Ship of Fools: Habit, routine, or obsession?

Thread: Habit, routine, or obsession? Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :

A younger friend fell about laughing when I mentioned that the Grandad and I each have a banana every day with our lunch ( it ended in fact for him when his potassium levels went up in a reaction to medication).

But don’t we fall into such habits as we age? We’ve learned what we like and so we stick to routines and don’t have to make small decisions all the time.

I like Weetbix for breakfast but I also like rolled oat porridge, so I alternate. We like doing crosswords, so we do a couple each morning while we have our coffee – I with Edam cheese on two Sesameal crackers, he with matured cheese on three Snax crackers.

An older cousin, who observes everyone and makes diagnoses from their habits, concluded from her brother’s alternation of breakfast spreads (toast with Marmite one morning and marmalade the next) that he was somewhere on the Asperger’s spectrum (for other reasons I think she may have been right).

Well, that’s okay by me. Albert Einstein, anyone? Temple Grandin? I guess there are some pretty special Aspies on the ship too.

But diagnoses apart, what odd routines do other shipmates have, older or younger?

GG

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

I open the mailbox every time I pass it-- going in, going out, first thing in the morning, first thing coming home, every damn Sunday-- hell, I have opened the mailbox ten minutes after I took the mail in.

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :

Wow. I avoid the mailbox like the plague. There have been a few times when the letter carrier gave up and took everything in my stuffed mailbox back to the main office for me to pick up. Or not. [Hot and Hormonal]

I go to sleep most nights to the sound of You Tunes ambient rain recordings. Works like a charm. [Snore]

Posted by Boogie (# 13538) on :

Habit is both your worst enemy (smoking, snacking, vegging in front of the TV etc etc)

And your best friend (exercise, visiting friends, good, healthy eating etc etc)

It takes 30 days to establish a new habit. I am trying to do a workout every day before my shower - slowly my brain is starting to want to do it instead of being forced!

ETA - I hate cleaning, so I have built up a good habit of cleaning the bathroom every time I get out of the bath, the kitchen sink every time I wash up etc. So I clean a LOT, but never 'do the cleaning'. I works for me!

[Smile]

[ 31. December 2014, 07:34: Message edited by: Boogie ]

Posted by crunt (# 1321) on :

I habitually eat all the fries before I start on my burger (or steak).

Posted by QLib (# 43) on :

I don't know about odd, but I like to get up early, make a hot drink, do my yoga (15 mins), wash or shower, get half dressed (top half) and take hot drink - a whole flaskful - back to bed for (ideally) not less than half an hour of reading, surfing or tweeting. I get really cranky if I can't do this, so I guess that's a sign of ageing.

The other day, I had to catch a 5:30 train and, though I wasn't stupid enough to set the alarm that early, I was actually pleased that journey fever woke me before 4:00, so I could do my routine.

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :

I need routines in order to do routine things. If I am interrupted in the routine I will forget to do part of it. I've missed eating, brushing teeth and the like often. I've walked out the door unintentionally barefoot several times and once topless. Fortunately, it was a bit cool and I realised before getting to the car.

Posted by Ad Orientem (# 17574) on :

I don't like odd sets of things. For instance my pool cues and case all have to be the same make. I always eat a roast dinner and English breakfast the same way. The roast dinner I also east the greens first and then the meat, potatoes and Yorkshire pud I divide up so that I have a bit of each in every fork full. With the breakfast, no cutting up into little bits and mixing up. I also build a barrier either with the sausage or toast crust to stop the bean juice getting on the egg.

Posted by Pre-cambrian (# 2055) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ad Orientem:
With the breakfast, no cutting up into little bits and mixing up. I also build a barrier either with the sausage or toast crust to stop the bean juice getting on the egg.

I'm another one not keen on the mixing of juices [Eek!]

. Until Mum gave up imposing gravy on me, my Sunday lunch plate would have a row of roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings round the rim escaping from the rising tide.

Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :

I always have to count up to 10 before I do anything. Not 9 or 7 but 10 - just the right number. I guess it started because I took literally the advice to 'count up to 10' before doing or saying anything rash, but it soon became my favourite number and that's why I do it now. It's a very satisfying number and helps me to get ready.

Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :

quote:
Originally posted by crunt:
I habitually eat all the fries before I start on my burger (or steak).

That's logical. Fries are delicious hot and yukky cold, and they cool quickly.

