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HAH! I Wish I had that problem!

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16:28 / 31.01.06

Let me explain:
For some people "should I wear my Ray Ban or my Armani sunglasses for the nudist beach?" can be a real problem, others get angry when they hear about this ("I wish I had problems like that! Lucky bastard!").

So this thread is about problems, most people would consider themselves lucky, if that was all they would have to worry about. But for the people who have them, they can be serious problems.

So, let´s say, this is a "t´would be nice to have them" problem thread, where we can share our "lesser" problems without aggravating others. (non passive-aggressive) jokes about these problems are ok, but not the mentioned anger/envy reactions. And suggestions for problem resolutions are welcomed.

ONLY NICE THINGS

16:31 / 31.01.06

Should I really just have blown £150 on shirts?

Tom Paine's Bones

16:33 / 31.01.06

My computer's rubbish. It doesn't have a CD writer and is too slow to take broadband. This makes me grumpy.

16:35 / 31.01.06

That´s a good example, Haus! I had that problem all the time, spending money I shouldn´t spend, on things I really didn´t need and than not having the money for things I should buy.

I just finished cooking my dinner; later I´ll post my problem, that many people say, they wish they had.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

17:03 / 31.01.06

I'm finding watching films very difficult at the moment. I now have such a backlog of downloaded movies and purchased DVDs that I have yet to watch that I find myself stunned into paralysis every time I sit down to watch one and contemplate the huge choice ahead of me. It's really quite frustrating.

All Acting Regiment

17:04 / 31.01.06

Bah! One is guaranteed, but I just can't decide whether to spontaneously grow, on my right hand, a fully functioning vagina, mouth, or arsehole.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

17:09 / 31.01.06

L.Rex: Could you not get some sort of hybrid? Then you and your enhanced hand could have a William S. Burroughs-esqe ventriloquist act.

ONLY NICE THINGS

17:19 / 31.01.06

You could tour the stages of England under the name Holey Original

17:27 / 31.01.06

Stoatie, I have the same problem, only with books. It can take me weeks to finish a book, and I felt a lot of relief when I recently finished the Baroque Trilogy.

Legba, would that be like a stigmata?

Now, here´s my problem:
For quite some time now, I can get up in the morning whenever I feel like it (no, I´m not unemployed). Over the months, getting up at 08.00 turned to 09.00, 10.00 and now I get up at around 11.00! I tried getting up earlier (for example, I put my alarm clock in another room, but I just got up, turned it off, and then returned to bed).

But my selfdiscipline is zero. My body just says, what, are you crazy, stay in bed! A friend told me last week, there are no tricks, the only way is finding the discipline and to get up. My father had the same problem, he usually got up at 02.00 pm. I guess, this getting up late reminds me of him, and that´s why I want to get up early.

And I know, many people in my situation would like to sleep in, have breakfast at lunch time, but for me it´s getting very annoying.

Anyone had a similar situation or knows how I can solve this?

Less searchable M0rd4nt

17:31 / 31.01.06

Bait. Seriously, bribe yourself out of bed with a book, telly programme or a donut, something you'll enjoy.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

17:31 / 31.01.06

I also have that problem. A combination of new puppy, fucked body clock due to five years of night shifts and having three weeks off work has left me thoroughly confused as to when UI'm tired and when merely groggy. Since getting up at about 10:30 this morning, I've since been back to bed twice for an hour at a time, and am still perplexed as to why it should be half-past seven now. It doesn't FEEL like half-past-seven. It doesn't feel like ANY time.

All Acting Regiment

17:31 / 31.01.06

Wow, I wished really hard and I ended up with a hand with a mouth in it with a vagina in it with an arsehole in it. I fudged the system.

In fact...

17:36 / 31.01.06

But how can you tell if it´s a fart or bad breath?

All Acting Regiment

17:42 / 31.01.06

Could always be Cathedral Cheese

(I'm aware that I'm pushing it a bit now and if anyone wants me to stop, just say so.)

17:52 / 31.01.06

Bait. Seriously, bribe yourself out of bed with a book, telly programme or a donut, something you'll enjoy.

That´s a good idea, Mordant. One of the problems of getting up late is, that when I get to the bakery most of the good stuff is already sold. Now to find more things I can bribe myself with!

18:22 / 31.01.06

Mistofelees - I sympathise. I don't work on Mondays and if I don't take drastic measures I sleep late and then, when I do get up, spend hours sitting here at the PC. I don't WANT to waste the day, I want to be out cycling or swimming or... anything really - but I just get stuck. So I now make appointments for things like hairdressers or gym appointments or opticians or, well, anything really, for about 9.30. That gets me up and moving - and I feel great once I'm going.
I realise that's a bit tricky for you - hard to find an appointment for every day of the week! But maybe once a week you need to have a class or a coffee with someone or something else that you have to do, earlyish in the day? That might help break the pattern.

18:40 / 31.01.06

Very good idea, Ariadne!
Today my bank called me for an appointment. I said friday instead of tomorrow, but I didn´t say no to "10.00", so somehow I´ll have to be there "early in the morning".

