Heh, peoples's. Yep, that's why they pay me the big bucks folks. (except, not so much).

This discussion came about with my (scientist) friends when we realised we had no idea how you would go about doing graduate studies in something like English. Do you just read a lot? Seriously, someone with an advanced degree in the humanities help me out here.

So... I'm a scientist. I'm a research associate, kind of a higher powered post-doc (I have independent funding, but I don't have my own lab, hence answer to a boss.)

My days are all very different but one may go something like:
Arrive between 9 and 9.30, spend until 10 catching up with work email, chatting to colleagues.
Go upstairs to check on my lab rats. Weigh them, measure how much food they have eaten overnight, and other husbandry things. Takes about an hour.
Read a couple of scientific papers, meet with boss to discuss latest data.
Lunch - go to seminar and eat lunch at same time.
After lunch spend 3 hours doing surgery. Clean up and put tools in autoclave. Then half an hour mushing up brain tissue for an experimental prep the next day. Spend final hour analyzing data and making pretty graphs.
Go home at about 6.30 and read a couple more papers on the train.

Intersperse with a trip to the soda machine and about 5 or 6 quick checks (of about 5 min each) of various sites.

I live a block away from the office. I pick up breakfast (2 scrambled eggs on an untoasted, buttered roll) and carry it to my desk. Before I eat it, I pull the [redacted] off the [redacted] machine and [redacted]. I enter the [redacted] into the [redacted], then save and print. I check the [redacted] for accuracy and take them to a coworker to process.

Then I go to the coffee maker and pour a cup, no cream, four sugars. I stir, and then return with it to my desk, where I drink it and eat breakfast.

At some point, my coworker calls to tell me to proceed with [redacted]. I start by [redacted], then [redacted], and finish up by [redacted].

Then I sit and surf the internet until lunchtime, unless my boss needs me to [redacted]. For lunch I walk home and eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (I prefer non-grape purple jellies) and drink a glass of carrot juice.

When I return from lunch I have a pile of [redacted] waiting for me, which I quickly [redacted]. Then I have most of the afternoon to think up quirky responses to Metachat items and answer the occasional [redacted].

At five, I leave.

I'd love to tell you more, but my boss [redacted].

I have four seconds to buff the lead shavings off of the Hingsley Sprocket #74D-640 before I have to return it to the conveyer belt and repeat the process on the next one. On Friday's I can wear a cap featuring a non offensive logo of the sports team of my choice.

On second thought, that's not me. I was thinking of somebody else. Sorry. My job is similar though, except for the part about the assembly line and the hat.

There were two relatively recent threads on AskMe about this very thing...

i spend my days working on a terminal in a defense attorney workroom in a court house. and man, listening to defense attorneys talk to their clients all day is interesting as all getout.

I try to look as disheveled as possible so no one thinks i work there.

5:30 am: wake up, 20 minutes of PowerLifting
6 am: shower, dress, muffin
7 am: catch bullet-train to downtown corporate arcologies (this morning's scheduled periodical: "Highlights")
8 am - noon: thuggery
noon: lunch al fresco at Eat Rite (scroll down for pic)
1 pm - 3:30 pm: rapine
3:30 - 4 pm: daily pr0n downloading and erection-hiding
4 pm: think about leaving early.
4:09 - 4:11 pm: daily ass-kiss (give to superiors)
4:11 - 4:13 pm: daily ass-kiss (receive from subordinates)
4:13 - 4:13:30 pm: Minesweeper
4:15 pm: leave early, by way of supply closet (note to self: need legal pads and miniposties at home)

Were there? I thought it would be kind of chatty for askme. And I missed them.

