Tag: late

An unexpected life story.

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What I listen to while I work.

I’ve discussed this some in another post. It really depends on the nature of the work and how much thinking is involved. I am very easily distracted by sounds in the environment.

If it is physical labor that requires little or no thought, music would probably enjoyable and help to pass the time, but if it is mental work, which is mostly what I do, I would prefer absolute silence. I am very much an aural person, and any sounds, especially sounds that have a human voice, will be very distracting to me. I have already shared some of the music I listen to on Spotify.

Back when I used to program, it was almost always done on the weekends and in the wee hours of the night and early morning. I always liked being awake during these hours because everything was so silent. It just made it a lot more easier for me to concentrate and get things done. The state of flow doesn’t really come over me in a noisy room.

Do you listen to music while you work? Can you concentrate in a noisy room? Let’s hear about it, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!

When I go to bed and wake up.

What time do I go to bed and wake up currently? The best answer to this question should be whenever I want! I actually hate alarm clocks, and I’m not too fond of calendars either. They get in the way of me doing what I really want. I sincerely believe that a person’s life is their own and they should at a minimum be able to decide when they want to be asleep.

In reality though, my employer has set days and hours that they expect me to be there, so I have to use clocks and calendars to keep them happy. As soon as I retire though, the alarm clock is going to fly out the window, and I hope to live every day like it was the weekend.

Currently, I have an alarm set for 6:00 AM during the days that I am expected to be at work. I also have another alarm set at 7:00 AM, because I tend to lay back down after drinking my coffee and taking my vitamins. If you want to know what that’s like for me, you can read about my morning routine. I turn off all alarms on the days that I do not have to be at work and get up whenever my body tells me it’s ready, usually after the sun is streaming through the bedroom windows.

The time I go to bed is a different story. Sometimes I am out later than I should be on a work day. This was a bigger problem when I used to go to karaoke on Sunday and Wednesday, but that bar shut down. The mornings come way to quickly on the days I am out too late, but that doesn’t happen as much now.

I also have another problem. I have always been a night owl. Most of my best work was done in the wee hours of the night and early morning. I have literally worked on projects till dawn back in my younger days.

These days, I am rarely up later than 3:00 AM on the weekends though. Too often, I am still up until midnight on work days though, and I often take melatonin to make myself go to sleep and sleep through the night. My best hours are probably sometime between noon and midnight, as that is the time I am most energized and creative.

What’s your schedule? When do you feel most energized? Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share!

I was once run over by a car.

I have never had a surgery of any kind, and honestly, I hope I never do have one. There have been a few scares here and there. I’ve had a broken collarbone, and once had to have a staple put in a wound on my elbow because I fell down on it while running to get out of the rain. It left a big gash and the nurse at work thought I should go to the hospital. I generally try to be very proactive with healthcare to prevent having to visit the hospital. I really don’t like going to the doctor or hospital.

One close call I had was when I was run over by a car. Yea, you read that right. I was walking home alone one night and as I crossed the street someone in a white Honda Accord decided to turn without looking. I was new to city life at the time, and I believed when the traffic signal said walk, you could do so safely. I learned the hard way that turning traffic can still nail you if they aren’t looking for pedestrians.

I just instinctively knew my leg bones would shatter to pieces on impact.

What I remember from this accident was that I saw him coming toward me, not super-fast, but fast enough that I could tell he wasn’t going to stop, and too fast for me to get completely out of his way. My mind worked very quickly and came up with a plan to roll over his hood. I was trying to avoid busting both of my shin bones on his fender. I just instinctively knew my leg bones would shatter to pieces on impact.

It worked, but the impact was still very solid on my knee and shoulder. I successfully rolled over the hood and landed on my feet, still in a kind of shock. I did have enough sense about me to reach down and grab my sunglasses off the pavement. They had fallen off my shirt. I had them because it was still daylight when I first walked downtown. I saw they were not broken, then dashed over to the sidewalk to avoid other potential collisions. It was like 2 am and the streets were pretty dead though.

It’s funny that people would let you die rather than face jailtime, isn’t it?

The worst part about it was they drove off as though nothing had happened. It was a hit and run. I mean, they didn’t even stop or slow down. I also didn’t think to get the license plate either. To me, it seemed pretty cold to run someone over and just keep driving. Being that late at night, I reckoned they were probably drunk as hell though, and that would have been serious jailtime. It’s funny that people would let you die rather than face jailtime, isn’t it?

I just started laughing! I once read that a lot of comedy is just when something deadly happens but doesn’t manage to kill you.

When I got to the sidewalk, I noticed that my knee and arm were a bit sore, but nothing felt broken. I remember shaking it off and rotating my arm to make sure I had full range of motion, and then, and I don’t know why, I just started laughing! I once read that a lot of comedy is just when something deadly happens but doesn’t manage to kill you. I probably looked pretty funny rolling over that car like a stunt man. I might be a star right now if someone had been there to post on YouTube.

