Breakfast on the Go

I have a rather lengthy commute to work. On a typical day, it takes me one hour and thirty minutes door to door.  My occasional attempts at sleep are futile, and I am very much awake despite the early hour. So, I try to make my commute productive.

I pray. I read. I work. I check email.

And I eat. I eat the same breakfast in the same restaurant every morning. My restaurant is steel and mobile. It includes seating for many. The décor – plastic orange and yellow seats – leaves something to be desired. My fellow patrons are very diverse. I am not sure what rating this restaurant would get from http://www.zagat.com/ Anyway, it’s called the New York City Subway System (http://www.mta.info/nyct/subway/).

Courtesy of Google.com via packnpack.wordpress.com

Courtesy of Google.com via
packnpack.wordpress.com

So, you may be wondering what is that typical breakfast I eat? Thanks for asking. I drink a Hansens Clifford Apple Juice box. Yes, I am drinking a 4.23 ounce juice box with a big red dog on it. You gotta problem with that? And for my meal, I eat a Nature Valley Granola Bar. I am impartial to flavor.

courtesy of google.com

Have you ever eaten this brand of granola bars? While I like them very much and they are relatively healthy, they are a mess. It is impossible to eat them neatly. As soon as you bite into one of the granola bars, they start to crumble. So you either A: let the crumbs go and lose part of your food or B. You pick up the crumbs and get every delicious penny’s worth.

courtesy of google.com

courtesy of google.com

Guess which option I choose? You got it. I choose B. This man is hungry for his breakfast. Those crumbs are mine, and I am eating them damn it! A quick aside: When I was dating, I used to say if you still find a woman attractive after you see her eat, you are really attracted.

If my wife also used this as a basis of judgment and saw me eat my breakfast on the train, I’d be single. Between my kiddie apple juice and my finger licking granola bar, I aint a decent sight. In fact, it is downright embarrassing. However, this is where the beauty of my mobile restaurant comes in handy.

You see on a New York City Subway, anything goes. When, I look around me in the morning, many people are sleeping or at least are closing their eyes to the world. Then there are the beggars, preachers, unstable, and bums. In addition, you have the wanna be rappers. They blast their mp3 players so that the music is loud enough for those of us that are awake and in range can hear. Their heads bob with the music. Some sing to themselves and others treat their fellow riders to a song whether they want to or not.

And I worry about eating my breakfast? Okay, so some people might find the way I eat my breakfast a bit uncouth. So what? Look around. I might be the most unassuming person around.

Now, let me eat my breakfast in peace on my mobile restaurant.

Popping

Before the week began, I knew it would be a rough one.  There were things on the calendar that simply could not be avoided or handled in advance. Personal stuff, work stuff and more. I was just going to have to suck it up and get by. I have been getting less than five hours of a sleep a night. I know you’ve been there. I’m not asking for sympathy.As the week dragged on, I had one goal in mind: make it to the weekend. This Jew needs his restful Sabbath. However, I had much to do before I could make it to the promise land of the day of rest.

How could I make it? How could I get everything done? Well, I found a way. I’m popping now.

I don’t mean popping like my students say (well, that slang term doesn’t seem quite as popular. What’s poppin – meaning what’s going on?) No, I mean popping my drug of choice.

What? You heard me. I have gone off the wagon and on my drug of choice.

And what is my drug of choice? CHOCOLATE.

Way back, I mentioned my love for chocolate (https://larrydbernstein.com/tradition/). Now, I am not alone in this regards. A study showed that 97% of people prefer chocolate over other foods. Okay, I made that statistic up. However, empirical evidence, i.e. blog reading, tells me that I am nearly correct.

Anyway, this week has been different. See, my wife stashed away a bag of miniature chocolates, and I found them. And now I’m using. These little bars of heaven have gotten me through. They have been my raft that has allowed me to stay afloat during this overburdened week.

Picture courtesy of http://www.google.com/

Picture courtesy of http://www.google.com/

Let me give you an idea of my mindset: Was that a yawn? Pop a Snickers. Do I feel drowsy? Let me grab a Milky Way. Have I been working hard and just deserve something? Twix.

That sugar and caffeine bring me a joy and a rush. I can keep going. I can accomplish. It’s all good – a win, win.

Okay, I know this is not a long term solution. Next week is going to be busy too. And the bag of miniatures isn’t done. Hmmm. Well, I can quit the following week. I am in control. Gotta  go. A Three Musketeers bar is calling me.