4:20 pm: check out chicks' asses on bullet train platform (much hampered by recent cold snap)
4:30 pm: bullet train to BFE (this evening's scheduled periodical: "Maxim")
5:30 pm: cocktail
6 pm: dinner with loved ones
7 pm: give loved ones bath
7:30 pm: storytime
7:55 pm: cocktail
8 pm: CSI (re-run)
9 pm: News
9:02 pm: nod off briefly, fart myself awake
9:30 pm: cocktail
10 pm: log onto internet, download more pr0n, respond to snarky emails generated by right-wing blog posts made during day, review and update Enemies List
10:30 pm: arts and crafts
11 - 11:06 pm: self abuse.
11:07 pm: Sleep

I have four seconds to buff the lead shavings off of the Hingsley Sprocket #74D-640 before...

blue collar? more like slave collar am i rite guys roffle

for me, every day is pretty much different. today i interviewed someone (technical questions), discussed office politics/tactics with my local/political boss for the meeting, had the meeting followed by a chat via teleconference with my remote/technical boss (which clarified a whole pile of issues, including a nasty detail related to the security architecture for a system we're developing), discussed the results of that with my local/political boss and am now going to a presentation by another job candidate. after the presentation i'll go home and nap for an hour before going out to dinner with this guy, during which time i will try to be friendly while trying to assess how good he would be as a programmer.

i'm supposed to write software, so obviously some other days are not like that at all.

gaspode, here's one... I can't find the other, sorry.

thanks Specklet... I was more interested in hearing about the minutiae of different workdays (why? I haven't a clue), but that is interesting.

Today I'm working from home, and have done a surprising amount of work, considering. Maybe 3, 4 hours worth.

I ride the bus into the city every day, I sit on the seat and i dream myself away...i dream im on an island with a foxy lady too...

7AM wake (in theory)
7:25 wake (reality)
7:30 catch bus (in theory)
7:45 catch bus (reality)
9:10 arrive at work
9:11 turn on computer
9:12 - 10:30 do actual work making copies and faxes and fedexes
10:31 - 1:00 post to metachat and metafilter
1:00 - 1:30 eat lunch
1:31 - 5:20 post to metachat and metafilter
5:25 catch bus
7:00 arrive home

9:10am - 5:20pm - Pick up ringing phone...[time of day specific greeting]UDO! hold please....

*hopes no one reads about his boring receptionist job*

I'm an undergrad working on a summer research project mechanical modeling. I roll in to work between 9 and 10, sit down at a computer and plug models into a finite element modeling program. While the program calculates stresses and deflections, I surf the internet or go to the biology lab to check on these plants I'm caring for. I meet with my research advisor for an hour or so before lunch, then eat a sandwich outside. My afternoon is pretty similar to the morning. Sometimes I get to attend a research seminar, which is the highlight of my week. I go home around 5 unless I'm bored enough to go home early, work out, eat dinner, and the night is mine.

7.00 Wake up, get ready. (Sometimes this is 7.30 or uh, 8.00)
7.36 Catch first bus.
7.48 Catch second bus: express bus. (If I time this right, my commute takes me 25 minutes, 45 if I miss the express. Not bad. Soon I'll start riding my bike, weather permitting.)
8.00 Arrive work, turn on computer.
8.01 Check personal email, write some replies. Peruse MetaFilter.
8.25 Get tea and water. Long for coffee, but abstain.
8.27 Look at crap on desk, go through piles to find most time sensitive.
8.35 Work.
10.00 Peruse MetaFilter.
11.00 Look at personal to-do list, make any pertinent calls, personal stuff online, etc.
11.30 Get more tea and water.
11.32 Look at crap on desk again, go through piles to find most time sensitive.
11.40 Work. Kind of.

12.00 Lunch usually taken at desk while reading a book.
1.00 Fool around, wander around the office, restock the copier paper, etc. If I'm bad I'll get some Doritos from the vending machine.

1.30 Think about getting more tea and water. Cave in and get decaf.
1.32 Again, look at crap on desk, go through piles to find most time sensitive.
1.40 Work.
3.30 Peruse MetaFilter.
4.30 Look at personal to-do list, procrastinate on undone items.

