Mixdorf got such joy out of my mention, in passing, of "the punt," I thought I should elaborate.
The term originated with Gibbs, in as far as I know. Back in the days of the Fortress, he used to employ it, in conversations with his lenient boss, to refer to a day in which he was in the process of mailing it in. It was rather ingenious, to actually head off at the pass any possible issues that might arise from other people in the office seeing you staring blankly at your screen, heading out on a coffee break to return two hours later, or simply sitting at your desk "writing the lyrics." Judicious use of the term actually implies that ususally you are not punting, though whether or not that is a reflection of reality is another issue.
Anyway, nature of my job, as well as the quality of work I have proven over the course of around five years at my present employer, has granted me quite a bit of discretion as to how & when I get the work done. Extremely loosely, it is assumed my hours are around 7:00 am to 4:00 pm. On bussing days, I get here a couple of minutes after 7, and leave a few minutes before 4 to catch the 4:01. On other days, when I drive-my hours become anybody's guess. I will often stay till 4:30, if I'm heading off to pick up Lucy, or later, if I'm not. I've been known to come in extra early and/or stay extra late, if the need arises. But I can also come in late or even, with an early-afternoon appointment, take off for good without worrying about tracking some sort of time card. It's very cool, but also dangerously tempting in some regards. My personal ethos wouldn't allow me to average less than 40 hours a week over a long period of time, but I've definitely had a few stretches when my cycle of work slows down a bit, I've been exhausted, or some of either or both.
"Punting," for me, over the past couple of years, has referred to those days when I wake up with my alarm at 5:40 and make a totally conscious decision that I'd be better off just sleeping in a bit and getting up naturally. I just know I need the sleep, for whatever reason. So I'm running late to begin with. Then, I'm getting up around when Sharon & Lucy do and it is inevitable I will be drawn into the morning routine ("Hold me, daddy!"). Talking with my family, helping Lucy to get breakfast or get dressed; the time it takes me to get on the road is doubled, at least. So now we're looking at 7:30 or 8:00 (too late for the bus) by the time I even get through my back door.
I should also mention that the morning commute in the Twin Cities starts getting truly bad around 6:00 am, or just a little after. It's quite consistant. So, if I can actually get out the door by 5:55 or so, I know I'm gonna have a relatively quick clean drive in of about 20-25 minutes (of course, I can imagine how that sounds to non-big City dwellers, but I've got a CD player and I can zone out pretty well, especially at cruising speed). At 7:30 or 8:00, forget about it. I'm going to be crawling along, at stop & go long before I even get to the tunnel that gets me past downtown. I'm looking at 40-plus minutes into work. So, at that point, a decision is made. A decision that some may say is a very shaky branch of logic. One that suggests that, if you're going to be late, you may as well be really late. It's not like the commute is gonna get good until 9:30 or so (and even my punts don't have that much hang-time). It's just that the temptation of coffee at Camden Coffee Company in one of their tall, ceramic mugs (oh, baby!) has far surpassed my interest in having one of those clean, normal work days. I'll run into a few people I know, bullshit around, maybe read some of my favorite sections of the Star Tribune that are lying around, and some City Pages, and just chill out. It probably doesn't hurt that, otherwise, the number of daytime hours that I am not either working, driving, or involved in child care, to whatever degree, in a given week might often be around zero. I simply don't get many of those hours, when I'm at my best, truly to myself.
There you have it. The punt. Rise up and join me, brothers and sisters. We'll punt away the whole morning, and maybe head out a little early in the afternoon to boot.
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13 comments:
The nature of my job and employer does not allow that sort of flexibility, though I can spend a fair amount of time wasting time during the day when my schedule allows.
My outside of work schedule is also much free-er given the lack of child.
We definitely have our advantages & disadvantages.
You probably make more. Your commute is certainly better.
I have better vacation time (I think). Maybe slightly better benefits, otherwise.
I have the best vacation timeof all you bastards. 12 weeks in the summer, two weeks for Christmas, and one week for spring break.
But get paid the worst.
Probably a better trade off to work less.
I also don't get corporate e-mails about the latest consumer synergies or whateever, nor do I have to teach science using films and other aids made in the 60's.
Yeah, but I can punt.
Let's stop comparing our jobs. That sucks.
I just wanted to explain the punt.
I think my punting abilities reflect other work environments where people punt: you see what lies before you that day and then plan accordingly.
In my area, there are days where lunch is skipped and I go home at 6:00. Then there are days where I can sit and type out messages like this. On days like this, the environment is something like sitting on a fire tower and seeing nothing but green.
Great metaphor.
Then there are jobs like Gibbs' old one at AFP, which was akin to sitting atop a fire tower in the middle of the sea.
Possibly the moon.
But also a great metaphor.
Gotta love the punt. Also, a possible dream job would be to teach science classes with films and aids produced in the sixties. YOu know this Mix, it has been discussed. The weakened smell of cut grass creeping through through the blinds with dusty rays from the sun. Pleasantly groggy, hypnotized from the turning film wheels, the chatter of fed film, the slight odor of burning dust. And on the screen, men in white and meaty glasses - confident in their telling of the order of things. That is when we had confidence in science. Maybe that was what was so mind-blowing.
Sounds more like a prescription for one of your favorite holodeck programs than a dream job.
Kind of a "nice place but I wouldn't want to live here" sort of thing.
No more film strips or film projectors. They were already eradicated from the W. schools before I went into teaching. There are however a few jumbo VCR left in the media center. I periodicaly use my 1960 slide projector to show slides for students to write about.
The slides are of anything and they write a story about what is going on in the photo. I get some very good stories. Some of the students have excellent imaginations.
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