There are two ways of eating mince/beans/egg on a square slice of toast. I cut the toast in to strips and then cut each strip into several pieces as I eat it. The Grandad starts by cutting and eating each corner. A survey taken at a conference found a group equally divided.

GG

Posted by Leorning Cniht (# 17564) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Galloping Granny:

There are two ways of eating mince/beans/egg on a square slice of toast.

I don't do either of those. I cut a mouthful-sized square from a corner, and eat it. Then I cut another mouthful adjacent to the first, and continue until the toast is consumed. It would never occur to me to either eat all four corners before the middle or to make a complete cut across the toast and then chop the slice up.

Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:

quote:
Originally posted by Galloping Granny:

There are two ways of eating mince/beans/egg on a square slice of toast.
I don't do either of those. I cut a mouthful-sized square from a corner, and eat it. Then I cut another mouthful adjacent to the first, and continue until the toast is consumed. It would never occur to me to either eat all four corners before the middle or to make a complete cut across the toast and then chop the slice up.

Things you learn on the ship!

GG

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by crunt:
I habitually eat all the fries before I start on my burger (or steak).

Same here! Slightly cold burger is easier to endure than cold fries. They must be hot and crispy.

Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :

If I'm eating an egg on toast, I try and cut it so that each piece of toast has a more-or-less equally-sized piece of egg on top.

OCD, moi? [Paranoid]

PS And whenever D. and I are eating together, we do (or try to do) a Guardian crossword ... [Big Grin]

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Galloping Granny:
There are two ways of eating mince/beans/egg on a square slice of toast.

There are probably as many approaches to beans on toast as there are people. You've overlooked random triangles, and the getting-to-grips approach by serving beans and toast separately, and tearing pieces off the toast to mop up the beans and juice. There's also folding the slice or fragment of toast to make an impromptu, if messy, sandwich with bean filling.

When beans get boring, a sprinkle of Worcester sauce, or black pepper, or chilli powder, or grated cheese will liven them up.

Two days of the same food in succession is usually enough for me - after that I lose interest and remainders then sit there in the fridge until they grow old enough to be thrown out.

Posted by bib (# 13074) on :

If I see a single word printed in front of me such as the word heaven(above) or on the tv screen, I frequently mentally divide the word into equal halves where they exist or identify the middle letter in an odd number of letters. I realise this is obsessive and bizarre, but I do this subconsciously and then suddenly realise what I'm doing. I am more likely to do this when I'm feeling stressed.

Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on :

quote:
Originally posted by bib:
If I see a single word printed in front of me such as the word heaven(above) or on the tv screen, I frequently mentally divide the word into equal halves where they exist or identify the middle letter in an odd number of letters. I realise this is obsessive and bizarre, but I do this subconsciously and then suddenly realise what I'm doing. I am more likely to do this when I'm feeling stressed.

I did something similar to this as child, counting letters, I've always said it was the reason I was top of the class at spelling. I still count the number of letters subconsciously in new words I come across.

Posted by lily pad (# 11456) on :

I have cereal or oatmeal porridge for breakfast every day. But as today was deemed a "special day", I had poached eggs on toast. The toast was cut in half and in half again and then each of those were cut to make 16 equal squares with egg on each. In reading this thread, I realized that I absolutely always cut the toast like that when I am at home but never when I have it out at a restaurant.

Now that I have a dog, she gets one of the squares. She loves eggs and toast!

Posted by Kitten (# 1179) on :

quote:
Originally posted by bib:
If I see a single word printed in front of me such as the word heaven(above) or on the tv screen, I frequently mentally divide the word into equal halves where they exist or identify the middle letter in an odd number of letters. I realise this is obsessive and bizarre, but I do this subconsciously and then suddenly realise what I'm doing. I am more likely to do this when I'm feeling stressed.

I thought that was just me

Posted by Aravis (# 13824) on :

I don't like stepping unevenly on paving slabs. I'm ok with stepping on the cracks, but I need to step on the same number of cracks with my right foot and with my left foot, or step in the centre. If I step on cracks unevenly the soles of my feet start to feel twitchy and odd!
I can't think of any strange food habits but probably have some.

Posted by Drifting Star (# 12799) on :

Any slightly unfamiliar word that ends with a vowel has to be read backwards to see if it makes any more sense that way.

I'm very good with codes...

Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :

Eating all the chocolate off a chocolate covered biscuit or wafer, before eating the inside.

