OMG, When Did I Become My Dad?

By Joan Whetzel

I’ve been pondering my life lately. Looking at the choices I’ve made, the way I think, the way I decide to do things. I’ve come to the realization that I’m hardwired a lot like my dad. Then it felt like the universe reached out and whacked me upside the head. OMG! When did I become my dad?

Whenever the universe drops a few more “challenges” in my lap (I can think of a few other choice words that I’d like to use), first I get mad, plot a little revenge against the person or entity that’s raising my stress levels along with my blood pressure, then I take care of the elephant in the room in the quickest most efficient way possible. I can’t count the number of times I saw my dad stress out over seemingly overwhelming odds dropped in his lap, then suddenly come up with an organize plan for fixing it in the most efficient way possible.

Refrain: OMG when did I become my dad?

Over the years I have planned things like vacations (haven’t been able to afford one of those in years) and even picnics. I’d pull out the road maps and plan the route; plan what’s packed for the trip or picnic or trip to Miller Outdoor theater; plan for every contingency; and make sure everything makes it into the car – on both ends of the trip.  

Refrain: OMG, when did I become my dad?

I have found, especially in recent years since my husband’s death, that making lists of everything that needs doing and all the steps involved, calms my mind. It also feeds my OCD need to organize EVERYTHING!   

Refrain: OMG, when did I become my dad?

I’ve also noticed that I can’t stand leaving things undone.

·       Can’t get up in the morning without making my bed.

·       Can’t leave bills unpaid when I have the money in my account to pay them right now.

·       When facing a “challenge” requiring several steps to fix, I can’t sit around waiting for the ball to land back in my court before I collect everything I need to take care of the next step. I have to collect everything I know I’m going to need – well in advance – and stack the items in neat little piles, organized by the “challenge” that needs fixing. Each pile is then organized into paper-clipped bundles that represent the step where it’ll be needed and each paper-clipped bundle is placed in chronological order in its pile.

·       Even my preparations for doing my taxes are organized. Receipts/Documents are collected in a fanfold file, labeled by topic, and all the receipts and documents are placed in chronological order or by sub-topic (check stubs or documents for income are paper-clipped by income source). Makes it easier at tax time, since I won’t have to do so much organization when I sit down to do my taxes. 

Refrain: OMG, when did I become my dad?

A couple of weeks ago I created another one of my Excel spreadsheets to track the tasks I was doing at work. I started pondering all of the Excel increasingly complex spreadsheets that I have created for myself in recent years to track my spending, to keep track of my taxes and income, and a whole bunch of other stuff that I do. Yeah, just another shining example of my OCD need to stay organized and on top of things. Anyway, I got to thinking that if dad had had the opportunity to learn Excel and saw all the neato-keeno ways that it could be used to organize just about everything, that he would have LOVED this tool. The universe just whacked me upside the head again. I suddenly saw me and dad trying to one-up each other in a never-ending Excel spreadsheet complexity competition. 

Refrain: OMG, when did I become my dad?

 

Alternate Routes

By Joan Whetzel

 

I started a new job right before Christmas. The job is a little further from home than I would have liked, but the pay is good and I really need to work. So, I said yes when they offered. Well, I thought I’d found the perfect route, based on the facts at hand. It didn’t take long to figure out I needed some alternative routes.

The facts at hand? Houston traffic is a nightmare after about 6:15 in the morning. If I leave any time after that, I’d be late for work. Severe weather and traffic accidents will alter drive times and traffic patterns, NOT in my favor. I was originally scheduled to work 7:30 to 4:00, which means that leaving by 6:15 could get me to work in about 40 to 45 minutes. Leaving work at 4:00 could get me home in about an hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. I figured I might add a little time after the holidays.

Yeah, well, come January 2^nd, reality set in. My estimates about the expected extra drive time were way-ay-ay off! My morning commute jumped to 1-hour 15-minutes, and I was almost late to work. If there had been an accident or weather-related road conditions I WOULD have been late. My afternoon commute soared to 1½ - 2 hours. I quickly started trying some of the alternate routes I’d considered for accidents and inclement weather.

I have found my best alternates my morning and evening commutes that cut out a decent amount of time. I also change my shift to 7:00 to 3:30, which shaved off even more time. Yes, I have to leave a little earlier in the morning - 6:00 instead of 6:15 – but I don’t have to get up any earlier, so that’s just fine with me. That 15-minute lead time allows me to take the freeway for part of the trip, and I get to travel at posted speeds. Woohoo! I now get to work in only 30 to 40 minutes. Leaving work at 3:30 has its perks too. I miss the afternoon rush hour (which starts at 4:00ish) and make the drive home in just under an hour.

The only time even the alternate routes didn’t pan out was that week of Houston’s deep freeze. But then most businesses closed down – including my job for a day and a half. My biggest problem with that particular weather condition (other than driving slower to avoid ice skating) was that I discovered my car does not like getting out of bed when the temps drop to freezing or below. Especially, if the temperature stays below freezing for more than an hour (in this case for over 72 hours straight).

Thankfully, that’s not something I’ll usually encounter since the weather gods rarely wreak such havoc. No, they prefer the heavy rain and flooding havoc. Now all I need is another alternate route for when a heavy rain occurs overnight. Some of my alternate routes – and my current routes – tend to have flooding problems. Guess I’ll have to get up and leave earlier.