June 30, 2007
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This is actually a "Wayback Post" originally entered on this blog on May 12, 2006. I am reposting it somewhat edited as my entry for the Internet Island Blogring's latest Topic Post #26.1 Routine. The original post received 11 comments and most of those readers are still reading this blog, so if this seems familiar, it's because you've read it before during your blogging "routine". MFN, ppf
26.1: Routine. What is your routine? We all have one, to some extent. They usually begin with the start of the day, as the alarm clock "rings" (or plays an appropriate wake up song) and we arise from slumber. Some of us wake before the sun arrives, and some of us are lazily content to eke out the most pleasure from our bedtime before we rise. Do we make breakfast? Or are we out the door in a shot, planning the workday's bullet points in our heads? What is the likely order of your day's events?
WEEKDAYS: The alarm clock is set for 3:05 am but I hardly ever hear it. My internal body clock usually wakes me between 2:30 am and 3:00 am. I awake quickly. Morning is my "best time" of the day. I make my bed and lie out my clothes for the day. It only takes roughly 15 minutes in the shower. I've worn a beard for years, so shaving doesn't last long. By 3:05 am, when the alarm should be ringing to awake me, I'm fully dressed, with my keys, pens, and newspaper change lying on the bed in readiment, and then I "retire" to my "media room" where I stretch out on my La-Z-Boy recliner with the lights off to snooze for a couple of hours.
Sometimes I'll use the time before leaving for work to enter finances on my computer, and pay some bills, or create an image for my blog article, like I did when I created the "wagon wheel in a rut" image on this one. I save the image to the blog, having already either written or thought about what I'm going to write, and then at 5:30 am I'm out the door and on the way to work.
The 15 mile drive usually takes about a half hour, and I'm in the office at 6:00 am. I'm usually the second one in the office. John, our inside salesman, makes it in about a half hour before me. We both have sets of keys to the building.
If I'm "caught up" with the previous day's business, I like to visit a few blogs, make a few comments, and if I have a blog article prepared, I will present it, or else I'll write it while at work. This is done with the Notepad program. Since I'm at work, after all, if something comes up, I can save the file and then reopen it when I have the time. As an 'executive' in our company, I don't have to feel as if I'm "sneaking" time by blogging, as long as the work for the day gets done.
By 7:00 am, the rest of the office starts filing in. Since the time clock is in the panel shop right outside the conference/testing room, which is next to my office, I hear everyone come in, and they always call "hi" to me as they pass the office. If it's busy, and I have unfinished business, I might be in the testing area testing panels, or finishing drawings and schematics at my computer. Usually I like to use this time for blogging, however, when I can.
At 7:30 am every workday, I take my walk. By now, there are about half of the 25 people who work here at the office. I walk three times around our business park at a fairly rapid clip. I don't jog because of my hip replacement, which sometimes causes my left leg to hurt. I actually walk faster than some of the joggers I pass. This exercise takes about 20-30 minutes. Then I really begin my workday. I don't take breaks, so I'm pretty much working nonstop from 8:00 am till lunch, at noon.
I divide my "tasks" at work into three sections on my whiteboard. I quote over 75 percent of the product we sell, so there is a list of quotes to be accomplished on the right hand side of the board. I design all the panels for which we get orders, and the non repeatable and first time builds have to be documented with kit lists and schematics, wire lists, and dimensionals showing how the panel is to be built by the technicians. At any given time I have a long list of quotes and design pacakges, which we call MDF's or "master document folders". I create most of the documentation on my computer. I also act as another salesman and enter some orders as well. I have to "okay" all the panel orders for work orders when they come in, so the right parts are purchased prior to construction. Last week, while looking at my board, I had about 6 quotes "crossed off" or finished, with three pending. (Which will be finished by the end of the Monday.) There are 12 MDF's on the board. Two are completed, and there are 10 MDF's left to be completed. All sales orders have been entered for the week. I always try to "top myself" when quoting. In my best month, I quoted 89 individual jobs or panels, and we received orders for about 10 of them. I can get orders for panels I quoted three or four years ago. This last month I quoted 32 jobs, and have received about 20 orders from quotes. I went home a bit early on Friday, after having booked an order for $63,500.00. A pretty nice order. We're pretty busy. The most expensive panel inhouse is going to cost my customer $ 8,000.00. Once, a customer from Ensenada, Mexico, picked up a panel on will call and paid cash. $4000.00 in $20.00 bills. Usually we invoice the customer and he pays by check.
