A Day in the Life

Monday, time for work. My routine is to get up by eight, make coffee and get to work. I usually start being effective around nine. I find the hours between nine and twelve the most productive, both am and pm. There's always something on my computer that needs a translation, an edit or a spelling check. These days my pre-noon hours are fully dedicated to Unsung.

Around eleven thirty I fix myself a simple lunch. That could be a quick bowl of rice, a left-over piece of bread or a sixty-second pizza triangle from the store. If I don't have the time or I'm just too lazy to fashion something at home I'll grab a bite on my way to the shop. That might be a salad, a sandwich or a good cup of coffee, which is almost the same price these days. 

At a quarter to one I disarm the alarm, lift the shutters and open the lock to the store. I put down my bags and my phone with my headphones still dangling about, switch on the lights in the main sales room as well as in the storage space. Next I start the shop computer and play some instrumentals beats. I turn on the TV in the window display, check the register and wait for Yang-soo to hit me up. 

In the meantime I prepare some boxes, unfold them, tape and label them. At around two the messanger program lets me know that I got a message. I click the jumping icon and discover a list of names, addresses and product lists. I get the ordered items and finish the packets by three. The postal service picks it up and the hardest part is done. That's when I usually hit the water kettle. 

I'm at the shop from one to nine, and depending on how busy the day is I might find some time to start the computer that I always bring. On a quiet day I can work on whatever I have left undun in the morning. If I have finished a translation I'll have another paper cup of instant coffee and try to compose a blog post. Usually I get interrupted. And at nine o'clock I call it a day.

I kill the register and move backwards. I clean up the shop and switch off the lenghty power hub, the lights, the TV. I step outside and bolt the glass door, pull down the noisy shutters and turn on the alarm. I stow the key card and the key in my bag, plug my earphones in my ears and start walking. At home I sit down at my desk. I push the start button on my computer and continue again.