Friday, February 1, 2008

Inertia and Entropy

Inertia:

1. Physics The tendency of a body to resist acceleration; the tendency of a body at rest to remain at rest or of a body in straight line motion to stay in motion in a straight line unless acted on by an outside force.

2. Resistance or disinclination to motion, action, or change: the inertia of an entrenched bureaucracy.

Entropy:

1. For a closed thermodynamic system, a quantitative measure of the amount of thermal energy not available to do work.

2. A measure of the disorder or randomness in a closed system.

3. A measure of the loss of information in a transmitted message.

4. The tendency for all matter and energy in the universe to evolve toward a state of inert uniformity.

5. Inevitable and steady deterioration of a system or society.

Oh, have we got loads of that in abundance around here.

Thursdays are my technical "day off". No housework, no workout, no chores. No 'To Do' list. Thomas suggests that I should change to Tuesdays, since Tuesday is his Work From Home day... but seriously, he's still technically working, which means that I end up having to wrangle Darcy off him while he's on conference calls and whatnot. So, rather than take Tuesday off and being mad at Thomas every time I have to do something anyway because he's working (you can read as much sarcasm as you'd like into that sentence) I think I'll stick with a day that he's not around. You pick your hills to die on, but it's better to pick them wisely.

Anyway, I usually do a bit of pick up anyway - dishes and whatnot. Yesterday, I didn't. I was sick. I spent most of yesterday sleeping/dozing on the sofa and wondering vaguely what the Points Count was on the six pounds of snot I swallowed. (Sorry. Well, no, I'm not... I felt yucky yesterday, so you can feel a bit yucky, too.)

Day before yesterday, my house was spotless. Yesterday it was... ok. Today? It is a FUCKING DISASTER. There are crayons all over the living room floor, the dishes are piled up in the sink and on the counters. Someone spilled chocolate milk mix onto the floor and didn't bother to wipe it up. The trash can is full and there's a small pile of trash in front of it. My desk has again collected spare bits of clutter; as well as a pile of used Kleenex because my desk trashcan is full. (Again. Man, that thing don't stay empty long!) Darcy's Tinker Bell costume is in a crumpled heap in the hallway. And two pairs of shoes and socks have managed to creep out of the bedroom and ended up piled in front of my computer.

I feel like what I need in my life is Professor Moody, rapping his walking stick on the floor and yelling "Constant Vigilance!"

Is it just me, or is weight loss sort of like trying to keep a house clean? My body's natural state is fat, lazy and immobile. And I'm looking at a very long road of Constant Vigilance.

I'd mope about this somewhat, except, guess what? I've got a house to clean. So this is as much bitching as I can afford to do.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would argue that snot is free, because it's not coming from outside your system. It would be like calculating points for saliva and stomach acid. Unless... no, I'm not going there. I'm sure you have plenty of your own. :D

Anonymous said...

The house?! You just described ours too! I'd say its the ups and downs of life. We have our good and bad, but overall, it's how we look at everything that makes the house lovable and fun. We can take on the mess every once and awhile for both body and home. It's just a matter of refocusing our efforts in the long run.