At noon I go to lunch, and I always leave the building. I read the L.A. Times while I'm eating my lunch, and I have a specific restaurant and meal for each day of the week. This is my only meal during the day, so it is large, with salad, entree, and sometimes dessert. When my favorite restaurant closed down a few years ago, it took me a while to find replacements. When I enter a restaurant, I'm a "regular" so the waitresses usually know what to have waiting for me when I come in. Sometimes my raspberry iced tea and salad are on the table when I am seated. I only have an hour for lunch so this saves a lot of time waiting to order. "Are you having your usual?" is a question I hear almost every day around noonish. Mondays I usually have a turkey dinner at Denny's. Tuesday is my "high cholesterol day" with fried "California Spuds", a salad, and a reuben sandwich at a local restaurant called Egg's and Such. Wednesday is a club sandwich on wheat toast, accompanied by a salad and a small bowl of chili at Spires. Thursday is a sourdough bacon burger with fries and a salad at Frisco's Carhops, and Friday usually the spinach salad and vegetarian chili at IHOP.
I'm back in my office between 1:00 pm and 1:30 pm. I'm on salary, and don't have to abide by any set schedule. At 3:00 pm, I'm done with my day of work, and say goodbye to receptionist, and get in my car to go home. Since I work early, I miss traffic going both to work and coming home.
When I get home, I usually check to see what I've got in the mail from Netflix, what I've recorded on the Tivo or I pop a DVD in the player. For an hour or two, I watch the program, and drink a couple of cold Smirnoff Ice's. (Or iced tea when I'm not drinking alcohol) I'm ready for a nap about two hours after coming home. Sometimes I might nap till 7:00 pm or 8:00 pm and then work on the computer, writing, blogging, or image or videomaking. If I worked a lot on the computer at work I won't do a lot at home. I used to read during this time but now the only reading I seem to do is on the internet. I don't "watch TV" like my roommate does. We both have separate rooms and he watches TV on my older bigscreen. I have a queue of DVD's and recorded material off the Tivo so that I only watch exactly what I want and pause the program when I wish to "nod off". If I nap, I pause the program, the lights are already out, and I nap in my La-Z-Boy. By 8:00 pm, I'm usually ready for bed.WEEKENDS: I still awake at about 3:30 am to 4:00 am on Saturday mornings, and I spend the mornings on both Sat. and Sunday blogging or working on the computer and my website. Sometimes I spend three or four hours reading and commenting on blogs. Prior to blogging, I was involved with quite a few Yahoo Poetry and Friendship groups. I call this time "doing my correspondence". I go out to breakfast or "brunch" early on weekends, and sometimes take in a movie at our local AMC. Since the prices rose so high a couple of years ago, I don't go out to movies much. I can watch a DVD which I rent from the Netflix service instead of going out.
Sometimes weekends can be weird, since I might rise real early, and then wish to nap at 2: 00 or 3:00 pm. I might nap for a couple of hours, watch a few hours of movies, or work on the puter, and then nap again, all the way through the night. By Monday morning at 3:30 am I'm up again, ready to go to work.I put an image of a wheel in a rut above. I don't really think I'm in a "rut", but sometimes I do feel the routine seems just too similar. Gas prices are really high right now, and I'm still struggling with my finances, so I don't travel much on weekends, but in the past, I did break up the week's seeming monotony by going on "excursions". Liz and I went on quite a few of these in 2005. I haven't been going on too many excursions this year, and Liz seems to always be at Disneyland. Part of why I have a large credit card debt was a lot of travelling I did in the past 10 years. I'd think nothing of spending a few days in Vegas and charging it all on a credit card. Now I'm paying for those good times. Sometimes it seems like I'm in a rut, but sometimes I feel like I'm living the Life of Riley.