Intermittently text message boyfriend via phone.

5.00 Leave (early if no one's looking), timed so as to catch the express.

Up at 7, shavebreakfastdress, out by 7:45.
Drive to work (:15)or walk (:45).
Make coffee.

8:30-9 Case conference.

9-12 Sit in office with literally nothing to do if I don't have patients scheduled. So I surf MetaFilter, etc. If I do have patients I sit with them and do psychotherapy. This is mostly a lot like having a conversation but a bit more directed. Each pt is theoretically for 50 min, but my patients seem to like shorter session, so sometimes it's only :20. Average 1 patient a day before lunch.

12-1 Go to gym and work out.

1-5 Second verse same as the first.

Home to run and read and go to bed.

I used to feel horribly guilty about this, but the reality is that I'm there if my patients need me (luckily my position is grant funded). I sometimes have to deal with mental health crises in the clinic. I frequently get bored as shit. But the $ and the benefits are great, especially for my type of job, so I stay.

I'm supposed to arrive at 9am, but since my supervisor arrives at 10, I usually get in at 9:30 or so. I usually grap a paper cup of coffee from the breakroom airpots that are filled by this autistic guy we have on the maintenance team. I check my supervisors desk for "priority" CD's (I'm a data entry clerk at a music database company). If they're there I grab 'em and enter the personnel listings and other sundry info, if not I work on "non-priority," stuff. The stuff I work with ranges from top 40 to gangta rap to obscure reissues of god knows what to indie, to those mexican outfits in cowboy hats who put out an album every ten minutes (otherwise known as tejano music).

At 11pm I go out in front of our building, on Hudson St. near the scenic holland tunnel, and have a smoke. At 1 I eat a vending machine lunch of chips, candy and soda and smoke some more. Then I have a nother smoke at 3. I go home at 5. I surreptitously post to the various Mepermutations all the while.

Afterwards I grab a few beers at the bar across the street and monopolize the jukebox, then ride the train back to Queens.

Also, it's a "casual" office, so I get to work in my famed denim & flannel ensembles which is nice.

wish i could because i wanna know too
but i have no regular work day
no home town
no mug of choice
no usual desktop
no backlog of photos to throw out
no hard knowledge on what web space i still own
no favorite anything outside idle happenstance or stricter perameters
but yes, virginia, there really is a stalker clause

i offer you a rat butt Wedge said he gave me
and a slide of a rat brain on a ritz cracker

Like gaspode, I'm fascinated with the minutae of what people actually do in their daily work lives, so I'm hoping lots of people respond.

Me, I'm an administrator in student services at Big Research University, so a typical day might run something like:

8-8:15, arrive at work, check calendar, check e-mail. Respond to e-mail from student who feels chemistry prof gave unfair grade on midterm. ("Talk to him and let me know if that doesn't work out.") Note new appointment for student seeking readmission from suspension.
8:30, wander down to Student Info Center and see if any advisors are out sick or if any other emergent crises need tending, get and scan file for suspend-readmit student, chat with office mgr. and student employees.
8:45, answer phone query from advisor about appropriate physics sequence for pre-Environmental-Science major
9:00, Planning Group, discuss proposed changes in admissions criteria and ideas for Majors Information Week, strategize baby shower for pregnant employee.
10:30, grab coffee, back to office, check MeFi, news sources, duck out for a smoke.
11:00, meeting with Director, discuss problems with advisors whose file notes are inadequate and how to handle, grouse about idiots in central administration, plan agenda for weekly staff meeting.
12:00, grab a smoke, wander over to Student Union, grab large greasy slab o' pizza.
12:15, eat pizza at desk, answer lengthy phone query from advisor about financial aid minutae. College registrar wanders in with complaint about glitch in student database, dicuss.
1:00, e-mail Database Guru with request to fix glitch, read e-mail, scan Curriculum Committee minutes, respond tactfully to forwarded e-mail from concerned mother whose son is flunking calc, grab a smoke.
2:00, meet with suspended student seeking readmit. Discuss what went wrong ("My dad was diagnosed with cancer, I had to go home and take care of my mom, I missed a bunch of classes.") Coach student through preparing appeal letter, fill out petition form, write support letter, strategize feasible major/graduation plan, empathize, give hugs.
3:00, grab coffee, smoke, read news, MeFi, surf blogs.
3:15, wander the halls, stick heads in offices, exchange news o' the day with advising staff, provide consultation on sticky cases.
3:30, monthly review meeting with staff member, discuss proposed conference presentation and how this relates to staff member's doctoral research, review progress on annual goals/objectives.
4:15, read e-mail, wander down to Student Info Center, get updated on emergent crises, swipe cookie from student employee, approve petitions.
4:45, homeward bound.

