As Time Goes By

I trust it's okay to title a blog entry after a song - as long as you love it.
It's impossible for me to believe that a year has gone by since I added to this space.
One excuse which was given to me by the teacher who taught the last class in my MBA program is that "life gets in the way." She was cautioning us not to delay getting our projects (or thesis) done. And I scoffed. I thought I was going to have all the time in the world. After all, I'd no longer have to go to school. I'd no longer have tests to study for. I'd no longer have homework. The idea that I wouldn't get it done when I would have all this time was ridiculous. This year, several years after my class with her, as I slid into home plate just ahead of the throw, I understood. Life does get in the way.
I once worked for a small town newspaper that was published weekly, and I never got used to the idea of a deadline. I mean we all have them - due dates, time frames , to do lists - but a newspaper has a real one. If it wasn't at the printer's by a certain time, it wasn't going to be printed - period. There would be no newspaper delivered to people's doors, there would be no newspaper in the racks around town, there would be no newspaper.
I didn't like the pressure of a deadline. And I didn't like not having holidays off either. I'd never thought about it before, but my daily newspaper is delivered everyday. Every day. Amazing. I must say I much prefer teaching with week-ends off and long summer breaks. This world of electronic publishing is very laid back and - I can see now - may just require more discipline than I have.