OCS: Obsessive Compulsive Scheduling

Over my winter vacation I played a lot of tennis, and I spent so much time contacting people, negotiating times, and reserving courts, that I mentioned to Rebecca, "It's a good thing I'm on vacation, because just setting up all my tennis games feels like a full-time job."

Now that the holidays are over and my regular leagues and workouts are starting again, I hope to get back to a more regular tennis schedule that doesn't involve so much planning and organizing on my part.

As a result of winning my Sunday afternoon beginner's league last December, I get to move up to the Tuesday evening "Bronze" league starting this week. I'm very excited to be playing in the more advanced league. It's like graduating from half-day Kindergarten to first grade, and I'm looking forward to competing with the big kids. I also like the fact that the league meets on Tuesdays, which is a perfect midway point between playing on the weekend and my Thursday evening workout. I'm looking forward to the new schedule and the new competition.

1. On Monday I get an email from an instructor at my college. She has a night class that needs a library tour. Can I do it on Tuesday, Jan 22? The class only meets once a week, on Tuesdays, so I can't offer to do it another day. In order to do my job, I'll have to miss the second meeting of my new tennis league.
   
2. Sure, the 22nd is fine, I reply to the instructor, knowing that I'll have to see if I can reschedule the match for that week for another day.
3. The Bronze league season begins on Tuesday, and I woke up that morning excited about my first match that night.
   
4. Tuesday morning I get an email from my first scheduled opponent. He has a "conflict" and can't make it tonight. When am I available to reschedule? I'm crushed at this news-- I was so ready to play! And now I have to miss the first two Tuesdays in my new league. So after ruminating about the best days/times to play that would fit in with my schedule and that are available for league make-ups, I send reply that I can play on Saturday, any time, just let me know when.
   
5. Then I email my opponent for week #2, tell him I have an unavoidable work thing that night, and ask him if we could possibly reschedule our match. I suggest a few times.
6. Disappointed that my opponent for tonight canceled and I was so pumped to play, I email a tennis friend and ask her if she would like to play that night.
7. She says sure, just tell me what time.
8. I call the tennis center and re-reserve the court that had been canceled by my opponent #1.
9. I email back my friend and tell her what time.
10. Tuesday night, I play a non-official match with L, who whips up on me. She just won the Bronze league, the one that I'm moving up to, so she's moving on to the Silver league. I put up a pretty good fight (we have lots of long points and close games) in a 2-6, 4-6 loss.
    
11. Wednesday morning, I haven't heard anything from opponent #1, so I email him again which days/times I'm available this weekend for a make-up.
12. Opponent #2 emails me back and gives me a time he can play.
13. I call the tennis center, cancel our regular league court time for Tuesday night #2 and reserve one for the previous Monday instead.
    
14. I get a second email from the instructor at my college. She actually had it wrong-- it was Jan 29, not Jan 22, that she had me on her syllabus to visit her class. Can I come then instead?
15. I start to respond to her that I'm not available on the 29th, which is kinda not true, because I'm just as available on the 29th as I am on the 22nd, except that I've already gone through all the trouble of rescheduling my match for the 22nd (see items #5, 12, 13 above.) And if I did her class on the 29th, I'd have to miss three Tuesday night tennis matches in a row, or un-reschedule the week #2 match, which would be a headache and also make me look like I don't have my shit together, which I don't like.
    
16. But I don't send the email. That evening I talk to my advisers, who both assure me that I'm not being unprofessional or unreasonable to tell the instructor I'm unavailable when I really don't want to mess with my tennis schedule again after I've already re-arranged it for her.
17. I send the original mail to the instructor, saying I'm not available on the 29th, but could we go ahead and do the 22nd anyway? I offer to come to her class an hour later in case she needs to get some things done before I get there.
    
18. I call opponent #2 and confirm our match for next Monday morning, 9:00 am. (As luck would have it, that's MLK Day so I don't have to work.)
    
19. The instructor emails back at says an hour later on the 22nd would be "perfect." Excellent.
20. Thursday morning, I get an email from another tennis friend, asking if I want to play sometime this weekend.
21. I respond, sorry, I have to make up two league matches over three days. I'm also playing in a doubles league on Sunday afternoon. Maybe another time.
    
22. Meanwhile, opponent #1 still has not told me when we're playing on Saturday. He's had three days to reserve a court, so I email him and ask if he has a time yet. I say I'd like to know when when we're playing so I can plan my weekend. I even offer to call the tennis center myself. I don't mean to nag, but it's been three days, and how long does it take to pick up a phone and call the tennis center?
    
23. He emails me back almost immediately: he's reserved a court Saturday late morning. Does that work for me?
24. Yes, it does.

This reminds me of the old joke about the couple that has ten kids. It's not, "How do they find the time to take care of all those kids?" but "Where did they find the time to conceive them?" That's almost what my tennis game feels like.