6:30 - wake up. Remember I'm still unemployed.
8:30 - get out of bed, hit the shower. Try to remember: Interview today? If so, shave. If not, what the heck?
9:00 - turn on coffee maker, computer. Drink coffee, read MeFi, etc. Fuck off until either (a) cats want to go outside (b) wife wakes up, would like tea (c) computer breaks down.
11:00 - well hell, it's too late to really start working on finding a new job now, it's almost lunchtime!
12:00 - make lunch. Sandwiches, soup, or both?
1:00 - can't go back to "work" yet; it's still lunch break. Still time to read MeFi, play FreeCell or that shoot-the-zombie game I've got bookmarked.
2:00 - boy, those plants look awfully dry.
2:45 - so do the gardens outside.
4:00 - well hell, it's too late to really start working on finding a new job now, it's almost quitting time!
5:00 - official end of the work day; first beer. Start thinking about what to make for dinner.

10-10:30--arrive at work
til 1--work, work, work, relax, go smoke, work, surf, work, emails, work, surf...
1--get lunch and usually bring it back to desk
1-whenever--work, work, surf, go smoke, work, relax, chat, work, work, work, work, go smoke, email, phone, work, work, check out giveaway box, work, surf, surf, work, annoy coworkers, work, surf, work, work....

Since yhbc posted and is unemployed as I am...

5:45am - wake up enough to kiss hubby g'bye
8:00am - get up (this varies a bit, depends on when I went to bed and how well I slept)
8:05am - turn on pc and gather breakfast ingredients
8:10am - read email whilst eating breakfast
9:00am - start my rounds of the MetaSites (starting with MetaChat)
11:00am - watch Ellen (whilst still reading MetaWhatever)
12:00pm - lunch (whilst still reading MetaWhatever, usually by now I've done the rounds a couple times)
12:15pm - 5:00pm - Either log onto #mefi and/or go kill goblins (play EverQuest) and/or take a nap and/or read my blogroll
5:00pm - hubby gets home, check MetaSites one last time (maybe, I usually check 4 or 5 times per day unless I've made a post and then it's more often)
5:30pm - eat dinner
6:00pm - play EQ with hubby or watch a movie or read until time to go to bed (on Thursdays we go grocery shopping and pick up A&W)
9:00pm - 1:00am - go to bed (it varies, depending on day of week, if I've had a nap and if sex is on the agenda)

Yeah, I know - get a life. I'm working on it.

I'll play, since everyone was so generous in my 'Hometowns' chat...

I'm the "office manager" for a mid-sized politically progressive social justice non-profit. That means what I do in a day can vary wildly, but I'll try to catch the flavour of it for you:

730: Alarm goes off, hit snooze
snooze, snooze, snooze, snooze, snooze
830: Actually get up
Shower and dress; very causual office so I'm normally in jeans and a crappy shirt unless we have a funder visit or something special
850: Get in Car
900: Arrive at work