A Quest for Zero

It’s a long weekend.  I do love the Presidents. I’m sure many of you planned to go away for a few days, or maybe catch up on sleep, or spend quality time with friends, or handle something that you have been putting off. Me? I am on a quest for zero!

I am an organized person. Some might say compulsive.  They have not met my wife. Yes, we are an organized duo.  Anyway, I believe in drawers and closets.  A brilliant invention they were. (My wife is more of a “throw it away” person but this is not really about her.)

You see, I’m as a sentimental as the next guy. I have stuff that I want to keep (George Carlin had a great bit on stuff – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac) but that does not mean it has to be scattered all over the place. Organization, neatness. Just saying these words brings me a sense of tranquility.

I get approximately 125 emails a day to my personal account. Truthfully, I never counted, but this seems right. Now, the majority of it is junk. SIDE NOTE: As children we were happy to get mail. Right? Now, it is mostly junk. Ten years ago, we were happy to get email. Now, it’s mostly junk. Prediction, soon, we will be saying the same text messages. Back to the point. While a good chunk of my email is junk, there are still plenty of emails which I feel a need to read and some of it needs to be read carefully and requires a thoughtful response.

With email there is an efficiency. You type it, you send it, and it’s received.  It is meant to be quick and an entire exchange can occur in just moments.

Now, some emails require me to ruminate. They are not of the yes/no, chocolate/vanilla, pizza/macaroni & cheese variety. In fact, sometimes I prefer to let an email sit in my inbox for a day, so I can truly consider my response whether it be of the thoughtful, heartfelt, or encouraging kind. I like to get the words as close as possible to the sentiment I am feeling.

Currently, I have 14 emails in my in inbox. Some have been there for months. The emails vary but generally, they are not of the type that I must respond to. Instead, most of them have information which I find practical and turn to with some regularity. So, I have kept them in my inbox. However, I am tired of seeing them there.

What, dare I dream, would it be like to have zero emails in my inbox? It’s the email version of a spotless house, a clear desk, a clutter-free mind. It’s the holy grail of organization. If it were an object, Indiana Jones would have gone searching for it.

Now, I recognize that this state of perfection may not last long as I get many emails a day. Still, zero is a goal worth having. Full disclosure — I have checked my email three times since I started writing this.

Anyway, I am a quest for zero. Those emails which I don’t really need? Delete. For the others, I have folders – emails version of closets. I can do it. I can get organized. While I would be happy to read your response to this post, just know the response won’t stay in my inbox long.

Not Routine

Yes, I know it’s Valentine’s Day and so I am supposed to be romantic. However, I am not into this holiday – never have been. I don’t like being instructed on how I should behave/act because of the calendar. My wife is not so into the holiday either though she would never turn down flowers.

I want a quiet day. I need a quiet day. And I am sure wife shares my sentiment.

You know when you lose something and you are desperate to get it back? Maybe you lost your keys, or wallet, or phone, etc. Sure, it would be a pain in the ass and an unwanted expense to have to replace these items. However, ultimately, it is simply a pain, and there are no long-lasting effects. Yet if you find these items, you feel so lucky. You promise yourself you will maintain your newfound appreciating for the mundane. And you do. For a few days. Then, you slip back into normal.

Do you know how when things get crazy, you long for normal? You, or your spouse, or your children or everyone has been sick for a few days. Or the house is getting painted and everything is out of order. Or you have a project at work that is necessitating extra hours/stress. You have something like this going on and you long to be back in your normal routine.

That is where I am today. I armed myself with soda and chocolate to ensure my strength and energy. It’s days like these that I wish I sat in a cubicle and I stared at a computer all day. I would have been happy to have a slow day at work where I could have zoned out a bit.

Not the case.

Anyway, I am thrilled that my last class has ended, and I was relatively effective. The students may have learned something and no one got hurt. No huge goals or accomplishments.

There’s stuff going on with my older son’s school. If I was true to my blogger/writing self, I would provide details, but I don’t feel like sharing. I’m not in the mood. Maybe in the future.

My son is clearly bothered. He crawled into our bed last night. My night of sleep which began after 12 a.m. ended at 3:30 a.m. My wife is frustrated and angry. Me, well, I am longing for the routine and for everything to be fine. I want to hear my son’s typical monosyllabic replies to my question of, “How’s school?” And I want to believe his reply.

So, I hope you are enjoying this Valentine’s Day however you want to. May it be a normal day for you. Enjoy your routine.