A to Z Challenge – R is for Routine

Some may call it being stuck in a rut, I call it following a routine. By performing tasks in a set order, every time, I find there’s less chance for me to forget an important step. I find this especially important now that there are times I tend to not recall if I did something or remembered to take something important.

Setting a routine also helps me gauge where we are in terms of the workday, and whether we’re ahead of things or falling behind. Based on what time it is and what task I’m currently performing, I can see where potential delays are about to occur, or even if we can advance to another task and try to get things done early.

I even arrange my work area in a certain fashion so I know where everything is and I know what has and hasn’t been finished. Some may know the term mise en place – a term used in cooking to mean having everything you need, from tools to cookware to ingredients and garnishes, prepped and ready to be put together with a minimum of guesswork, if any. I’ve adapted this to my work, keeping things in a certain place and order, minimizing clutter and allowing me to focus on the tasks at hand.

Do I get thrown out of whack when my routine is disrupted? Sometimes, but I can recover fairly quickly simply by getting my system back in place and stepping back into the routine. It may take me a moment to gather my thoughts, but once I do, it’s all good.

A to Z Challenge – Q is for Quandary

We’re entering the home stretch of this challenge, and despite one hiccup (which was totally health-related and I did make up for it), I think I’ve done pretty good keeping up with the flow.

And, then comes May 1^st and … what then? Should I keep writing or let this blog sink back into the nothingness I dragged it from in order to enter this challenge?

I tend not to blog a lot because I really think people don’t care about what I have to say anyhow. That’s why it sat and languished for close to seven years.

I guess I’ll ponder it over the next few days and come to a decision by the time this challenge is over.

A to Z Challenge – P is for Purines

Thanks to my having a pretty nasty case of gout, I’ve been instructed to follow a low-purine diet to help minimize the amount of uric acid in my system. I did some research on this, and I learned the following:

‘Purine’ is a medical term. It means:

• a) Any food that possesses flavor, or is otherwise stimulating to the taste buds; or
• b) Any food that you particularly like; all of your favorite foods.

And by ingesting large amounts of purines, you can build up excess uric acid in your tissues, which crystallizes in your joints and causes gouty arthritis. 

I had been on a diet anyway, since my weight was starting to balloon out of control due to the ease of obtaining and prevalence of fast food near to my place of work. Even just cutting that out and switching to salads from the convenience store, with the non-fat dressings, thank you, were enough to help me shed some poundage, and I suspect the horrors beset upon me last week helped me lose even more. And it did, but I suspect the post-purge binge leveled me off again.  Sigh.

The only problem is, with no clear diet plan, and after reading no less than four different medical websites and getting four diametrically different answers, I’ve split the difference and culled what all of them agree on, cut drastically what they differ on in quantity, and ignored the rest.

Much like every other diet I’ve been on.

As a result, I probably take in less than a thousand calories a day, even with coming home and having a snack before bed (and to satisfy the requirements of the meds I have to take with food).

As long as it doesn’t taste good and is healthy, I’ll be fine.

Stupid purines.

A to Z Challenge – O is for Observe

I’ve always been something of the quiet type. I much prefer to sit in the back and listen than to be the center of attention and do most of the talking. I’ve found this served me well in being able to escape social situations where I felt uncomfortable – most times, no one even noticed I had left until well after the gathering was over. Some didn’t even know I was there in the first place.

But, as quiet as I may be, I’m also watching and listening to what’s going on around me. I am an observer, in that I pay attention to small things that others may miss by being otherwise engaged.

For instance, I may have come and taken a look at your blog, maybe read a few posts that grabbed my interest. I may not have had anything to say at the time, hence no comment was left, but in that short span of time, I’ve learned a bit more about you, either your personal side or your creative side, whichever you display more prominently.

And if I find you interesting enough, I will be back.

A to Z Challenge – N is for Negative

A lot of people seem to think I have a somewhat negative attitude toward life in general, but this is actually quite far from the truth. I have a fairly positive outlook, to be honest. In fact, I’m usually quite positive that something is going to happen that’s going to completely wreck my day. This serves me well in two ways. First, if such an event does happen, I’m not completely blindsided by it and can usually cope with the fallout and aftermath easier, and if the reverse is true, then I’m quite relieved that things are continuing to go well. It’s win-win.

Sometimes, being negative isn’t all that horrible. Think about the times where being negative was actually a good thing, in the case of lab tests or biopsies. People are usually overjoyed when they find out that a test for a certain something came back negative, especially when the test was to confirm something they didn’t particularly want in the first place.

Look at it this way: you keep a positive outlook about a certain something you want to happen in your life. You’re completely stoked about it, all signs are pointing to yes, this is going to be your moment in the sun, your moment of glory … and then it crashes and burns around you. Now how do you feel? Pretty depressed, crushed, almost defeated? Well, keeping a slight hint of negativity to balance out the euphoric state of positivity won’t make the low seem so bad, softens the blow a bit and helps you shrug it off and move to the next thing, and could even elevate the elation if the thing does indeed come to pass.

I’m not espousing nihilism, or cynicism … okay, maybe a little bit of cynicism, but only to maintain the checks and balances that keep our world functioning. Mix a little Wednesday Addams with Pollyanna and your life might even seem a bit better for it.

Of that I’m positive … but I could be wrong.

A to Z Challenge – M is for Monday

After basically sleeping away the weekend thanks to the colonoscopy and the plague I seem to have brought home from work, I feel a lot less like a hot, steaming deathcake with extra death sauce, but I’m not completely recovered yet. I should be able to make it through most of my day tomorrow, I hope … I really can’t afford to lose any more money.

I’ve had kind of a love-hate relationship with Mondays, usually based on what job I was doing at the time. Mondays with the postal service usually meant double the volume I would have to bring out to the post offices, because even though there’s no delivery on Sundays, the mail is still moving. There was usually a two-day lag, and Tuesdays and Wednesdays were lighter than average until the volume caught back up again.

In the job I do now, it’s hard to tell when volumes will spike or on what particular day will be the busiest. We basically end up playing it by ear and see what comes in. At most, we’ll spike a bit toward the end of the month/quarter/fiscal year as companies rush to get billable freight off their docks and into their revenue stream.

Given how I feel, I can only hope tomorrow will be somewhat merciful and I can actually make it through the night.

Assuming I don’t cough up a major organ in the meantime.

A to Z Challenge - L is for Lousy

I feel horrible.

I spent the better part of past night revisiting dinners I've eaten since infancy, thanks to this wonderful prep medicine I had to take  At least I solved the mystery of why there was no toy in my Cracker Jack box back in '74.

I have not been able to take any of the medications that help me to be a functioning member of society, and as a result, I am cranky and in quite a bit of pain.

And, on top of everything, I think I'm coming down with something.

I do promise that next week's posts shall be a bit more on the lighthearted side, but for now, I just want to fulfill the obligation and maybe get some decent sleep later on.

I hope all of you are doing better.