900 - 955: Best part of my day. I'm alone in the office, and I turn things on (copier, coffeemaker, etc). I weigh and stamp the outgoing mail. I listen to NPR, starting with The Writer's Almanac. I turn on my computer and read all my email -- my work email; my personal email; check MeFi, MeChat, LJ, and one or two other sites.
1000 - Phone call from Executive Director, with a list of things to do for the day:

10 am - 1 pm-ish: Do a wide variety of stuff. On any given day I might:
-- Do database searches for members that meet certain criteria & print/email the results of those searches
-- Call people to donate food, space, tables, etc. for a special event
-- Do data entry on a wide variety of topics
-- Clean the bathroom
-- write, sign, and send checks to vendors who need payment
-- Photocopy and sort info packets for meetings
-- Fix a computer
-- Call our Worker's Comp company about an employee who suffered a dog bite while going door to door getting petitions signed
-- Call a government office for any number of reasons
-- Fill out reports for the government
-- Vacuum

1 pm-ish: The mail arrives. I open and sort all the mail, and process any incoming donation checks. This involves typing lots of information into a custom written database and could involve checks anywhere from $30,000 grant checks to $5 cash donations from little old ladies. Once the checks are tracked, I create deposit slips for them and take them to the bank. I normally will pick up my lunch while I'm at the bank. Also, the classical music and news from our local NPR station ends at 1pm, so normally getting the mail is followed by putting on some loud CD (today it was The Killers & Interpol, but it varies widely).

2 pm - 5 pm: More unstructured "as it needs done" activity. Often we have volunteers who come in the afternoon and I supervise and find work for them. Other stuff might include:
-- Running big batches of credit card donations (normally a Friday thing)
-- Researching returned mail by phone number using free intenet resources, and updating mailing addresses if possible.
-- Meeting with a new vendor - photocopiers, telephones, you name it -- to evaluate their services and price
-- Proofreeding documents of all sorts (press releases, grant reports) - normally this is prefaced with someone coming in my office and handing me something while saying "read this and tell me if it make sense to you"
-- any and everything from the list above

5pm (hopefully) leave, but often its 6 or 8 before I get out the door....

I work in branding -- naming and writing
Get in around 6. Check email, MetaFilter, LJ, work email
Write packaging copy for some new flavor/size/shape of chips
Check email, MetaFilter, LJ, work email
Edit copy down to word count (I tend to overwrite.)
Walk to Starbucks with coworkers when they arrive in at 9am. Get chai. Feel like an ass for paying $3 for spicy tea.
Spend an hour thumbing through Dictionary of the Occult to find cool demon names with an i in them for a tech naming project.
Spend an hour with onelook.com trying to find words for fast that have an i in them
Phone meeting with client to discuss miraculous new non-profit group that sounds like every other miraculous new non-profit group. They want a name just like their competitors. Only different enough to trademark.
Walk to the local bar. Have mozarella sticks and a Diet Coke for lunch. Talk gossip about other people's work performance.
Talk client manager through chip copy. Change three words to be more in brand voice. Change six words to differentiate from client's other chips.
Spend an hour with a Latin dictionary trying to create words that sound fast with an i in them.
Talk to lawyers about legal results on a naming project. Beg them to "rescue" three really good names from category C. "What if we defined the competitive set a little smaller?"
Compile a list of about 250 names with the letter i in them. Send them off to the project lead. Apologize for such a paltry list.
Drink a Diet Coke. Eat chips I named last year. Gossip about more possible layoffs. Check email, MetaFilter, LJ, work email.
Write brand guidelines on how to properly apply the logo of major corporation on a golf shirt.
Take a chat break with my cellphone.
Write my section of an RFP response for a new name for a movie technology.
Check MetaFilter, LJ. Complain that there's nothing interesting yet. Check MetaTalk for drama.
Respond to a slew of work emails.
Shut down and head out the door around 4:45~6.

