Okay, so here is the average Friday for Stace and me:

3:45am I get up quietly to go to work. I leave the lights off for Stace.

5:00am-ish Stace may or may not have gotten up. I'm at the airport loading my plane. A cup of coffee later and soon I depart for Cedar Rapids, IA.

6:00am Stace rushes out the door, sticking closely to her routine of gulping coffee, lunch pail in one hand and messenger bag over the shoulder, and rummaging for her keys. She makes a couple of trips back into the house to select the proper jacket (autumn can be difficult). She then sets off the car alarm at least once (new cars can be difficult).

6:30 am I watch the sunrise over eastern Iowa.

7:00am Stace arrives at work, a major insurance company, which I have only seen the outside of the building. It's a joyless building, built on the pain of countless Minnesotans. Not even light escapes from it's interior. I imagine it's very much like Orwell's 1984 on the inside.

7:02am Stace thinks about how much she hates her job.

8:00am I arrive in Dubuque, IA. after brief stops in Cedar Rapids and Davenport, IA.

9:00am Stace wallows in her loathing for this job. Her last day is Monday. She counts the days, nay, minutes until she is free from the immoral, unethical, and deeply disturbing environment of a large, right wing, corporate insurance conglomerate. (I suspect they just let children die sometimes.)

9:02am I'm watching TV in the pilots lounge. Should I go out to breakfast or take a nap. Hmmm, I guess......zzzzzzzz.

11:00am Stace calls me after I eat lunch. I sit on a park bench in Iowa and tell her how nice my day is going. She tells me how much this place sucks the life from her bones. Her voice seems hollow.........and distant.

12:00pm During lunch hour, Stace's boss holds a farewell party for her. This mandatory party destroys lunch hour for everyone in her office. This "golden hour" as it's called in the healthcare world is the only time during the day the employees are away from their desks. They now hate her. Some cry openly.

12:30 pm I depart Dubuque, and a couple of brief stops later, I land in St. Paul at 3:00pm. The drive home is pleasant and traffic free.

3:30 pm Stace's is the best worker in her department, and it's a major loss to the company. Her employer presents her with a Target gift card. She thanks them, but she can't buy back the 6 months of her life she lost to the cubicle on the 3rd. floor. And I don't think Target sells a conscience cleaner.

4:00pm I'm not loving my new lawn mower bag. My day is ruined.

5:30pm Stace comes home. She says the lawn looks great and she hates her job.

6:00pm Instead of our usual Friday night visit to the Contented Cow (which we haven't done for months), Stace asks if I want pizza delivered. This is like asking a dog "Does this smell?".

8:00pm Like all 37 year olds, we sit back and eat pizza (Basil's house special) and drink red wine (Barefoot cabernet sauvignon).

Our lives are good.