Barb's Burblings

The bus/driving conundrum

I was at work a bit late this evening--I stayed until 5:15 or so. I usually work 8:30 to 4:30, but got to work around 8:45, so it wasn't like I was working incredibly late. I was in the middle of something and just wanted to finish it. But as I went to drop something off at someone's desk, I ran into three people who were all, "You're still here?!" This is somewhat unnerving. For one thing, it's hardly the first time I've stayed late. Should I be staying late more often? Do I come across as a slacker?

I've actually been staying a bit later more frequently lately. Some of it is that I'm super busy. But it's mostly because I've been driving to work (I won free parking for a month). For some reason, when I drive to work, I stay later. When I take the bus, I am hyper aware of the time at the end of the day, and always try to get the same bus home. It makes no sense. My bus runs every 10 minutes or so, so it's not like missing my normal bus will get me home much later. At my previous job, when my commute involved a shuttle to the Metro to my bus, missing the shuttle did mean getting home considerably later, so maybe I just still have that mindset.

Of course, it just seems that I have some odd notion set in my mind that no, in fact, I have to take the same bus to work every morning and the same bus home every night. In the mornings, I know what time I have to get up in order to catch my normal bus. And if I hit snooze one time too many, I'll think, "Oh, I'll just drive." Because apparently, I can't just catch a slightly later bus. And then I wind up getting to work late.

None of this makes sense, but I have no idea how to change it.