Ok here goes- I get to the lab at around 11, despite firm intentions to get there at atleast 9 everyday, and because i'm already late, i hurriedly make a cup of coffee, fire up all the *filter sites, and quickly skim thru lamenting that i'm always catching the tail end of discussions that I'm interested in... and then i head out to the back of the lab into an open but enclosed area where we keep the bees. I set up the experiment, and train bees to go thru a hoop ( i ferry them with a small bottle cap), and hope that the bee returns to the feeder on its own the next time. This process takes almost an hour. The experiment starts then, and then I spend the next hour or so watching the bees fly to the hoop and back. Occasionally i put a spider web in its path and note what it does...at the end of the experiment, i'm almost dying of boredom, and when the full set is over, i head back to the lab and plonk in front of the computer, one eye on the *filters and the other figuring out the next step in analysis of already collected data. Towards the evening I might update blog, or just put a link or something if the inspiration strikes.

I work for a store that sells scrapbooking supplies.
10- Alarm goes off
10:15- Wake up
10:15-10:45- Shower, make breakfast and such
10:45- Head to work
11:00- Arrive at work
11:00-11:30- Listen to boss talk about nonsense instead of telling me what I need to do
11:30-1:30- Enter new products into database, including 35 varieties of solid paper (Paper names including Pumpkin, Precious, Peach, Peacock, Pukegreen, etc.)
1:30-2:00- Eat lunch
2:00-2:20- Entertain the one customer that might show up that day
2:20-3:00- Wander around the store "tidying" objects because there's really nothing to do
3:00-3:30- Minesweeper because there's no freaking internet in the store
3:30-3:45- Contemplate shooting self with gun kept behind the counter
3:45-4:00- Yell at the boss's barking dog who's kept in her office all day; contemplate shooting BOSS with gun kept behind the counter
4:00-5:30- Cut 3.5 x 3.5 squares of previously mentioned paper and print out bar code labels for them to put in the store "paper book"
5:30-6:00- Rewash windows that the mentally challenged girl who also works at the store attempted to wash earlier
6:00-6:10- More Minesweeper
6:10-6:30- Let boss discuss with herself whether or not store should be shut down early because there are no customers
6:30- Boss agrees to shut down store early
6:30-7:00- Boss talks about nothing so I still manage to leave when I normally would
7:00- Head home

Jaksemas, you definitely need a raise, if only for the "Boss talking" portions of the day.

OK, probably too late, but anyway:

6.00 Alarm goes off. Slap snooze button.
6.09 Slap snooze button.
6.00 Alarm on mobile phone goes off (6.00 for real, because alarm is set 10 minutes fast in a vain attempt to get me up on time). Get up, turn phone alarm off, go back to bed (hey, give me a break, it's winter here).
6.09 Slap snooze button.
6.18 Slap snooze button.
6.27 Slap snooze button. Say "fuck, I'll be late". Get up for real.
6.28 - 6.59 Shower, shave, dress, bitch to self about wearing tie, drag kids out of bed, give them breakfast while having none myself.
7.00 Kiss kids goodbye, "zap" them with security key-card attached to ID card. Kiss partner goodbye. Go out to car.
7.00 - 7.45 Drive up M1 or sit stationary, depending on number of accidents today.
7.45 - 7.55 Walk from car park to office, going past 100s of empty car parks that shopping centre chains off until 9.00 am to foil people like me.
7.55 Turn on computer, get coffee, log into computer (local), log into computer (remote), wait a while for everything to happen. While waiting, fire up Portable Firefox from USB drive and check out MetaChat, Metalk and, if I have time, MetaFilter. Check e-mail.
8.30 Check out MetaChat, Metalk and maybe MetaFilter.
9.00 Work, usually compiling reports, analysing material sent to me as a result of reports and compiling more reports as a result of discrepancies between what the original report said and what material was sent, create documents so that I can send files to my Team Leader and get them off my desk, answer the phone and explain things very patiently to people like anastasiav (yes, I work for the government), schedule my audits for next month, shred stuff that has been analysed to death, attend meetings, drink coffee, compulsively check MetaChat, Metalk and maybe MetaFilter. Maybe log onto #mefi via the IRC backdoor that jimbob made. One day each week or so, I go out on an Audit instead of all the above. I do this, which is not as boring as it looks. Drink coffee at irregular intervals.
12.00 or somewhere around there Walk over the road the the shopping mall and buy something that will give me a heart attack in 20 years for lunch.
4.00 Walk to carpark.
4.10 - 5.00 Drive down M1, or sit stationary, depending on number of accidents today.
5.00 Kiss kids and partner hello, ask about their days.
5.15 Eat dinner.
5.15 Bath kids, while picking up their crap from all over the floor.
6.00 Brush kids' teeth.
7.00 Put kids to bed.
7.02 Put one of the kids back to bed.
7.03 Put another one of the kids back to bed.
7.04 Put the first kid back to bed again.
8.00 Relax - kids have gone to sleep. Wash and dry dishes. Make kids' school lunches for next day.
9.00 Check e-mail, maybe surf a bit. Watch TV (Mainly Mondays for Mythbusters and Thursdays for Amazing Race)
11.00 - 12.00 (ish) Go to bed.

