Sunday Blues

NOTE – Originally written in 2014, I updated it for 2025 after a fantastic two-week vacation in the public lands of Texas.  I currently have a job that rarely goes past my free time firewall. At least on paper.

However, I am currently the sole technical person for my organization, and I dread what fires happen when I take off for two weeks. I kept my work phone at home and over 1000 miles away. But someone actually texted Joan in an attempt to get ahold of me!

Aw… small-town problems.

All about the phenomenon known as the Sunday Blues.

For many weekend warriors who jealousy guard their free time for outdoor pursuits, there is often a phenomenon called “The Sunday Blues.”

This phenomenon is not just for outdoor people, of course. But it feels especially acute among many friends who work full-time and love the outdoors.

The more I enjoy a trip, the more depressed I get the night before I go back to work. 

Both for my current and past partners, I am ashamed to admit it, and I notice how grumpy I get on a Sunday evening. My Northeast roots show with sarcasm, curtness, and surliness.

A past partner called me “The Grumpster.”

When we go on vacation together, Vacation Paul gets seen by Joan.. The goofy, overall nice guy who gets really excited about the outdoors, the local history, and culture.

Vacation Paul is the person Joan married. “The Grumpster” is sometimes a bit of an ***hole.

The sense of freedom I had over the weekend or vacation slipped away into my IT job’s beige cubicle world come morning.

My IT job is not hard on a technical level, but is demanding with many people needing everything from a simple printer setup to troubleshooting a WAN issue with network engineers remotely. It seems I am constantly putting out fires with many people asking, “Just a quick question, Paul…” and me looking like the ***hole above as I am indeed a bit frazzled and have to politely explain I can’t address their issue currently.

A bit different from the office….

Like many people, I have a terrible habit of trying to extend the weekend. I read the book, watched some YouTube videos, and updated some photos.

All to stave off the coming morning.

Before I know it, it is 1 am on a Sunday (Monday, really), and the alarm is about to go off in a few short hours.

I often call IT my trade job – It is something I fell into that I don’t particularly like but don’t particularly hate. It provides employment that pays well and is always in demand.

In many ways, I am not far removed from the people in my family who were part of the previous generation of tradespeople.

Unlike previous generations of my family,  Joan and I have no children, and I work in a trade that, ultimately, has more options and flexibility.

And, truth be told, the work week is truly never as bad as the mere anticipation of said week. Unlike my Dad and Grandfather, I doubt I’ll have any permanent injuries from many years of work.  My job allows me to cross into the world of Middle-Class People’s Problems. 😉

So I quit whining. Suck it up.  Consume too much coffee. I go through the day, and the week begins in earnest again.

Unlike my Denver-area  IT past, I now have a more flexible schedule, more vacation time, many short work weeks, and the free time firewall (mainly) gets preserved.

It’s a good job in many ways. But it’s a job and an IT job overall.

I recently joked to Joan that IT = Infite Toil.  For various reasons, I wear many hats in places that lack technical people.

In the meantime, I’ll try not to let the Sunday Blues get to me. Ultimately, it is in my control by cultivating a mental attitude and concentrating on what is good about my life.

The job on Monday mornings allows me to hike, packraft, and camp. It allows me to do it all with a fantastic person who I love deeply.

And ultimately, it is the job of another way to help Joan and me build the life we want together.

And that is what it is all about in the end.