there is a 'severe thunderstorm warning' in effect on account of a large cold front headed this way, if the forecast holds true, we should get some much-needed relief during the overnight hours. [full disclosure: i am rather fond of those "in action" radar maps on the weather site.]
this past week has been a really rough one for a lot of people. there are reports of more than thirty fatalities in the area since the onset of this heatwave, and there are ongoing reminders to check on older relatives and neighbors who will continue to be as risk even after the worst of the heat is gone.
most of the buildings in this city are a century (or more) old, so you will not find a whole lot of central cooling in homes. most people seem to do what we did: stick an AC in one room, and try to spend most of your time in that one space.
to that end, we moved all of the computer equipment out of the in-house studio, and closed up that space for the rest of the Summer. so, now it is "somewhat comfortable" in most of our apartment, just as long as you avoid any obviously ridiculous behavior (like standing around in the hot kitchen for half an hour (or more), engaged in the obsessive-compulsive chopping of equally-sizes bits of veggies to make a stir fry).
which brings me to the topic of the day.
i have what can probably be classified as the most useless form of OCD in the entire history of the universe. were you to hear me describe the level of planning and careful preparation i go through to do the simplest things, you would expect me to be a total "neat freak", when the exact opposite is true. my OCD centers on how certain things are done, rather than the thing itself.
i have an intense need to sort stuff into piles of "like items" before i can proceed with whatever i was doing. give a sane person a basket of laundry to fold, and they most likely would remove one item, fold it, then reach back in for another item.
in my universe, i cannot even consider folding a single item until all of the laundry is done. i then sort all of it into the most-specific categories ever invented.
t-shirts
tops with short sleeves that are not "quite" t-shirts
tank tops (ribbed)
tank tops (not ribbed)
tank tops with a shelf-bra
...and so on.
and that is before i begin to fold a single thing. no joking, i made the decision to avoid racer-back tops, because i can never get them folded the way i like. and, yes, it goes without saying that everything has to be folded to the exact same size. madness!
it gets to be so very frustrating that it is usually easier not to bother at all. that is, until i have a minor breakdown and go into hyper-organizing mode for a day or two... after which no one is allowed to touch a single thing i just put away, lest they ruin my perfect system.
honestly, it is far easier to leave the clothes in the basket (or on a pile on the chair in the corner), and just pull an item from it as needed. you would think such a thing would bother me, but it does not, not in the least bit. like i said, it is the process, not the product, that is the focus of my insanity.
i have a bit of a headache coming on, so i am going to get something to eat and maybe get started on a new knitting project for self. stay cool whereever you are... unless it is Winter... in which case, stay warm.
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