Day 4*&: Numbers Aren't What We Do Here

By lara, lara@trippingonwords.com

 

But apparently words are.

 

Today, I began thinking about how intensely verbal my life is. Not even spoken, considering most of the kids in this joint struggle with English as their third language, though they do struggle quite admirably. Much better than me and my non-existent second language.

 

But even so…As I suddenly realized I had to write a blog post tonight, I thought to myself that “this is, like, my MILLIONTH email today.” I realized that of course this was an exaggeration. But by how much? I even spent the large chunk of today doing video editing—a non verbal pursuit—so really it was less than normal. But my little fingers hurt from typing, so I decided to figure out exactly how many words a day I spit out…

 

So Lara’s totals alone for the day:

 

63 Emails, with 25 attachments

7820 words edited

8 handwritten pages

9 To-Do lists created

10 slides written

3 half-hour long meetings

35 pages read

Hour of web research

 

And now this blog post. It’s all gotten a little ridiculous.

 

And sadly, since Claire and I had to escape to the guesthouse at the orphanage today to get work done, I did not get my usual crucial half hour breaks of kid time. Usually, after an hour or so of solid work, Claire and I take a “Rhoda break” to go find one of the more rambunctious kids around here to entertain and exhaust so that returning to the computer is a welcome distraction.

 

No such luck tonight. And I’m sure you’re all suffering for it as well.