Rewards, and some that aren't.

As some of you may have been reading, the project I am currently working in has had periods of demanding rather... shall we say... extended commitment and working hours.

This is one of them.

Again.

Last week, as an example, we were asked to work throughout the weekend. Again. Many things had to happen for this to be made so, but this story is not about the intricacies of convincing a generally Catholic population to work on a Sunday.

For my work, I tend to travel a bit. And on these assignments requiring travel, I tend to stay in hotels, work somewhat longer days (as I don't exactly have anything to "go home" to, at such times) and have dinner with colleagues in local restaurants.

This is all well and good, but restaurants tend to serve slightly richer-than-average dishes. And from working on systems engineering assignments for several months the brain might get plenty of exercise, the body doesn't fare quite so well. So, after a couple of months of this, you tend to put on a little weight and grow tired of (or at least VERY well-acquainted with) the menu's of said local restaurants. And, as stresses increase and time-to-deadline shrinks, even dinner becomes something of a physical necessity and not an exceptional occasion, what dining out for many people would be.

Let's zip back to last weekend.

These non-stop all-weekend activities place some above-and-beyond type of demands on our people. You don't get rest, the concept is stressful, and it's not exactly "what you signed up for" in your contract. So, sometimes, when you have an enlightened big-shot pulling all these strings, they realise something might be in order to boost, or at least maintain, morale a bit.

Our big-shot obviously had attended the mandatory people-skills courses, as he decided that our intrepid weekend crew might be entitled to such a morale booster.

After two weeks of non-stop work we were delighted and surprised by the extraordinary graciousness of being invited to...

go out for dinner, at his expense, at a local restaurant...

He even recommended one.

Sometimes... it's like Magic...

Sometimes...

Sometimes things just come together.

A chance happening.

A lucky strike.

Magic happens...

And sometimes... these happenings aren't that big at all. But you should pay attention and notice and cherish them.

One of those times happened to me last week.

It happened in Stuttgart, Germany. It happened on a sunday. It happened at the "Kost|Bar". It happened on a sunny late-afternoon. It happened, while sitting outside, lounging, relaxing, in the sun, after a long drive there.

It was... the perfect Macchiato.

The easy life...

Right now, I'm living the easy life.

Yes, I'm working 60 - 80 hours a week and I'm stuck in a town in Germany, a full days drive from basically everything I hold dear. So how is this the easy life?

Easy... Right now everything is disciplined, focused, singular and straightforward. Life is about sleeping, eating, working, working and then working some more. My entire world consists of my appartment, the work site, a few restaurants, a grocery store and the paths between them. With some time pressure and work focus like this, most normal life worries simply fade away. It actually wouldn't be "hard" to live like this.

Scary idea? Well, it would be a very colourless and limited existence. And it's definitely not compatible with relationships, or even friendships; my social circle having shrunk to the few fellow victims of this situation. All evidence of anything bigger has been reduced to a few phonecalls and e-mail messages.

I know that my "life" here is very limited compared to my normal life and I wouldn't want to swap permanently for all the money in the world. But the worrisome part is that it is, aside from missing my girlfriend and friends, mostly my rational side that "knows" I shouldn't be satisfied with this life. It would be very easy to simply "exist" like this and not bother with abstract larger world concerns. How does this work, psychologically?

I can see that "this life" would be a lot easier. In some ways I guess it's... comforting? ... to have so few concerns. Is there an odd appeal to such simplicity of subsistence? Or is it the fading of other concerns, the singularity of purpose here, that seems appealing?