Anyone got a whetstone?

Here I sit on firewatch.

It's a little something I have to do when, for the needs of a show, the smoke sensors are bypassed by the campus so that we may use a fog machine in our theatre. It's a legal thing wherein I walk the building every half hour during the performance.

Those of you who know me and speak to me regularly (yes, you, Yovanka and Jennifer) have heard me talk about this a great deal. That's primarily because, outside of this, I have nothing else going on. Seriously. I go home, feed the cat, watch half an hour of the History Channel, and fall asleep, only to wake the next morning to do it all over again...

Enough of that, though. I wrote about this a week or so ago (see "Work Zombie").

Firewatch, though, is a herald, of sorts, of the coming release of December. This 'firewatch' occurs just prior to the opening of a show when we begin adding all of the technical elements. That means the show is about to open. That means it's ever so close to being finished. That means I have nothing to do during firewatch except for walking the building, as in the Environmental Health and Safety representative here on campus has dictated that I can have "no other responsibilities, job or otherwise, while on firewatch". It's like a mini vacation. I sit, watch episodes of "Heroes" on a computer, read a book, update my blog, etc. Nothing, apart from taking a two minute walk every half hour.

Now, I get this text message from the aforementioned Jennifer tonight, saying that it was good to see me in a better mood yesterday when she'd come to watch a rehearsal of the current production. I was, indeed, in better than normal spirits. I was excited to see a couple of friends, excited that they were coming to see the show, excited for the cast that they'd have someone to interact with, and excited that, at least for a couple of hours, I had nothing to do, no matter to solve, and no problem to repair. I just had no idea that it had changed my mood so much.

I don't have a hard job. I really don't. In fact, my job is quite... fun. But too much of a good thing, as I've written before, is not so good.

As the seven day weeks go on for months, my nerves get shot. I'm without sleep, I'm without relaxation, I'm without... release... of any sort. It bugs me that I'm told by a student that I 'lose it' too easily... but she's not been around for the last two and a half, nearly three, months leading up to the frayed nerves and the loss of patience waiting for it all to be over. I'm apologized to when someone approaches me and I turn to them with expectant "What do you want?" eyes because I expect yet another change or addition, leading to more weekend or late night hours after the cast has gone home.

Ah, but firewatch... the sweet release from all that. For a time, anyway, until the rehearsals are over and I get another list. But there's a light down at the end of that tunnel...

"All work and no play makes Kenyon a dull boy."

I need some sharpening.