The Routine -- And Breaking It Up

 

In happier days...

Copyright © 2023

by Ralph F. Couey

There are roads one can drive that create a journey that is seemingly endless.  US 180 through West Texas, US 54 across the Western two-thirds of Kansas, US 50 across the Nevada desert.  The towns passed look curiously alike, almost like Bill Murray's repetitious Groundhog Day.  Life, for me has fallen into the same kind of repeating journey.  The days don't have enough difference to stand out in any way, and I find that the weeks are passing rapidly, kind of like those white-painted road posts so common in the west.

I guess my week actually starts on Tuesday, one of my two regular days off.  That's laundry day, so I'm engaged in that for most of the day.  I'm the cook that evening, so when I finish the clothes, I start putting dinner together.  Tuesday evening is one of the few times that Cheryl and I are home together, hours we have come to cherish more and more.  Wednesday morning is Ground Golf (huge in Japan, by the way) which takes up most of the morning.  My work week starts that night when I go in late for a midnight shift (technically Thursday) which means that half of my day off I have to spend in bed collecting Z's for a long night.  When I get home Thursday morning, I have a couple of hours, then its back to bed so I can have a few hours with Cheryl before I leave for work.  

I get off Friday morning and don't have to go back in until Saturday afternoon, so it's kind of a day off, except I'm really tired by then.  Now if I can stay awake long enough, those two mornings are great for doing my walking in Waikiki.  I'm off to bed early and then up again Saturday morning.  We have some time together for shopping and errands before I leave early afternoon for my evening shifts Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.  Sunday is church and a quick nap before going in.  Monday passes, and it all starts over again.  If I have enough time, I stop at my overlook on Diamond Head Road, gaze at the ocean, and feed my birds for a few minutes.

This is my life, for what its worth.  The midnight shifts are a trial at my age, and they represent a mountain that has to be climbed.  Not a lot of fun.  Jumping shifts like this really makes my sleep patterns tough, but I have a mortgage and a Mustang, and "I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go..."

One thing about a routine though.  It's like getting on a train and letting it carry you along.  But it does make the calendar fly by with distressing speed.  The calendar compresses and I have conversations like, "Wasn't July just two weeks ago?" 

But then something  happens that throws a wrench into the works.  That happened this week.  On Monday, I was enroute to work when another driver made a fast left turn in front of me, my view blocked by a delivery truck next to me..  The result?

Will need dental work...

Airbag

The good news is that I am totally fine - physically.  And the damage seems to be localized to the fascia and quarter panels, and one of the airbags (did you know they use gunpowder to trigger those things?).  There's no damage to the engine or radiator.  The Adjuster told me that as long as the frame isn't bent, the car is repairable.  Still, it hurts to see this.  I waited 57 years to own a Mustang, and the last two years have been less ownership than relationship.  

My insurance company furnished me with a rental for 30 days, but that might be a problem.  Every body shop on the island is at capacity.  Plus, there are still supply chain issues with parts.  I can only hope things go better than they look now.

And there's more change coming soon.  One of my colleagues is leaving for some very green pastures, so the schedule for February includes a new set of RDO's, Sunday-Monday, and no more Mid shifts, at least for now.  We also bought a new fridge to replace the aging one in the kitchen, and we dialed back the renovation from an ensuite to just a bathroom.  Waiting on the new bid.

As it turns out, any stultifying routine can be broken with a little effort, though I wouldn't recommend wrecking your car just to shake things up.  I guess the key is to not get so lost in the mundane repetition of each day, and make some changes, not big ones, just enough to give something new to each week.  

Time is precious after all, and the one thing we can never get back.