The next day wasn’t so funny. After the shock had worn off, I had quite a good bruise on my shoulder and knee. The impact on my shoulder was so massive that it had crushed and killed the skin around the bone. It gradually began to look like an abrasion as dead cells were slowly replaced with new ones. My knee was similar, but not as bad. I think my jeans offered a bit more protection.

On occasions like this, I sometimes wonder if I’m actually a real person or a hero in a comic book.

I also saw the same problem with the shirt I was wearing, which I still have. It was a black polyester golf shirt, just like this one PGA TOUR Men’s Airflux Solid Mesh Short Sleeve Golf Polo Shirt. I like these shirts because they remain fairly cool to wear in the hot summer and the fabric wicks away moisture. Unfortunately, the fibers on this shirt were totally crushed at the spot where the impact occurred. It also looks like the fabric become slightly melted by the intense friction. That’s probably to be expected, since this shirt isn’t designed to endure car collusions. On occasions like this, I seriously wonder if I’m a real person or a character in a comic book.

It was an interesting experience, but I’m glad it hasn’t repeated itself. I am much more careful now and watch for turning traffic. I also try to wear brighter colors, but black is really one of my favorite colors, and it wasn’t night when I first ventured out. I guess I’m just really lucky that my guardian angels don’t go to bed early.

Have you ever had a close call like this? Do you find epic fail videos entertaining? Tell me about your thoughts in the comments, and don’t forget to like and subscribe!

My morning routine.

The alarm goes off, I hit snooze a full three times. I’d hit it more but after three my alarm clock just resets itself, so it won’t go off again. I hate that, but I’d just keep hitting it until 10:00 am if it kept letting me. Yea, I admit it. I am not an early riser. I can set up all night long pretty easily, but I hate the morning. I really need a job on the night shift, but the kind of work I do is largely day shift.

After I get up, I make coffee. That’s the first thing I do. I’m not quite alive without my first cup of coffee. I think I’m in this weird quantum state only partially existing in this universe, blipping on and off with brief moments of wakefulness that eventually become continuous enough to allow me to fully materialize.

Gotta get this day done so I can come home.

Sometimes I say little things in my head to motive me to actually get out of bed. It’s an odd trait maybe. I’m not sure if I asked anyone else if they do it, and I’ve been doing it so long I forget that I do it. On the good days, I probably say something like, gotta get this day done so I can come home, or gotta get a move on or I’ll be late. On a bad morning, I might say something a lot grumpier with a few expletives. As noted, I don’t fully exist before coffee, so what I say doesn’t count.

My coffee comes from a small expresso machine I have in the kitchen. Sometimes I actually make lattes with it, but in the morning, I just fill that little portafilter to the top and make expresso shots. I’m not sure how many shots that makes. I just try to max it out. That’s the only way I will get to full materialization. I mean, you don’t want to try driving when you are not fully in this universe.

There’s some degree of multitasking going on as I wait for the expresso machine to spue out its life juice. I start taking the vitamins and supplements that I take every morning. There’s a lot I must admit. I was always a vitamin taker, but over the years I added this thing or that for various claims. Some I think work pretty well, but others I’m taking might be snake oil. They have become a habit though, and habits don’t always get scrutinized, at least not daily. There would be no gain from making them a habit if you had to think about it, since a habit is teaching your brain to do repetitive things, so you don’t have to think about it. I think I repeated myself there, maybe I need more coffee.

After coffee and pills, I go to the bathroom and get everything ready for my shower, but don’t quite get in yet. The caffeine takes a little bit to kick in and I have the morning sort of timed out to account for this. After I lay out my towel, etc., I actually go back to bed for a few minutes. I have an alarm set on my phone for this one, and I can’t hit snooze. I might get a whole 15 minutes, but it depends on how long it took me to get the morning tasks done. If I get sidetracked by looking at my phone, I will lose precious moments of sleep. Those 15 minutes feel heavenly some days.

I think I hold some sort of record probably, like maybe ten solid years of being late.

After the alarm goes off on my phone, I’m in kind of a rush to shower, dress, comb my hair, brush my teeth, put on deodorant, and make the short drive to work about 15 minutes away. The coffee is finally pumping through my veins by this time, so it goes a little faster. I’m usually there about time, but honestly, I’m a little late most days. I think I hold some sort of record probably, like maybe ten solid years of being late. I’m probably exaggerating. Lots of people are late though, and many of them get to work from home and take vacation, and I’m there every day and basically on call 24/7 through my smart phone.

Are you a morning person or do you need coffee to get you going? Do you prefer to go to bed early or stay up late? Do you find sleep as blissful as I do? Do you have motivational phrases you say to yourself?