Tying the plastic wrapper in a knot, no matter how small. Folding the paper wrapper extremely neatly to show just the front picture, with the rest tucked in behind, as if a flat Christmas present.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
Eating all the chocolate off a chocolate covered biscuit or wafer, before eating the inside.
.

Twix.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

How you eat your toast apparently says a lot about you. There's a quiz in the Circus if you're interested.

Posted by Drifting Star (# 12799) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:

quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
Eating all the chocolate off a chocolate covered biscuit or wafer, before eating the inside.
.
Twix.

I do this with Creme Eggs. [Hot and Hormonal]

Not in polite company, obviously.

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Drifting Star:

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:

quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
Eating all the chocolate off a chocolate covered biscuit or wafer, before eating the inside.
.
Twix.
I do this with Creme Eggs.

Not in polite company, obviously.

Impolite company is much more fun.

New style car number plates are no good, I hates them. I used to try to work out mathematical connections between the numbers on the plates of passing cars.

Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :

To those of you who have said you divide words in half or count letters, are you all cruciverbalists?

I'm sure I notice word-lengths and where the centres are more than I would if I didn't do cryptic crossword-puzzles.

[tangent ON]
Balaam, I quite agree with you about the new-style number-plates - not because I can't play mathematical games with them, but because they messed about with the regional letters and they no longer mean anything.
[/tangent OFF]

Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
Eating all the chocolate off a chocolate covered biscuit or wafer, before eating the inside.

Unlike my daughter, who would lick all the chocolate off choc-coated almonds, and then give me the almonds.

GG

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Hee. Sounds like my little students with cupcakes. They snorf off the frosting and leave the untouched cake behind,

Unlike me-- I gently break the cupcake top off, set it aside, eat the cake, then savor the creamy frosting part last. I have a big thnig about saving the best stuff for last.

Posted by Leorning Cniht (# 17564) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Hee. Sounds like my little students with cupcakes. They snorf off the frosting and leave the untouched cake behind,

A small child not unrelated to me will butter a cracker (Carr's Water Biscuit or similar), lick off the butter, and present the "cleaned" cracker for re-buttering. The fact that this has never happened doesn't seem to prevent the hopeful wet cracker presentation.

Posted by bib (# 13074) on :

Yes Piglet, I am a fanatical cruciverbalist. I love cryptic crosswords and am also a member of the Australian Crossword Club. The members of that are as crazy as I am. I don't know if the letter counting came before the crosswords or if doing the puzzles caused my strange counting behaviour.

Posted by The Machine Elf (# 1622) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Piglet:
[tangent ON]
Balaam, I quite agree with you about the new-style number-plates - not because I can't play mathematical games with them, but because they messed about with the regional letters and they no longer mean anything.
[/tangent OFF]

They still give the region of origin, and certainly the ones I was most familiar with from the '70s (K-something for Luton) hasn't changed.

Posted by no prophet's flag is set so... (# 15560) on :

Snorfing and crossword puzzles, good heavens! I specifically try violate some of these habitual obsessions when detected in others. Like eating pizza slices by the non-pointy end and randomly cutting out a trapezoidal-shaped piece of cake from the middle of it.

Posted by Leorning Cniht (# 17564) on :

quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
randomly cutting out a trapezoidal-shaped piece of cake from the middle of it.

Cakes, clearly, should have slices cut through the middle, so you can press the two halves back together and not get stale bits.

Unless you're going to eat the whole lot in one go, of course, but even then, the wedge is a frightfully unhelpful shape for a piece of cake.

Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :

quote:
Originally posted by The Machine Elf:
... the ones I was most familiar with from the '70s (K-something for Luton) hasn't changed.

They've taken BS away from Orkney (and actually lumped the whole of Inverness-and-all-points-north into just two sets of letters, neither of which was the original set), which is the work of Satan*.

We always felt a little thrill of "we're nearly home" excitement when driving up the A9 and seeing the first car with a BS registration (usually on a car coming from the ferry the other way), and that's all but gone, except for a few "cherished" numbers. [Frown]

Sorry - it's a pet peeve of mine. Rant over.

* Actually it was the work of Tony Blair, which amounts to the same thing ... [Devil]

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Piglet:
Actually it was the work of Tony Blair, which amounts to the same thing ...

I doubt if he did it unaided.

[ 03. January 2015, 07:27: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]

Posted by Adam. (# 4991) on :

Apparently I'm more of a creature of habit by nature than by design. My watch strap recently broke so I though, given I'd had this one since summer '09, I might as well get a new watch and donate the old one to St. Vincent's. I went to Amazon to pick out a new one and, after about five minutes of browsing, picked out the watch I thought would be perfect. It turned out to be the exact watch I was about to get rid of.

