May 17, 2020. Madison, Mississippi. Deadlines.

Most of my life I have had more things to accomplish than I had time to finish so I got used to working with deadlines. I would make a list of what needed to be completed first and then added every task. Then IO started at the first with the nearest decline and worked down the list. It was a type of triage where we look after the sickest patient first, then go down the list. Now I have few real deadlines so I make them up. I look at my day and figure out what needs to be done. And I calculate my time and the activities that need done before the event. And I make a deadline. For instance, last Sunday Christina and the girls were bringing lunch, arriving around noon. I needed to shower and set the table. Kashina was not working due to Mothers Day. I like to watch Ariel America and Mississippi Roads, which ends at 11:00 so I calculated that I could eat breakfast and watch my TV shows and still be ready after showering and dressing. But I knew it might be tight. I could have showered before breakfast but I selected a tight schedule with a deadline which left me little time for error. In other words, I add tension to my day, all artificially induced. It is a game. When reading after breakfast, I wait till the very last minute to get up and get on with my day. Often I outsmart myself. The other morning, Kashina and I were going to the lady to alter my shorts. She lives at 12:30 so I needed to dress and be out the door by 11:00. But I did not dress before breakfast. I still had plenty of time until my phone rang. My deadline got smashed. But I figured I always had another day so that was what we did. Deadlines work for me even when I make them up. Pretty funny.