I read a comment from a regular reader once thanking me for visiting their site since they knew I was so "busy". Frankly, I always hate being called "busy". I don't use that as an excuse at any time. Our CEO at work likes to tell me I'm too busy to do something, but I never tell anyone any such thing. I practice time management principles, and I like to think I get around to everything I need to do. I'm at a point in my life where I pretty much drive my own train. I read a lot of blogs where the writers apologize repeatedly for not commenting or visiting as much as they feel they should. I always try to console them and tell them that they don't need to think they "have to" visit or comment on my site. I like people to visit when they can take the time. And when I visit in return, I usually take the time to read quite a few posts I might have missed, and respond to each one. Sometimes this is in one "letter" and sometimes this is on individual entries. It's been quite busy at work, and when I get home I'm sometimes too pooped to get back on the computer. I'm not blogging as regularly either, and those articles I do post usually announce something on which I'm working.
No matter how one looks at it, life is a series of routines, and we all try to keep up, and to be happy while we're doing so. Right now, I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to the many regular readers who might be wondering if I'm "too busy" to visit. You might remember that I always say that a blog is just a website after all, and the pages stay there in cyberspace, ready for me to view them at my liesure. That way I won't feel rushed, won't feel bad, and won't ever feel as if the wagon wheels of life are stuck in a rut during the routine.
Read More Internet Island entries on the Topic : The Likely and the Unlikely HERE. If you'd like to join the Internet Island, please do so at the blogring HERE, and then subscribe to the blogsite HERE. I used to have to 'approve' new members but I recently opened the Island up to anyone who wishes to join. Topics are usually posted about once a month. (When I'm not "too busy". Hee Hee.)
EDIT: 7/1/07 9:30am pdt. This entry is now on the first "starred" page of Xanga. It seems that it's easier to arrive with "stars" than it was to get on "featured" in the past. My last entry stayed on the "starred" pages for two days, and got 34 comments. I haven't finished thanking everyone who commented and starred yet. For those who would like to see "quality" blog entries get to the "top of Xanga", remember to give them stars. And give them 5 stars, because I don't think 2-3 or 4 stars makes it to the Xanga front pages. I have a distinct impression that the entries who now get to the very 'front page' (and stay there for a week or so) get LOTS of stars early, regardless of the comments they receive. So Internet Islanders, when you visit a fellow Islander, make sure you give them 5 stars for their entry. (Of course you have to feel they deserve it!) MFN ppf
Comments (20)
hmm
and I get off at 6am I am
Routine...I work midnights so I am always scrambling for time it seems
I have to be at work at 10pm...7 your time
guessing right when you are rising. My job is not really a job but I do get paid.
I work at a 24/7 fitness center. I greet the members and I scan the card with photo
and such . I actually clean an excerise roon and rack weights when I want to since I
most always work alone. I sell a small amout of retail and protein drinks and of course
workout and pool towels. I think by 2am every night I prepare for my workout...cardio and
free weights...if I am lucky enough to have a work partner I can spend time in the steam room
or sauna. I basically keep the gym clean regardless of if someone works with me or not. I have a workout routine but I seem to always feel out of sorts with my life since I work the midnight shift. I come home and head straight for the pc...I try not to blog on a regular basis and I try to comment every time I read a post. I usually prepare myself a fruit shake
and plan my meal for the next night. Since protein is a big part of my diet I am always grilling something up or preparing a wrap to take. I very seldom watch tv or movies I think when I took layoff from the hospital and did not work for a year I burned myself out with tv screens and movie screens. Every day I consider sewing...or finishing some book but I very seldom do . I read at work especially when I am on a bike or the treadmill. It seems to not matter what time I go to bed I am always longing for sleep. My two kids are living in Germany
so I am going through what is termed as "empty nest syndrome". :wave: I am surely off to bed this minute dear Mike !!!
Sorry I haven't checked in for a while. I've been "busy" myself with travels and conferences and The Boy.
I like your post today. This gives me a little more insight into who BaldMike2004 is. I will consider posting something about this myself, although who knows when I will be able to get around to posting..... Things should slow down a little for me during July. We don't have plans to go anywhere other than a brief visit to my parent's house when they get back from vacation.
