Opposites attacked
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Tonight I start one of my two annual periods of bachelordom as my family take off to France for the summer. Tonight will therefore also be laden with surreal and completely irrational thoughts and dreams of car accidents and boats sinking and and and……well you get the picture…..I worry. And I’m ok with that.
But that isn’t the point. As so often happens, I’ve started talking about one thing when in fact I intended to talk about something else. I should become a politician, they seem to be good at that too. Anyway, last night I came home from work and well……. It won’t have passed the observant amongst you and those that have been hanging here for a while that I have OCD issues. And they kicked in big time.
My wife and I. We’re different. If it was me going away, I would have packed and unpacked at least three times. Tested the dimensions of the car boot and calibrated it against the maximum volume of all bags and baggage. We would have had three dry runs with the kids to see how quickly they could get their shoes on pick up their bags and get in the car. The car tyres would have been inflated, the TomTom would have been programmed and all major road works would have been identified and routes found to avoid them (with secondary routes also in place just in case the primary routes proved too popular with other freaks like me). And, and, and I most certainly would have had the number plates changed on the new car to have the little GB and EU swirly thing on. I mean who on earth would leave that to the last day……..
That would just be madness.
So I know life and love is all about difference, that opposites attract and all that. But sometimes, sometimes…..I mean! Sitting here writing about it the next day is sending my heart racing and bringing me out in cold sweats. Surely it’s not just me? I mean everyone drives their partner up the wall right?
On the plus side, I have ten days and a cupboard full of jars….and I’m telling you, those babies are all going to be pointing in the same direction by the time I’ve finished….
My Hell is Other People 
Lol … I am so with you on this one. The whole planning thing is my life too. In fact, last night was a good example. I went to a furniture store to buy some furniture … armed with a map of my lounge with all the existing furniture plotted on, with full dimensions, including front door and lounge door measurements. Also in my “pack” were prints from the internet of items I was interested in and a print of an excel spreadsheet showing the various permutations and costings. My daughter seemed to think this was somewhat unusual behaviour – I thought it was completely normal!
I am different. I like to have a direction, and an ultimate goal, but how that goal is achieved is down to circumstance.
I have cycled all the way through France on two occasions and it boiled down to a deadline (ie the ferry in Spain). Every day was a case of ‘cycle around 50 miles or so, then find a campsite’.
It worked well.
I have been in your position and it is not fun. I played far too much on the games console and I didn’t really know what to do with myself. Jars were the least of my worries. I did, however, end up loving skype.
I plan my route, look out for roadworks, make sure everything fits in the boot n all that, probably not quite to the extent you do. However I do find that I wouldn’t fit into the ‘completer finisher’ type profile as I then lose interest and tend to forget something. Last year, it was the passports (which I had packed three days earlier) or at least thought I had but obviously hadn’t. Bit of a bugger when you get to the airport on a busy Saturday and have to ask your neighbour to get to Luton from Southend in under an hour, luckily he has a very fast bike!
Just reading this has brought me out in a rash. The very thought of planning to such a degree is completely alien to me – what if something more exciting happens? what if an opportunity presents itself that wasn’t planned for? what if, heaven forbid, there is simply something way more interesting to do than plan / pack / prepare?
Still, in Myers Briggs terms, you probably have a massive J-ness… whilst I, I just have a massive…
*ahem*
let’s just say that my Perception (P) is extreme.
I sent my wife to France once; with the kids. Didn’t work out too well – they all came back. And fucked up the jars as well.
You do realise the tents are not all identical and will be pitched at different angles etc?
I avoid video stores because I can’t just pleasantly browse, I have to straighten and organize any wayward dvd’s on the shelves. Why would someone return a case backwards?!
And one of my worse recurring nightmares is I’m late for a flight, and I can’t get to the airport, or I’ve forgotten my passport/wallet/luggage/underwear.
Ugh, makes my stomach turn just thinking about it. I think I’ll go re-arrange my desk now to calm myself down.
I spend days staging for a trip. I make lists, I plan menus (if we are doing our own cooking), I get guidebooks from the library, I put my clothes out on the guest bed. I am packed and ready the day before.
My husband waits until the last minute and then wonders why I didn’t tell him to pack a bathing suit.
The irony is that he is the micromanager.
Late to the game with this comment, but having just returned from one trip and seen my husband and kids of on the next – I just had to laugh.
I’m a planner, but I’m not hung up on the details. My husband, he’s hung up on the details and not so mucha big picture planner. The whole trees and the forest deal…When the dust settles from our many debates, it balances us out nicely.
All that aside, my plans for the next few days while they are away are unlike my initial thoughts of eating cereal for dinner every
night and watching movies into the wee hours – I’ve decided to finally tackle the filing cabinet, the cooking pantry, and maybe repaint the bathroom.
You are not alone TheHRD, you are not alone.
@BJH – Now THAT is my kind of shopping, a planned attack!
@fernandomando – A road trip….on a bike….how very cool!
@Paul – Lend my wife your neighbor will you? She could do with one of those on standby!
@HRBoy – I’m sure you’re right….and once I get over putting everything in alphabetic order, I’ll give it a go……
@Peter Gold – They will be by the time I’ve finished with them…..!
@CosmicNoodles – Thanks for commenting! I rearrange people’s shelves when I’m at their house….drives people nuts but hey!
@The gold digger – You two are soooo perfect. I love it.
@Corporate Daycare – Tree and the forest thing…..that’d be a great name for a blog……