And you were describing my problem better than me: There´s so much you can do, and you know you´ll feel good, once you do it.

18:45 / 31.01.06

I once had a deal with my ex: she got up early anyway, so she called me in the morning (and I have one of these modern phones that you cannot just unhook!), so the ringing gave me an adrenaline kick (which my alarm clock can´t do), and I got up.

Maybe I´ll try that again!

19:53 / 31.01.06

Keep the drugs in the kitchen, Mr M - it's the only way. Otherwise, what is there, in all good conscience, to get out of bed for?

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

20:02 / 31.01.06

The booze?

20:24 / 31.01.06

No central heating. No double glazing. Only two very crappy electric heaters.

Could be worse of course...

20:35 / 31.01.06

The booze?

But everyone has a fridge full of that next to their bedside table these days, don't they?

Erm, DON'T THEY?

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

20:39 / 31.01.06

I have no bedside table.

Nor bedroom fridge.

I make do with a carrier bag from the offy, and an open window.

20:50 / 31.01.06

I'd recommend both then - I find that the pair of them are all that stop me from going out, late at night, on my own, in a uniform, and fighting crime.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

20:52 / 31.01.06

To be honest, I could really do with something that would stop me doing that.

Though whether Hackney would sleep as safely if I wasn't- actually, Hackney would probably think of it as an improvement.

21:02 / 31.01.06

I suppose the best way to proceed is to see how the area feels once you've hung up your mask, cape, gun and such for a couple of days, and are relaxing by the fridge and bedside table. I bet they'll all be very sorry, all those characters who said all those things to the local paper.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

21:03 / 31.01.06

Parking fines have already seen to me having to get rid of one Stoatmobile already...

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

21:04 / 31.01.06

Damn that pesky Hackney Council. I may not play by the rules, but goddammit I get results!!!

...well, I may not play by the rules, anyway.

Mon Oncle Ignatius

21:31 / 31.01.06

My computer's rubbish. It doesn't have a CD writer and is too slow to take broadband.

No computer is too slow to take broadband, assuming it has a network card that is... does it have a network port?

It might be too slow to take a CD writer though - what's the spec?

Goodness Gracious Meme

22:19 / 31.01.06

Should I get up tomorrow ni teh day or not?

Entirely upto me, difficult to decide.

00:34 / 01.02.06

so the ringing gave me an adrenaline kick (which my alarm clock can´t do), and I got up.

Can't you set your cell phone to ring at a certain time in the morning? I detest waking up that way, but I do it when I'm traveling.

I get up in the morning by bribing myself with coffee. I love coffee enough that it's a good motivating factor. Can't have any til you get up. In fact I love coffee so much that sometimes (since I'm not very good about going to bed at night) the thought of coffee in the morning is my bribe to get myself to go to sleep at a decent hour.

I also sometimes lay in bed and pick out the clothes I'm going to wear that day before I actually get out of bed. I don't know why I'm so neurotic that picking out my clothes feels like an impending chore... but if I mentally do it in bed I feel less stressed about having to face the day.

I sound a little crazy, don't I.

00:48 / 01.02.06

my partner gets up every day at 5:30 for work, so he gets the automatic coffee maker set up, his bag completely packed and by the door, and his clothes picked out and laid across a chair every night before he goes to bed or he simply would not function.

That's a little crazy, honey. But it works.

Me, I have a hard time getting out of bed, too, but due to my partner's schedule, and his unrelenting faithfulness to it, I generally can't stand the guilt if I'm still in bed by 9, in which case I just commit seppuku.

07:36 / 01.02.06

I too have had the getting out of bed difficulty, which I found tended to feed pretty rapidly into a going to bed at a reasonable hour problem. My answer has been a dual alarm clock approach - I have one by the bed with a snooze function, that I set half an hour before I have to get up. That way I get to come round slowly and enjoy the lie in feeling. Then I have another nasty loud alarm on the other side of the room that tells me, NO SHIT, its time to get up. Having two alarms also stops me fretting about missing important things due to battery failure etc.

08:25 / 01.02.06

There´s so much you can do, and you know you´ll feel good, once you do it.

How do you know this? I suspect that once you went outside you'd discover that being in bed is actually far better. It's better not to risk that disappointment.

Failing that, try going to bed and getting up an hour later each day and cycle through the clock. At least that way once every 24 days you'll be getting up at your desired time.

08:35 / 01.02.06

Baits for Mr. M.:

1. Make it your new hobby to take wonderful sunrise-photos. Always tell yourself you could still do better next time. This will also make you gradually get used to getting up earlier and earlier, until in June you'll be wide awake at 4 a.m.

2. Join a Taiji- or Qigong-class. They usually exercise very early in the morning, as that's considered the best time of the day.

3. Join a Zen-meditation-group for the same reason.

4. Join some psycho-sect brainwashing you until you believe in ufos from Alpha Centauri that will phaser you out of bed, if you don't get up before 8 a.m.

5. Get rid of your mattress for a more Klingon approach to sleeping. Your hurting bones will make you get up very early.

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