Habits & Cravings

But first, I got rear-ended today. I was attempting to turn left on my way to the gym, but two factors made me stop:

1. The idiot in the pickup truck coming on my right was doing about 60 in a 30 (playground) zone and swerved into the lane I was turning into and
2. the slurry of snow and dirt made my tires spin without even hitting the accelerator

Which of course meant I had to stop.

The guy in the pick-up truck behind me was also going way too fast for road conditions, slid on the previously mentioned mush and wham!. Actually more like thunk. Got out, assessed the damage (none, not even scratched paint), told the guy "No harm, no foul". He seemed quite relieved. He was pretty apologetic too, which just goes to show, sometimes accidents just happen regardless of how cautious/incautious a driver is. I was a bit shaken but not stirred. Besides, the adrenaline rush made for a good work-out.

But back to the title: Now that my six weeks of working part-time (due to being forced to take my remaining vacation before year end) is finally at an end so I need to get used to working five days a week again. May be tough: I'm nat'r'lly a slacker. Obviously. Of course it's starting with a month/quarter/year end with added complications due to good if short-sighted business decisions over the holiday season. So I better get used to it again real damn quick. Gonna have fun next week.

This weekend though was punctuated by two odd "cravings". I had the sudden urge to flop on the couch, turn on the tube and watch TV. I don't have cable and peasant-vision (ie broadcast television) is non-existent in my building. Weird. I tossed the cable over a year ago and didn't miss it until now. "Miss" may also be too-strong a word, but sometimes you just want to veg out watching the boob-tube. I'd consider going for basic cable except that it's still too expensive and the fact that any time the cable company tries to do anything I lose my Internet for a week.

The second craving hit me last night: very abruptly and with no warning, I wanted a Coca-Cola. I actually wanted it so bad I could, quite literally, taste it. So I went to the local Mac's (and on this one rare occasion, was not accosted by homeless looking for handouts) and got myself a litre. Came home, filled a glass with ice, poured my self a tall one and man it tasted good. The rest of it is sitting in the fridge now, probably until it looses all its fizz.

I'm not a pop (soda, soft drink, whatever) person. Very odd considering my ravenous sweet-tooth. If I do drink it, it's at a restaurant and it's ginger ale. Mostly because you get charged the same amount for a thimble of rancid orange juice at a restaurant as you do for a full litre at the grocery store. So for me, that was a bit weird.

As for habits, like the work-thing, I need to get back into going to the gym at least four times a week. Christmas is always bad for that due to time constraints, lousy weather and in my case, being a member of a gym located in a mall. I could say that I reduced my frequency due to spending time with Spike, but since we only saw each other five times over two months, that would be a bald-faced lie.

Oh yeah, that's pretty much over with by the way. Not sure why, but she wants me to go away. She didn't actually say anything because she hasn't returned my calls. She did mention when we started out that she prefers to just ignore a guy when it isn't working for her as she "doesn't like conflict". So I went away (that's what I told her answering machine at any rate). I said that if this was the case, not to call me back. Easy for her, and closure for me.

Too bad really: I do like her, but I'm getting that the timing is lousy and that she's not really ready for dating yet. At all. Of course I'm also sure that it's something I did/said/didn't say/didn't do but trying to figure out what is a good way to make your brain asplode. This is one of the principle reasons why I'm out of it, the whole dating thing. But you knew that (as I've mentioned it on numerous occasions here).

The other habit is of course, nicotine! I've re-signed-up for SCUBA courses again and there's the same concern that my lung capacity is exceeded by the volume of a Kinder Surprise egg. We'll see I guess, but right now I'll just consider cutting down a bit. This will be assisted by the recently enacted law whereby establishments that have a pharmacy on-site cannot sell tobacco products. Kind of makes sense (in a were-going-to-ban-it-without-banning-it kind of way). On the other hand, if there's such a health concern, why not outlaw selling things like pop, chips, candy, bacon etc from these same stores? I guess they'll do that the day they have a picture of a dead fat bastard with his shirt off on a pack of Ding-Dongs.

Well, the end-effect is that I can't get my carton of smokes from the usual places (the grocery stores) that I go to as part of the routine. Which means that the only places I can get cigarettes now are gas stations and convenience stores, which all charge about a buck a pack more than the grocers did. But since gas is now at about half the price it was six months ago, I'm good.

And now, back into the routine/habit that I haven't had a change in: computer games! Maybe next time, I'll do a 2008 wrap up on my view of the state of gaming. Which reminds me, the habit of blogging more than the inane details of my unremarkable existence? Ain't gonna happen....