks. I should get there the evening of the 19th and hopefully meet various professors and students on the 20th. It sounds like they're going to try and give me space to crash with another grad student. Yay couch-surfing!

I'm going to get in touch with people I hope to meet individually too and, as well as express my excitement to talk with them, explain about my facial recognition issues. I want to explain that early on so it doesn't make me self-conscious and I don't seem stand-offish.

Progress! Now I have to get more work done on these posters.

It's *possible*, though I don't know how likely, that the archives will get high-resolution copies of old Sanborn maps for Kenosha from the Wisconsin Historical Society. I'm excited about that, because they could definitely be part of my presentation.

Speaking of posters, mine from last semester's GIS class is now up on the wall in the geography section of Molinaro Hall. I'm chuffed. Of course, it only took about two seconds for me to spot a typo....