Rinse, repeat. Stop after 50 years.

Well, my days are fairly variable depending on whether a deadline approaches or a fire starts up. I usually work about 9-6 M-F, but in heavy times, that might become 9-8 M-5 and 11-3 on Saturday.

But the vast majority of my days are spent with a dictaphone next to my mouth. I sit and ramble on and on in the dictaphone making the same arguments for the same kinds of motions, so that my secretary can type them out. We have about 10-12 motions that we file, and the law and the arguments stay pretty much the same. When there is a new and unique fact, I might have to do legal research on that new issue or have my paralegal do it. But for the most part, I can dictate any motion in my sleep because I do that constantly.

When I'm not dictating, I am either answering phone calls or e-mails from clients or doing legal research. We have meetings about 3-4 times a month do discuss cases and strategies. I go to court usualy about once a month, but if we ever have a case that will go trial, which we never seem to do, I might be there for a week straight. On average, I attend depositions 2-5 times a month, and those range from 2-8 hours each.

I have become quiet adept at surfing the net while dictating and talking on the phone, mainly because I work and think very quickly. I lose clarity and grammar points for my posts if I post while doing those because I don't focus enough on it---my primary attention is on my work.

That basically is my day.

Urg. dg's description makes my stomach ache.

The Routine, more or less:

4:30am: alarm goes off. Get up and walk over to the alarm and reset it for some variation between 4:40 and 5am (let's say 5am).
5:00: alarm goes off again. Get up, again. Turn it off. Do sit ups. Shave. Shower. Make Tea. Work on comics or illustrations.
7:45: finish getting ready and go to work.
8:30: arrive at work. Fire up e-mail, Meta*, and iTunes while eating a yogurt and an apple. Start drinking water.
9:30: finish "communications" work. Co-workers arrive. Drink water.
9:30 - ?pm: if not in various and sundry strategy or project management or staff supervision meetings then work on client projects: concept, mark-up, troubleshooting, create sitemaps and other documentation, handle miscellaneous requests from from co-workers with occasional dips back into communications work. Have hallway conversation about "prioritizing enhancements" to an existing project. Drink water.
1, 2, or 3pm: Make lunch consisting of oatmeal w/maple syrup. Drink some quality water.
one hour later: repeat of the first part of the day.
5:30 or 6pm: catch train home.
7:00pm: Run? not lately. So, dinner and a movie. Unless it's wednesday in which case it's a quick dinner and run off to band practice.
10 or 10:30: Sleepy time.

Do the same thing the next day.

Seriously people, I know it seems boring to y'all, but I'm fascinated. I always wondered what lawyers etc. actually DID. (not thinking that y'all were slacking --except that mefites probably by definition are-- but I have no concept of what non-scientists DO). Thanks so much.

