routine

Seven Year Itch?

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Six years, eleven months, three weeks and six days. A total of 2556 days of daily blogging.

Tomorrow is the seven year anniversary of writing each and every day. EVERY SINGLE DAY I WRiTE A BLOG ENTRY. I love sharing stories and narratives of my life. Throw in an opinion or two- and my readers have had a chance to learn all about me.

I have had a great time writing all of my tales. I honestly can’t believe that the only thing driving me to write is because I want to. Had I been writing a novel each and every day, I’d probably be published by now or completely heartbroken from rejection. Hence why I just write about my life. I like what has gone on and am proud of my adventures- from menial to epic. Whatever the case may be, I have never felt dejected from my writing. Even if it feels like no one is reading.

I wonder how much more writing I have in me. I wonder if I stopped would I feel regret or would I feel relief? Only time will tell if I end this journey. I mean honestly, have I approached the Seven Year Itch now? Who knows. Even I’m not sure. But if I do stop, I’ll let you know ahead of time as a courtesy to say farewell.

Back To Normal?

Posted on by Josef Havelka

My vacation is ending today. I enjoyed my physical distancing of the rest of the world as I stayed home. I kept busy during my time off working around the house/yard. I also enjoyed the cooking and painting I accomplished while in seclusion.

Getting back to work after an extended time away is always challenging. There are changes to adapt to and hundreds of emails to read. Heading back to a “normal routine” during the epidemic feels a tad strange. Moving trains helps keep the goods flowing to the customers and places to keep the public supplied. I’ll still be practicing my physical distancing and extreme cleanliness.

Traveling to work and coming home will be the majority of my venturing into the wild during this COVID-19 crisis. I’m glad that for the next three weeks I’ll be working the night shift as well. It means far less people to interact with. Plus I get to sleep all day long.

Like one giant nap.

Shift Work and Eating Habits

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Whenever I have a day shift at work, it means waking up between 4:30 and 5am. Because of this I don’t tend to eat breakfast. I just don’t feel good starting my day on a full stomach.

I usually just have a cup of coffee and one for the road. It gets my system going. About three hours into my day at work and I’ll start to get hungry, so I’ll have a small snack. That tides me over until lunch. By the time I get home for dinner, I’m pretty hungry- and that makes dinners taste that much better.

On my days off however, I eat a really big breakfast after waking up. But that is usually because I sleep in. So my breakfasts are anywhere from 11am to 2pm. The kids love this on when my day off coincides with their days off as well. That means everyone gets a big breakfast.

It seems like a strange routine. But because of working long shifts and doing alternating shift work, I try and eat at relatively the same time each day. Nights are a bit tougher. I try to not eat much after midnight. Maybe just a light snack before the end of the shift. I’m not quite like a Gremlin.

How do you cope with long work days or shift work?

Auto Pilot Driving

Posted on by Josef Havelka

This morning I made it home on autopilot. I’ve done this numerous times. Just like an ant- I know the route home off by heart.

I caught myself twice that I had zoned out. Once was driving past a police car with someone pulled over. Next, I was suddenly at my exit off the freeway without realizing it.

It still worries me though. I don’t like the sensation of losing the time. Once in a while I’ll take a different route home from the freeway just to change it up. I usually do that if I’m really tired. But it’s that long stretch driving for twenty minutes that has my mind wandering.

I can’t think of a good way to keep myself focused. I’ve tried a variety of music, podcasts, talk radio, even hands free calling.

Who knows. Hopefully one day I don’t have to drive anymore. Then I can zone out all the time.