I overruled my boring subconscious, though, and bought it with a different color of face.

Posted by Hugal (# 2734) on :

My mum is very dyslexic but it was not picked up at all. I would read the titles and any other information she needed to watch a TV programme. I still read the TV now. My wife (Gill H on the Ship) goes so long before reminding me she can read. As I am moderatly dyslexic myself it helps me anyway

Posted by Wet Kipper (# 1654) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
Eating all the chocolate off a chocolate covered biscuit or wafer, before eating the inside.

quote:
Originally posted by Drifting Star:

I do this with Creme Eggs.

much easier to do when you put the creme egg in the fridge for a while first, to solidify the fondant

Posted by ArachnidinElmet (# 17346) on :

Re: watching TV. Having spent most of my formative years living with my deaf Granddad, I habitually watch the telly with the subtitles on. Un-subtitled programmes look odd to me now, but it a useful skill for use with foreign language series.

Also at the end of a meal, a little of each food has to be kept back for the perfect final forkful.

All chocolate bars and biscuits should be eaten in their separate component parts. They just taste better and think of the calories you're working off. [Biased]

Posted by Gill H (# 68) on :

I can't think of many myself - I hate routine and am very bad at establishing good ones!

But I have noticed that Hugal eats all of one component of his meal at once, eg all the meat, then all the potatoes, then all the veg etc.

I tend to alternate bites of different items - for me, part of the point of the meal is how they taste together, and I get bored otherwise! I have noticed, though, that I tend to save one mouthful of my favourite item for last.

Posted by The Intrepid Mrs S (# 17002) on :

Re car number plates, I like to try and make the shortest possible word containing all the letters in a registration - they don't have to be in order, but it's a bonus if they are [Smile]

Mrs. S - another cruciverbalist, but preferring the Telegraph to the Grauniad

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Wet Kipper:

quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
Eating all the chocolate off a chocolate covered biscuit or wafer, before eating the inside.

quote:
Originally posted by Drifting Star:

I do this with Creme Eggs.
much easier to do when you put the creme egg in the fridge for a while first, to solidify the fondant

I do like Mars bar out of the fridge. Not for too long, but enough to slice well.

Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Gill H:
I can't think of many myself - I hate routine and am very bad at establishing good ones!

But I have noticed that Hugal eats all of one component of his meal at once, eg all the meat, then all the potatoes, then all the veg etc.

I tend to alternate bites of different items - for me, part of the point of the meal is how they taste together, and I get bored otherwise! I have noticed, though, that I tend to save one mouthful of my favourite item for last.

I was brought up in a large household (joint youngest of 8 children) and the advisable way of eating a roast dinner was always all the meat, then potatoes and then veg. This was because if you did not eat quickly enough older brothers who had finished would steal what was on your plate, so get the best bits eaten fast.
Nowadays I would save a piece of my favourite for last.

Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :

I'm another "leave the best bits till last"* one; if I'm eating a steak and it has a layer of fat on it, I'll cut off the fat** and eat it first with a bit of potato, then I've got the lean meat to look forward to.

For the rest: a bit of meat, a bit of potato and a bit of veggie in each forkful.

* or possibly more accurately, "get the bits I like least out of the way".

** When I lived at home, I'd cut off the fat and give it to my dad, who liked it. As he's nearly 90, it doesn't seem to have done him any harm ... [Big Grin]

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

Or cut off the fat beforehand and render in the pan until crisp. Pour off all but the lightest slick in which to fry the steak. Crispy bits are cook's treat.

Posted by marzipan (# 9442) on :

Chocolatey biscuit bars are designed to be eaten that way, aren't they? That's why there's a thick enough bit of chocolate around the outside to get your teeth into. Clubs used to be good for that, and Trios. Not to mention the Official Way to Open a Kitkat (thumbnail down the foil between the two fingers, and snap it open). We recently found some dark chocolate kitkats which still had proper paper and foil wrappers (instead of the plasticy foil they use on the milk ones) and enjoyed the opening ritual.

Posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe (# 5521) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Piglet:
We always felt a little thrill of "we're nearly home" excitement when driving up the A9 and seeing the first car with a BS registration (usually on a car coming from the ferry the other way), and that's all but gone, except for a few "cherished" numbers.

