An older guy, out of breath

It is Wednesday and I have the day off.  Just like I did last Wednesday.  Since then, I've worked 6 days (50 some hours).  I've walked 70 plus miles in that building.  And I've had a cold.  Somehow I managed not to sneeze or cough on anyone's food.

All and all it was a good week.  I know, I know... Your week starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday (or perhaps, you are a Monday to Sunday type), but since it seems that Wednesday is the day they want to give me off, my weeks are starting to looking look like a Thursday to Tuesday jaunt with a breather on Wednesday.

It feels like I've been doing this for longer than 3.5 weeks.  Some of that is because my coworkers, as a rule, work far less hours than I do.  A kid working 15 hours a week that has been there for 3 months only has a few more hours of experience than I do at this point.  Not to mention, they have far less consistency.  None of that is meant to be a criticism of them, but rather an explanation of why I feel like a veteran at this so quickly.

Add to it that I am old, so I know how to work and I pick up on what is important.  And I don't get distracted by all the drama.  (Like, omfg, so much drama.  And drama about the drama.  It's kind of adorable, but I wonder how we actually survive young adulthood.)

Fun fact: it appears that I may have an opportunity for for some elevation in status (and more pay) soon.  Go figure.  Maybe I couldn't quite crack the business management thing, but this I can do.  I know on one level that this is no great shakes, but it is truly nice to be in a situation where me being me is appreciated.  It feels like it has been a long time since that has happened.  I was told, 'all the managers love you and all the runners that matter love you too!'  It may not be much in the scheme of things, but it may be exactly what I need right now.

I am, however, still waiting for my body to catch up to this level of activity.  I am definitely losing weight.  I am a notch tighter on my belt.  But it is still taxing.  The cold has made it even harder. Congested, tired and mouth breathing don't go well with this.  At least, the cold seem to have been getting better since Monday.  Saturday, I felt bad, by Sunday, I felt like death.

One of my coworkers, apparently, was telling her mother about me in the course of talking about work.  Subsequently, her mother came to see Bohemian Rhapsody on Saturday.  She sat in the very back of the sold out theater.

Monday, I was working with said coworker.  And she relays the following:

"Oh... I was talking to Mom. She said that she noticed that you brought her food Saturday when she was here."

"Oh yeah?" I reply.

In the back of mind, I'm guessing that her mom must be about my age.  And she has never mentioned her dad.  And maybe her mom is single.  And maybe this is flattering.  Okay, maybe that's silly.  Maybe she noticed how efficient or how polite I was.  The coworker continues:

"Yeah, she said, I'm pretty sure that the older guy you were telling me about delivered my food."

"Older guy..." I say, as whatever thoughts I was having evaporated.

"Yeah... well she doesn't know your name.  She also mentioned that you seemed to be very out of breath."

"Awesome."  Well fuck me.

So, um, yeah.  Like I said, my body still has a ways to go to catch up.

So this is me.  Working all the time, huffing and puffing as I go.  Yet I am succeeding at it.  I am productive.  And I am too busy or too tired, at just about any given moment, to end up stuck inside my own head for very long.  I'll call that a win.