The Other Hand (RC #6)

Today’s switch was an altogether boring one, and one I’ve tried before: I swapped the mouse from the right side to the left at work. My home computer is a laptop and mercifully touchpadded, so my Carpal Tunnel Syndrome preventing measures only reach as far as the office. I’ve done this so many times before that, really, it was just a matter of making the mouse jump over the keyboard – I have no problems using it with my left hand. I’ve just hadn’t noticed how bad things were getting.

While we’re being all ambidextrous, I cut my left hand at the weekend and had to be a bit careful with it for a day or two and ended up opening jars with my right hand. Mouse in the left hand? No problem. Open jars with the right one? You have got to be kidding me. It has hard, I’m telling you, hard. So not very ambidextrous after all.

I know what I’m doing (RC #5)

My mum moved house recently and I stayed the night at her new place not long ago. It was nice, but curiously stressful at the same time. I didn’t know where anything was, the sounds (or rather the blissful lack of noise from neighbours/traffic/passing dogs/anything) were strange, the shower took some getting used to. I kept moving my things around, trying to find a place for them and, with them, myself.

I’ve moved house an unhealthy number of times – the stress, oh the stress – and have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done: build routines. Figure out the most effective/comfortable/elementary ways to do things and then keep doing them that way – i.e. build routines.

Routines enable us to concentrate on other things. While I do think it’s good to shake them up every now and then and check whether they actually are as optimised as I think they are, I also value my routines and appreciate the easiness of a familiar pattern, of a predictable day. Having to constantly rebuild everything would be incredibly stressful and laborious.

And so I report nothing out of the ordinary. Just a celebration of stability.

Back into the habit (RC #4)

I used to read a lot when I was younger, and I spend a lot of time in libraries. They were my favourite places to be and I even thought about becoming a librarian. Then life happened, I didn’t read as much anymore or read only to study, and my library visits became rare. There have been periods of more frequent attendance, but mostly I just go if I need something, not to pass the time.

I didn’t know what to do today. I have books to read (bookshops have, to some extent, replaced libraries in my life, although it’s not the same), and I wanted to get out of the flat. And then the thought occurred to me: a library. There just might be a library open on Saturdays somewhere. And behold, there was, and I went. And I sat for an hour and a half reading magazines and then took out two interesting books and a film, oh and a vegan cookbook too, and reminded myself to go a gain soon. It used to be routine: borrow books, read them (or not, in which case extend the loan period), take them back and get new ones. Sometimes music, maybe a film, read the papers. For free, which really is a luxury.

And now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and read a book.

Going, going, gone (RC #3)

I’m off to see some sights and spend quality time with family. No work today! Also, I had salad for breakfast. The lettuce leaves weren’t going to last until tomorrow. But now I’ve got a train to catch!

Routine (un)challenge #2

So, turns out I’m really stuck in my routines, such as they are. The day was much like any other except for the weather which was really, really hot and made me want to just skip a few days until it’s nice and cool again. Strangely enough, today was also the day that I voluntarily spent hunched over my computer at work, trying to figure out the best way to use a javascript thingy that’s quite good but not perfect for something I need to do.

Actually, let that be my break from routine for today: work was all about problem-solving and figuring things out for myself and learning rather than the usual rather mindless and mechanical chores that my job mostly consists of. And this was nice even if it did mean spending an inordinate number of hours in a hot, stuffy office staring at a very big screen. Note to self: find a job with a better creativity/routine ratio.

Routine challenge #1

NaBloPoMo is a year round event, although obviously not on my blog. The theme for July is ‘routine’, and while I’m making no promises, I thought I’d try and post a bit more often than I’ve been wont to do of late, since I feel like challenging my routines. The way I’m going to try to do this is by looking at the otherwise ignored routines in my life and trying to change them ever so slightly, one by one. The change doesn’t have to be permanent, or noticeable to anyone but myself and, through these posts, hopefully a reader or two. And this is not as much about breaking routines as it is about becoming aware of them; sure, break any vicious circles and come up with better ways of doing things, but it’s enough even to just observe a behavioural pattern for a day.

Today’s routine change? I got up on the other side of the bed. The narrow gap between my bed and the window. And hear ye, hear ye, this was good. It made me look out of the window and take a deep breath before getting to my normal morning routine. Could try it again.

Change

The NaBloPoMo theme for January is change, and while I know that I just can’t commit to daily posting right now, not this January, the theme is tempting. I’ve always been a big fan of change, which may come as a surprise to some people but is still true. And the New Year is always so symbolic of change, with or without resolutions. Maybe I’ll write more on change. Let’s see.

Meanwhile back at the sanatorium: my neighbours are doing their best to push me over the edge mentally, but physically there’s been a change for the better. No fever today, finally! Sneezing all but stopped! Coughing at a tolerable level! I even went for a leisurely half-hour walk today and didn’t die or anything. There’s hope yet.

Happy Advent!

I’m still here! NaBloPoMo, my first ever, is finishing and I made it! Well, sort of – let’s not talk about actual content, shall we? Then again, my aim was quite simply to make it through the month and make a habit out of writing here, and that I’ve done.

In other news: porridge. I had oatmeal porridge for breakfast. Then I thought that I should celebrate the first advent by doing something Christmas-sy and decided on – more porridge. The inspiration was rice porridge with cinnamon and sugar; the outcome was barley porridge made with oat milk instead of the real thing and, although I did have and use cinnamon, I didn’t have any regular sugar and used babies’ fruit puree instead. Not half bad, even if the only original ingredient was cinnamon.

Happy advent!

Nearly forgot…

…to blog today, and what a shame that would have been…

But here I am, on a friend’s computer, telling you that Vicky Christina Barcelona was a nice film, dancing is good, tiredness not so much and burn out very much not. Hoping that I’ll manage everything. Now enjoying some Christmas songs and cookies and things in good company. And this is just a filler post, really; I’ll get back to my company now. And to you later…

Tip tap toe

My new tap shoes got their first outing today. And they’re good, just a little stiff still. Possible a teeny tiny bit too big at the heel, so I might have to fill them with something or wear thicker socks. While many steps felt nicer with them, for some reason a bigger shoe completely ruined my pullbacks, which weren’t strong to begin with. Practice, practice, practice…

Tired, oh so tired. A nasty to-do-list lurking at the back of my mind means sleeping won’t be quite as simple as it sounds, though.