When I woke up at 5.55 am, it seemed like it was going to be another cracker of a day. I prepared for teaching, went for a run, did some stretching and showered all before 8.30 am. I was more than ready to make huge progress today!
I arrived at work at 9 am and from the minute I began to do things in the lab, everything went wrong. I couldn't get any good data. Around 10 am, I went to get help to fix a cable for my potentiostat (as the wires lost connection to reduce the signal). However, I was unsuccessful in getting help. A colleague/researcher said to meet her at 3 pm to repair the cable; but I couldnt wait this long as I was due to teach at 1.30 til 4.30 pm (Week 3 of Semester 2)..
By this point it was 11 am - I was feeling really tired and unmotivated.
My first thought was to go home. I lost motivation when I realised that I would only be home for 1 hour before having to leave again. Instead, I pulled out my soft back warmer from my draw and used it as a pillow. I put my head down on the desk and had an hour nap.
I woke up less tired than before, but really groggy. I packed my safety glasses and water bottle into my handbag and walked towards my car, then drove to the main campus. Travel between the innovation campus and the main campus is really tedious and it is often difficult to find parking in the middle of the day.
I was parked and ready to get out of the car at 1 pm. I walked towards Panzinis, a cafe located in front of the UOW library. I go here for coffee because they offer staff discounts and I love discouts! I ordered my coffee and it was made within 5 minutes. It was a rather pleasant experience - too bad that I was not in a good mood.
The undergraduate chemistry labs are located in building 21 on level 3. I headed here after I was handed my coffee - but I was at least 20 minutes early. When I walked into the lab, it was empty abar one demonstrator - Sue. I chatted for less than a minute before rereading over my emails that said I was only rostered for Week 9. In sheer disbelief, I spent a few minutes researching my emails and was convinced that I showed up for no reason! In embarrassment, I left and drove to North Wollongong beach. "Wow" I thought. "How stupid". "Why didn't I read my emails?"
I was pretty relieved though, because I didn't really want to teach. I don't need the extra funds that bad and it's not worth taking time away from my writing. Excited that I could fix the potentiostat, I also sent an email to a colleague, indicating my error and that I would be there at 3 pm.
Just as I was about to get out of my car and go for a dip in the ocean to calm down my anxiety and embarrassment, I received an email from Giel (the subject coordinator) who asked me to come back because I was rostered to work. Can you believe how embarrassed I was after this? It took me 15 minutes to return, park and walk to the labs. I quickly walked into the service room, dodging the lines of students waiting to collect a pH probe for their experiment. I threw on a red lab coat, my safety glasses and grabbed a pen.
I apologised several times to Giel and I literally felt like slapping my forehead because it was such a stupid thing that happened. The worst thing though, was sending a third email to my colleague telling her that I was wrong and I was meant to teach!
The labs were very slow and very basic. The students were working on acid-base titrations. In that moment, I thought that it wasn't too bad. I actually enjoyed it. I'm just glad that I don't have to teach all the time. The labs ended at 4.30 pm. I drove straight home and relaxed until dinner time.
I honestly feel like I wasted the whole day.