Uberman On-Ramp Day 4: In Which Things Do Not Go As Planned

It's odd writing a mid-day report on my uberman prep at an hour of the morning at which I'd ordinarily still be dead to the world. I had planned to sleep late after yesterday's rush of guests at the ryokan. Have my one coffee, and some breakfast, before deciding whether to continue smoking today or try going on the gum instead.

Instead, I get a call from friends of the French guests who arrived yesterday, at 8:30am. It ties up my mobile phone for 10 minutes. One of the guests asks me to fax something. Fear sets in: maybe these people will be the dreaded High-Maintenance Customers? Maybe my cheery projections about having a wealth of schedule slack for the next week or so are out the window?

I go down to the Starbucks on the corner, I tank up, I smoke a couple cigs, I brood under the sunny skies. I sniffle and curse the drifting cherry blossoms, the delight of the season -- when we will have a mode of interspecies communication that permits me to explain to cherry trees that my sinuses represent no worthwhile reproductive opportunities for them? How can I enjoy any of the immediate benefits of quitting smoking if I feel just about as crappy anyway?

Adding to the misery: yesterday I didn't hack on my software project at all. There's an annoying and very mysterious bug in something I assumed was working all along. I keep telling myself: "just work on other, simpler, things." It's set up that way, I can do that. And during uberman adjustment, I'll need that, for any sense of progress.

Adding further to the misery: I've decided the Polyphasic Google Group needs a stated policy about underage contributors. Sometime it sucks being an adult.