Something's wrong with this picture...

It's tax season... we all know this. If you didn't know this from all the commercials for Turbo Tax and H & R Block, then you know it from the growing panic inside you telling you that the time is getting nearer. Well for those of you who only get this feeling once a year and it goes away after you (a) fill out your 1040, or (b) give all your information to your tax accountant to fill out your 1040, then count your blessings. For me, the panicky feeling begins around January 1 and lasts until April 15. Then I get to go through all that again in August-September. But that's not really why I'm writing this post. It's to tell you about my day that I've had and how wrong it all seems...

What my day was like today:

Woke up around 8:00 (after hitting the snooze button a few times), got to work around 9:30, checked my emails. Nothing important - just a bunch of news updates, etc. The rest of the morning was taken up with me and a co-worker trying to get information about bonds, just to find out that we would have to wait until Monday. Then it was lunch. After lunch I did about 2.5 hours of real work, checked my personal e-mail, checked my bank statements, talked with my friend about how much she hates work, and now I'm here. It's 4:00 on a Thursday during the busiest time of year for tax accountants and I have no work to do. I've asked some of my superiors if there was any work for me, but I got the same answer: not right now - we're waiting. And the one client I know there is work for is all with the associate (he's doing the work and I'm reviewing it).

Here is what my day should be like:

It starts out about the same way (wake up, emails, etc.) but from then on it's work, work, work. Doing tax returns (or reviewing them), working on allocations, doing security analysis, etc. This will continue until lunch time when I take a quick lunch (sometimes eaten at my desk). After, the regime will continue until dinner. I'll order food and quickly eat it in the pantry with a few friends, then back to work. I work until eleven or twelve when I go home and pass out just to wake up and do it again.

This is how I usually feel at this time of the year:

But this is how I am today:


Does anything seem wrong with this picture??