New York State used to use letters in the license plate to identify the city, town or county in which the car was registered -- I don't know if they still do.

I once lived in a well-known resort town in upstate New York whose economy was heavily reliant on the tourist trade. The police would not issue parking tickets to cars whose license plates identified the owners as out-of-towners -- rather, they would issue a polite warning not to park illegally.

Saved me a lot of money, as my license plate was still from the original county of issue.

As for habits -- each time I visit a restaurant, I order the same dish as I had ordered there before.

[ 05. January 2015, 20:33: Message edited by: Amanda B. Reckondwythe ]

Posted by Ad Orientem (# 17574) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:

quote:
Originally posted by crunt:
I habitually eat all the fries before I start on my burger (or steak).
Same here! Slightly cold burger is easier to endure than cold fries. They must be hot and crispy.

You've got to leave some chips so that you have something to mop up all the juices from the steak. Or you could use bread. Or even better make a chip butty and mop the juices up with that.

Posted by luvanddaisies (# 5761) on :

Skittles - I like to emoty them out of the packet and arrange them in triangles of the same colour (all the red ones together, all the purple ones. etc). I then eat all the extras so all the triangles are the same size, then work my way along green, yellow, orange, purple, red until they're all gone. Apparently this is odd.
If I'm just grabbing some for a sugar hit when I'm out, I try to subtly eat all the greens, then all the yellows, then... etc from the packet, but it's just not the same.

Those skittles where all the colours and flavours were mixed up were wrong and deeply disturbing.

Posted by marzipan (# 9442) on :

I like the mixed up skittles! but then my normal skittle eating method is to pour them down my throat by the handful. om nom nom.
I was disappointed when I bought some 'rainbow carrots' and they didn't taste of skittles...

Posted by Kitten (# 1179) on :

quote:
Originally posted by luvanddaisies:
Skittles - I like to emoty them out of the packet and arrange them in triangles of the same colour (all the red ones together, all the purple ones. etc). I then eat all the extras so all the triangles are the same size, then work my way along green, yellow, orange, purple, red until they're all gone. Apparently this is odd.
If I'm just grabbing some for a sugar hit when I'm out, I try to subtly eat all the greens, then all the yellows, then... etc from the packet, but it's just not the same.

Those skittles where all the colours and flavours were mixed up were wrong and deeply disturbing.

I do something similar with Smarties. I have to empty the tube onto the table then arrange them in the correct colour order. The blues get eaten first because they are just wrong and the orange last.

Once I was given several tubes and I arranged them into single colour tubes, which I then ate in the correct order

Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :

Like Miss Amanda:

quote:
As for habits -- each time I visit a restaurant, I order the same dish as I had ordered there before.

Every time we go to a certain food court, I now go in thinking 'I'll have something different this time', and then I go straight to the roast dinners (while the Grandad goes to the Chinese smorgasbord).
Last week I was floored, as the roast place was closed for alterations. So I went to Chinese and was most disappointed, though I'd enjoyed it sometimes in the past.

GG

Posted by crunt (# 1321) on :

quote:
Every time we go to a certain food court, I now go in thinking 'I'll have something different this time', and then I go straight to the roast dinners

Me too. I'm hopelessly unimaginative in restaurants.

Whenever i move to a new area, the first stationery shop, grocery store, petrol station, coffee shop or dry cleaners etc that I visit (and if it's alright) is the only one I'll go to from then on - unless they screw it up somehow.

Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :

It depends on the restaurant. If I'm at Montana's, I have sirloin steak with mashed potatoes, sweetcorn and mushrooms, but then that's sort of what Montana's is there for.

If a restaurant does a dish that I know I like, then yes - I may well go for it again, but not to the exclusion of anything else.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
As for habits -- each time I visit a restaurant, I order the same dish as I had ordered there before.

As someone who can sometimes be quite indecisive in restaurants (should I have the duck? maybe the beef would be nicer? how about the fish special, that won't be on the menu again any time soon?), I'd be interested to know how those of you who always order the same thing manage to resist any kind of temptation to order anything else.

Posted by crunt (# 1321) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
[QUOTE] I'd be interested to know how those of you who always order the same thing manage to resist any kind of temptation to order anything else.

TBH; it's not that I never order anything different, but if I've had the *whatever* before, and I know it was good, then I'm more likely to be swayed by own experience than by a tempting picture or menu description.

When I go to a restaurant for the first time I can be quite adventurous.

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