(gaspode, I hear ya.)

Right now I bartend at a club and work for an catering/event staffing company.

If I work at the club it goes like this: (slight nod to Tim Curry)

7pm - 8pm
Make rounds and say hellos to the gang, go to upstairs bar, make inventory list, lose inventory list, tell one or both of the boss' what glassware is low, stock beer and booze from basement, negotiate and then plead with ice machine, tell one or both boss' that the ice machine is out of ice again, remind them also of glassware, light candles, choose dvd for big screen behind bar, remind one or both boss' about ice and glassware

8pm - 9pm
Mix drinks for early customers, shoot the shit with anyone who's hanging out, text message a few friends, make final pleas to one or both boss' about ice and glassware, receive said items, do one last check on product levels and run to the loo before the madding crowds arrive

9pm - 1am
4 and 5 deep at bar, curse the person who broke the fan b/c it's hotter than hell and muggy to boot, keep both boss' on their toes by running out of everything in spite of over stocking, explain several dozen times that "I only have bottled beer up here, all tap beer is served on the main floor" means that I don't have tap beer upstairs and that they'll have to go downstairs if they don't want any of the bottled beers I have - frequently I have to explain this multiple times to the same individuals, but I give them credit for persistence and believing in the power of positive thinking

1am - 1:30am
Start cleaning up as upstairs bar empties

1:30am - 1:45am
Start serving shots only, refuse to debate when 'last call really should be', invite those who continue attempt at debate to speak with one or both owners, one of whom is invariably standing beside them, having a shot, debate is generally short-lived

2am - 2:30 am
Pull drinks, count till, finish cleanup, find inventory list from beginning of evening

2:30am - on
Go downstairs to join the rest of the gang and proceed with any combination of drinking, eating, watching movies, playing basketball, talking trash, solving the world's problems and attempt, but usually fail to make it home before the sun is up

The catering gig is different every time. Sometimes I'm the only one, other times, like tomorrow night, I'll be on a staff of about 300. But like the VH1's "Where Are They Now?", there are constants:

A. The host or chef, or both, will freak out, sometimes spectacularly
B. Some 'necessity' will be lost, forgotten or broken
C. Someone will run terribly late
D. No one's the wiser or cares after things get rolling and the first round of drinks are served
E. It all ends up fine

I'm loving these. I would tell you mine, but I'm self employed, my work is boring, and my boss is an asshole.

Urg. dg's description makes my stomach ache.

Why? Seriously, I would like to know. I mean, I know my life sucks, but I wonder what others think.

It seems like you have a good life dg, full and productive but your last sentence sounded a bit flat.

I don't really have set hours but the following would be an average Tuesday for me.

9.30am ish Wake up and turn on computer and electric jug. Shower and dress. Reboil jug and make coffee.

10am to about 5pm Check email and correspond with varying staff members as to the previous evening's work. Answer staff members questions and fix any problems. Wages and book work. Eat when ready. Visit all the Mefi places in between doing all of the above.

6pm Leave for work, brave our local fifteen minute rush hour. Turn the air blue with swear words because I can't find a parking space outside the Studio and drive to carpark. Walk to Studio and find someone has just vacated a car space outside Studio. Curse a lot more.

6.30 Pay Staff. Check their routines or exercises if they want me to. Discuss coming events, students, classes, costumes and music choices.

10.30 Finish. Sometimes go for a drink with the staff which means we talk about work some more.

2am Bed. Sleep for a couple of hours. Read or watch taped shows for a while. Repeat pattern.

dg: for 17 years or so I worked for the same company (a major Savings & Loan in the US).

I hated dealing with stupid management, belligerant customers, hateful vendors, back-stabbling co-workers and a paycheck that didn't begin to make up for it all. That makes it sound like it was horrible the whole time and it wasn't. I usually worked with a few people that made a day tolerable.

I guess I'm just not cut out to exist in the corporate world.

Your post reminded me of all of that.