Where The Days Go

Now that winter seemingly has arrived, it seems like it's always dark and/or cloudy; descending a subway entrance, it seems like it's always cold, and when I emerge from a subway station, it always seems like the first thing I usually do, aside from check my cell for voice- and txt messages, is to put my sunglasses away because they're so rarely needed. On some level, it feels like monotony; but then again, being that it's early December and there's all sorts of issues for me to address, I suppose that monotony could be substituted with something far worse.

First, many of you expressed some sort of concern over Kaia's post from the other day at the WP. Thankfully, the news has nothing to do with work or health or family, but that fact makes it no less devastating or upsetting. I actually put my own feelings to "paper" (herein, in draft/unpublished form) but wanted to give her the opportunity to express, on some level, what's happening. While neither of us is comfortable discussing this material publicly (even within the confines of our blogs), I wanted to let any- and everyone know that we both appreciate the concern that's been publicly and privately expressed. Despite the distance -- or heightened and magnified as a result, perhaps -- I've tried to be there to comfort her as much as possible, but the events and the possible culmination of all that's transpired in connection with this situation is, and continues to be, a source of difficulty and pain. While I can't and won't discuss it in any further detail here or elsewhere, I wanted to be sure and thank all of you for showing you care and offering your support.

As for what else is happening, the workload -- for us both -- has been a bit heavy these days, so we're both plugging away on separate coasts and haven't even spent much time deciding where we'll be -- here or there -- for New Year's. I'm sure we both will come to a decision in the next week or so, but thus far, the only thing we can both say with certainty is how badly we want/need/would love to see each other. Between this week, plus work, thinking about what we'll do to celebrate the New Year is relatively insignificant. In actuality, and I'm guessing she would agree with me, that the majority of holidays are relatively unimportant when we're apart, and even the most mundane, unimportant days are that much better when we're together. So the real focus is spending time together; whether it's to count down the minutes until January 1, 2007, or just to count the hours until one of our flights touches down in its arrival city, not much matters beyond us being together, especially these days.

As far as work is concerned, despite the year's end approaching, I've found -- as per usual -- no let up in the to-do list, the pile of stuff to be addressed, nor in the demeanor of clients who are anxiously awaiting word from one City agency or another as to the status of an Application, of some sort of violation removal, or official (or unofficial) opinion on a particular situation. For whatever reason, I'm happy to say, many of these items that are up in the air and require attention have been relatively easy to handle. In the past, it's felt something akin to juggling hot potatoes, but these days, it feels like juggling soft rubber balls in slow motion. Granted, there might be a lot of them, but I don't feel a sense of overwhelming speed or urgency, despite the fact that some of these matters do require speed and urgency. Either I'm getting better at dealing with the City in all its many guises, or I'm able to shoulder more of the load, or my use of e-mail to communicate with clients is streamlining the way I, and we, do business. Essentially, these days, despite running around downtown in a variety of different offices and agencies, I find that I get a call or request from agency A, advise client B about said request, and indicate I need item C from agency D. It's not as confusing as it sounds, but having everything floating along via e-mail rather than tucked away in folders or hiding under the plastic lip of the outgoing fax bin seems to be doing the trick. In essence, the bottom line is I'm getting lots done, and whether it's my efficiency, or a bunch of clients being drunk with the impending holiday spirit (yeah, right) or whatever else, it seems I'm sending lots more volleys back across the net faster and more efficiently than I ever did in the past. I'm hoping that's not simply a sign that it's December and most of my clients are either on vacation or not interested in working; based on the fact that I'm still handling 15 different matters a day, I'm guessing that's not the case. Guess we'll see what happens January 2nd.

More later.