Lots of stuff to comment on. I'll write about your seven quirks because I can't as easily go back to reference them. Your OCD and anal retentiveness are wonderful traits for an "old" bachelor. I have no problem with people who like to have things done their way, and most of my friends have similar eccentricities in an area or two of their lives. I, on the other hand, can take almost anything in stride. When I try to create routines, something always happens. Because of the way I was raised, going with the flow just comes naturally for me. I do like having some sense of security at home (and stick fiercely to close friends and family even as I branch out to meet new people and try new things), but I can travel or change activities with ease. It's not so often that I'm good at initiating these changes, however. I call myself "the inertia queen," because I go with whatever flow is there. It is rare that I will start a new flow or new dimension. As for the "manic depression," now called bipolar disorder, I can sympathize there. I have family members who have been clinically diagnosed, and I recently sort of self-diagnosed myself with a more dysthymic cyclothymia. Look up dysthymia and cyclothymia at wikipedia.org and see if either resonates with you. I do not doubt your self-diagnosis, but I am wary of calling your case full blown manic depression... simply because you are, for the most part, able to deal with the symptoms and sort of self-medicate. A mental disorder is only a disorder when it significantly and negatively disrupts your life. That's all psych mumbo jumbo speech, it's true. I don't buy into a lot of the jargon, but heuristics and ideas like that make thinking about my personality and behavior and habits more productive. Anyway, on with the show.
Your routine here is strangely fascinated. Your sleeping and walking schedule sounds great... and I have often thought about developing that eating schedule. "They" say it's not good to eat just one meal a day, but it sounds like you balance it pretty well... and you don't talk about getting hungry in between times. I often think about how much I enjoy a really good salad bar - not only for the nutrients but for the fun stuff you can make with it - adding cheese or beans or pepperoni or broccoli or cottage cheese or what have you. Baked potatoes, soups, the occasional fish or chicken. My current way of living works fine, too. If I want something specific, I'll get it or discuss it with my husband, and he does the same thing. It's good that he's a pretty easy-going guy himself. I do get anal-retentive about things like finances and my Internet stuff, keeping track of things, and he has his own set of idiosyncracies.... I think Netflix was an amazing creation. Some friends are trying to get me to try Blockbuster Total Access... but that's the whole point! I don't want to have to go to the store to exchange movies; the mail-only system works. If I go anywhere other than work, my mom's house, or my parents' house, it's gonna be the library, a restaurant, the occasional book or craft store... and that's pretty much it. Hmm, a Smirnoff Ice sounds really good right now. I've recently started making iced tea again. Steve and I have this habit of letting the dishes pile up in the kitchen because our dishwasher, though technically functional, does not have the necessary water pressure to get anything clean. The other day I turned on the AC and was in a particularly motivated mood, so I cleaned up what Steve had not and started my tea routine again. Not a big fan of black tea, I'll take different green and red and herbal teas and mix flavors together for the perfect pot.
Thanks, as always, for your thoughtful posts and comments. I won't apologize for my inconsistency with both lately, just wish you another friendly hello and a hug. :goodjob: ~ Emily
Your probably napping right now so I'll be quite shhhhh
I'm like Primitive 1...I work the graveyard shift and my day is the opposite of most people.
ryc: I'd like to take credit for that video...but it's not mine. I found it in voting for videos and it had a link to copy.
It seems like my routines are always colliding with everybody else's routines.
I ate at Denny's once. They wanted to give me a free baseball card with the meal. I don't know why.
Dear Mike,
What a routine! I want a routine of not having a routine
You have a very good grasp of your self there there.
Btw, thanks for sharing the Moon Poem with me. I like this line: "Darkening sky cannot destroy his sheen or his fatherly smile." Although, I have to admit that I had a slight difficulty of relating to the Moon as Male. hmmmm. But, even with the "he/his" I could understand you perfectly. Thanks a lot for sharing. It was nice that you posted the poem there. I call it sweet resonance. One reflects the other. I really appreciate it. Thanks, yah.
Have a nice day.:wave:
Well done, Michael! :sunny: As for routine, I have a very loose one that changes about every day. :fun:
Have a great day!
Steve :spinning:
Being politically correct is the same as trying to please all the people all the time. I just can't do that!
RYC: I admired the performers talent. I have dealt with suicide. I believe that anyone who kills themselves is not in their right mind, hearing the voice of 'god' or psychotic (or several other things). Something has to be terribly wrong. The 'church' drives me crazy on this issue saying that the person has 'sinned.' But the 'church' also hates anyone who won't/can't conform to their 'holier-than-thou' pseudo-christian beliefs. OK, enough on that or I'll get into a rant that I've been trying not to write for the past few days. (Hitler killing himself - well, he was insane but also knew he'd be toast when he was found.) As for 'journalism' vs. 'media' good point! I think it's hilarious that my sister has a BS in journalism (as opposed to a BA).
