01641: Figuring Out The Phase Alignment

In Star Trek: the Original Series, the episode "Wink of an Eye" featured a race of beings who are "hyper-accelerated," and thus live on a different frequency as the rest of us. They are able to demonstrate just how different they are by deftly dodging a now slow phaser beam, although scientifically this is actually impossible. The aliens eventually force Captain Kirk onto their frequency of living in order to explain their need for assistance in breeding given they are somehow sterile.

A few blog posts ago, I wrote about how Tobie and I practically live in different worlds because of our respective schedules. This fact remains quite true, but now it seems like our worlds are shifting around again. Increased responsibilities at work now have Tobie needing to report earlier than he used to, thus potentially limiting our time together even further. This isn't really that big an issue, I feel, given we have so many different ways of staying in touch, but at the same time that doesn't make it a fun reality to face.

In some ways, it feels like we're somewhat drifting further apart in terms of physical time that we have together, much like in the aforementioned Star Trek episode. Then again, we still live together and so we're going to have quality time in the evenings when he gets home and of course during the weekend when we finally have shared free time. It's a reality that is no different than what most working households face.

At least the extent of our being out of phase isn't as bad as in "The Tholian Web," which is another classic Star Trek episode. There Captain Kirk was turned into a virtual ghost - occasionally visible to random members of the Enterprise crew but unable to communicate or interact with this phase of reality. Tobie and I are always just a text message or phone call away, plus other methods of communication like Google Hangouts in Gmail and such.

I feel really bad for Tobie - he has way too much on his plate. He's juggling two different jobs plus my complicated schedule and thus that's really taking its toll on him. I do my best to support him and I'm trying to take on more of the household chores given I'm the one who has a bit more time at home these days. I never really considered how much "domestic time" I have given how busy my own work life is. However compared to what Tobie has to handle now, I know I'm getting the better deal.

If only there were a way to get everything that we want - enough money to be geekily happy and yet with enough time to be together. I think about this time and time again, but I know that I can't quite leave the BPO industry just yet given how well it pays but more importantly given how much of my career I've invested here. I'm with a pretty good company and I know that we're going to go places and I certainly want to be around to witness that continued growth and see the company through its current process of business evolution. Sacrifices just have to be made for now whether we like it or not but in time I sincerely hope that it all pays off.

I want to be able to retire at a relatively early age and just enjoy the rest of my life with Tobie. I want to spend my later years writing books and making a decent (but not necessarily astronomical) amount of money to sustain us. It's a nice dream - one that I think most working people have. And I still think that it's certainly possible.