Over the years I've developed a wee bit of OCD. Nothing too unmanageable, mainly just a numbers thing. I like nice, even numbers, or anything in a multiple of five. It started at the gas station, and I'm guessing that this is a common one with a lot of people - it might not even qualify as an obsession thing, but you'll see how it all ties together, and you'll agree that I have a problem.
When I'm gassing up the car, the dollar amount has to be an even dollar amount. Just has to be. If I over-shoot and the total is 30.01, I feel uneasy to the point that I will pump more gas until the number "feels" right. $31 won't do - it's an odd number. I can live with $32 or $34, but wouldn't it be better to hit $35 - it's not even, but oh, it's such a nice multiple of five. It gets worse.
At the gym on my cardio machines, there are all kinds of numbers to watch. And believe me, I do. My favorite machine is the elliptical which shows me the resistance level and the incline level. They have to match. I can't have the incline on a 4 and the resistance on a 6. That's messed up. And you know I'll never do anything on an odd numbered level. This is pretty easy to manage - set it once and I'm good to go.
Another number that I watch and manage is the ending calorie count. I was doin' the elliptical with a friend one time and she noticed that I had suddenly sped up and was striding like crazy.
"What are you doing?"
"Um...my time is almost up and I need to get this number to end in a multiple of 100."
"Huh?"
"Yeah, see I'm really close and it doesn't feel right to stop at anything other than ...there, see...it says 300." I stop pedaling. "I can stop now"
Silence. And I realize that she doesn't do this. We laugh about it and this was when I realized that my little quirk might just have a name in the mental health chapters of a medical book.
The final number that I watch is the Total Strides. I watch this one to pass the time because it keeps my brain so busy. The number is changing rapidly, and what I am watching for, in particular, is symmetry within the number. A number like 1212, 3553 or 4444 pleases me. I can honestly feel a tiny surge of adreneline pop in my brain when I see numbers like that. I don't start watching the number until it hits at least 1000 - a three digit number gives me no pleasure. But after 1000, the fun really starts. There's 1001, 1010, 1111, 1122, 1133 - it's endless. What nice, little symmetrical numbers. Occasionally, if I have time, I can reach the best number ever - 5555. Isn't it lovely?
Last story - I took that Body & Soul class at the Lifetime Fitness Center with a friend. She had on a fancy wrist monitor to measure heart rate and calories burned. They were her calories burned, but since I was with her, the numbers called to me as well. The class was so fun and at the end, she showed me her monitor: 596 calories. That just wasn't gonna fly, and she was kind enough to walk around the empty room with me until I saw a nice little 600 in all its digital glory.
So there is - all my numerical freakiness. And right now, the gas pump and the gym are the only places that it gets to me. At least that I've noticed.
So come clean - what are your quirks or obsessions? Do you hide them or just put it all out there?
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8 comments:
Welcome to the blogging world!! That laundry and dish pile? It's gonna get bigger, believe me. Blogging is addictive. I'm glad to know someone else has some "monk-ish" behavior. What i wish I had was the cleanliness part! But I have the weird parts. I can totally relate to the number part. Gas HAS to end in 5 or 0, nothing else. If it goes over, I have to go to the next marker. 5 is my favorite number, everything I choose ends in 5. My other OCD issues are loose hairs on peoples clothing. it does me in when i see it. I can't focus on what they are saying until I get it off. If it looks like its ready to fall but is still connected it will drive me nuts until I tug at it. The others are too numerous to name, like constant tracing the ceiling lines where they meet the walls over and over in my mind like i'm walking it. does that even make sense? I'm done now.
I get the number thing too, but mine is mostly dates! My boss (the doctor) and I pick really cool patterns in dates and try and think of cool patients that could have babies that day. I've also started straightening things at stores like Target, and have decided that a little OCD isn't really a problem UNTIL it interrupts your life and then you may need medication.
Hey Lisa and Ashley! Thanks for stopping by. Your comments have eased my mind immensely - I was worried all night that I have revealed too much, and you'd be all "whoa, she's a freak!". And yeah, the extreme cleanliness has passed me by as well, though I will pick at the occasional hair.
I can't focus at all if things are uneven. I was with a friend once(none of you on here, I assure you), a bosomy gal, and when she had dressed that morning, she'd neglected to align things properly within her bra. It was chilly and her nipples were pointing in different directions, one to the north and the other sort of southwesternish. I have no problem telling a friend that she's got something in her teeth - and I expect the same from all of you - but how close of friends do you need to be to comment on someone's nipples?
Ashley, I don't even want to know about the "cool dates" - I'm trying to limit my numbers thing to the gym.
Bosomy gal? Definitely not me. Please let me know if you notice though.
You know, sometimes it's hard to know what things you can point out or say among which people. When we were on trek, one of the teenage boys in our family asked a question about c-sections and I launched into the explanation about c-section versus vaginal deliveries with all of the appropriate terms--all normal conversation pieces on the postpartum floor of the hospital where I work--all of a sudden the girls in our group (the boys didn't seem bothered) all turned red and groaned "don't say those words!"
I think in my case I would probably be inclined to inform my friends of the imbalance in nipple-pointing direction--however, I can talk about a lot of things without getting embarrassed...foreskin, meatus, labia...you get the picture. I have to watch my tongue sometimes because sometimes I forget that these terms are not always socially acceptable among all groups of people!
I'm so glad you brought this up!! I read this last night and wanted to respond but I had to really think about my "Monk" behavior..mine are...I HAVE to have the gas tank above the halfway mark. I started this when I lived in Florida during hurricane season. It drives me nuts to have to drive with my husband because he loves to drive all the way to empty.
The other one is...I'm deathly afraid I will have body odor! In the summer when it is hot, I will take two to three showers a day because I don't like to sweat or have any "Smell" action going on. I wonder if there was ever an episode of Monk showering several times a day???
It's true about Lisa's loose hair obsession. She was @ my house one night and we were all talking in a circle and I noticed she was just glaring at me with this "I'm gonna vomit" look. Once she made me pick my blonde hair off my black blouse, she released her evil look and could enjoy her evening.
Surprisingly I am not obsessed with the gas numbers thing, because I am a total even numbers lovin' gal. More on that later. I think I would be, except Mike (Loud Boy) is more so obsessed with the gas thing that I and I love to irk him by ending with whatever number the pump ends with. I accept it. I don't push it. I guess my sick love to bug Mike overrides the need to push the pump to an acceptable quirky number, even if it means gas gushing all over my car. Is that what happens to the rest of you?
I love even numbers so much that I insisted Mike and I get married on an even date (August 20), although it was an odd year. I guess it would have been really crazy to have made him wait a year. But, by getting married in an odd numbered year, all of our children were born in even years (1994, 1996 and 1998).
To make it even better, since I was induced on all three births, my doctor indulged my obsession and let me be induced on even dates with all three children. So much so that to accommodate my quirkiness and his vacation, I got to have Ashby 10 days early!
Madisen (8th) Ashby (16th) Bronson (24th). Multiples of 8 not my doing - just an added bonus. I guess that's why we had to stop at 3 kids. There is no 32nd of the month.
Okay, Wahwee, you're as bad as I am!
I had no idea.
I don't know if I can be in a car with you when you gas up. Ever. That's just bad karma.
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