Wow! My only 'set' routine seems to be feeding the cats. I do a lot of the same stuff most days, but I don't have set times for anything. I get up between 5 and 7. Mess around on the computer, read the NYT and local papers, a book, maybe eat when I remember, play in the garden. Some days I don't even turn on the computer. Maybe I'll go to the library and grocery store. I cook dinner probably 27 days a month. Depends on what I decide to make how long it takes to prepare - could be 30 minutes, could be 4 hours. I probably got out of the 'routine' habit when we moved back here - the children were out of school, I don't ever have to be anywhere, etc. My 'work' is on my own time - sometimes I get inspired in the middle of the night. But that's just me. Enjoy the weekend!!!
The rolling of the routine... it is both comfort and prison, yes? A funny thing. I pretend that I have few routines, but I'm lying to myself.
ryc: thank you, thank you. That means a great deal. (of course I never understand their featured stuff. I stopped looking three years ago.)
Mike, writing 32 quotes and getting 20 in as sold seems like a very good conversion ratio! Your schedule sounds well worked out. I should probably include some time for walking every day. I reflected today on my achievements for June and one of my reflections was on my lack of measurable physical achievements. I enjoyed the fact that you are passing some ofthe joggers with your walking.
Wow you get up really early man! I have really unconvenaniant waking hours too, but I don't think I would be able to handle yours! Do you sell cars?
The Chit Chat Cafe isn't really that hard to find- http://www.xanga.com/chitchatcafe see? lol. I think times have changed alot since you were a teenager. Sure, I don't have it as tough as American girls, espesically those in LA but I'm about as far from the popular group as you can get. Trust me on that. I find it alot easier to write expressing my opinions and feelings on things than to say them in person. I try to make interesting conversation all the time, but no-ones interested. Lets just say I'm not as good verbally as I am at writing. I did drama in my first year of highschool and I sucked, I feel really embarrassed at the lameness of my acting skills. I cringe just thinking about it.
Oh and by the way the Chit Chat Cafe needs a bit of polishing as the entries are not up to a good standard, like they used to be. I guess you get used to doing things a particular way, than you stop doing them for a while, you lose your touch. I'll get it sussed out soon enough though. I know its not good at the moment, because I emailled all the people who used to comment all the time (this was just a few months ago that they were regular visitors) and only one of them has filled out the answers, and not to a very good standard. My recent post looks too much like a survey, but they are supposed to be topic suggestions for people to write about. I should probably give them some idea's and inspiration to get them motivated to write, I haven't given them much to work with. One of my friends also wrote a post for me.
I'm glad you liked the edited picture at the top. And no I did not write "paradox of our time" I just like pasting good quality forwards and stuff to my site. I mean I have a lifetime membership now so I might as well make the most of it right?
I don't think making a video of myself is a very good idea. I have a phobia of my voice and when I hear it I freak out completely. My voice is horrible and babyish. It would just be way too embarrassing. I have some idea's for making some video's about myself, but I don't think I'll ever go through with them because of that.
Anyway, thanks for stopping by =)
Opps I didn't realise the link would do that lol. You can't miss is now!
I love your rountine ... it feel comfortable like slippers
Yep, we all have routines. If it weren't for working for outside forces i'm not sure mine would be so structured. Thanks for your comments. Yes, those are my drawings but they are from my adolescent years, I haven't drawn for awhile. I need some time management skills. I often, if not for work, just kind of 'go with the flow'.
Believe it or not, the person I wrote the poem about has a photographic memory (which is probably why I posted the article on memory as I did, it was on my mind.)
Today I plan on going to the university library and [having my dad] check out a few books on memory. Memory is something I definitely need to improve. My reading speed is something I'd like to improve, but concentration and memory play a big role in speed-reading, and when I look at "read" a page in a very short time, I forget it by the time I'm on the next one.
What a great post, Mike! I enjoyed reading this! I think we are all creatures of routine and it gives us stability and a sense of security.
Naps. I like people who can take a good nap. I'm not much of a napper and I tend to "bug" people who nap too long!
HUGS and thanks for this link on my recent rut post!
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We were in search of The Blue Hole that my daughter experienced a few months ago with her boyfriend's family.