[hamster-bamster]

I have just stopped doing the things that need to be done.

I am just so happy that I can do whatever I want.

That my life is not being controlled anymore.

Very small things make me happy. Driving a car (I did not have a car for 4 years), shopping at stores that used to be out of reach for me back when I did not have a car... those things.

Will it ever stop?

Should I let myself enjoy, hoping that I would go back to normal, or should I start applying self-disclipine?

Example of laziness: I now buy cooked hardboiled eggs from Costco. I have never been that lazy. I might not have prepared gourmet meals, but I would boil a lot of eggs and keep then in the fridge and then peel them myself. I hated peeling the eggs, but I did it. So I do not do it anymore.

Has anybody been through it?

[sophie7]

Hey,
I think that you are making the most from what you`ve freed yourself from. It`s like escaping a prison. Freedom from anything that wrongs you brings about happiness. I know what you mean by feeling trapped for so long in misery that when you`ve finally escape, happiness is so unusual that it almost brings about guilt and fear that it`ll soon fade away. But self-dicipline is always a good thing too and maintaining balance is always the best option I think But do enjoy your happiness.
Take care

[Gr3tta]

hamster-bamster i think i know exactly how you feel! the freedom to get up when you want, go to bed when you want, go where you want, when you want, eat what you want ----- wow! i think the euphoria will fade on its own. i would continue to enjoy your freedom, but keep an eye on the things that do honestly need to be done. (like paying the bills, taking out the garbage, that sort of thing)
...and if you can afford and like ready-made hardboiled eggs - enjoy them!

[H3rmit]

Originally Posted by hamster-bamster

that I would go back to normal

What would that mean? What are the avoided things that need to be done, as you say? How would you be living differently? (Apart from unpleasant chores like peeling eggs -- actually I like that job! The sharp crack, the smooth slip -- maybe you overcook them so it's a tough job?) Cost-benefit analysis, hamster! What are the costs and benefits of preboiled eggs, etc?

Other than that, enjoy! Life might end tomorrow. (And today I won't add "if we're lucky.")

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by H3rmit

What would that mean? What are the avoided things that need to be done, as you say? How would you be living differently? (Apart from unpleasant chores like peeling eggs -- actually I like that job! The sharp crack, the smooth slip -- maybe you overcook them so it's a tough job?) Cost-benefit analysis, hamster! What are the costs and benefits of preboiled eggs, etc?

Other than that, enjoy! Life might end tomorrow. (And today I won't add "if we're lucky.")

I think that I did overcook them. How long should they be boiled?

[Gr3tta]

put the eggs in the pan and cover with cold/tepid water. bring just to a boil. then turn off the heat, cover, and let set for ~ 10 or 12 minutes. then run under cold water, and peel!

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by Gr3tta

put the eggs in the pan and cover with cold/tepid water. bring just to a boil. then turn off the heat, cover, and let set for ~ 10 or 12 minutes. then run under cold water, and peel!

Thank you Gretta; I definitely overcooked them because I did not turn off the heat - I kept boiling and boiling.

[H3rmit]

What Gr3tta said works, as does cooking for five minutes and leaving them in the hot water 5 or so longer. But then you need a timer to remind you to take them out or they will get grey around the yolks after a while.

[hamster-bamster]

I have received unpleasant consequences to my laziness.

At some point, I bought wholesale quantities of fruit - kiwis and champagne mangoes - from Costco, being super happy that Costco was within reach - back when I did not have a car, I could not go to Costco.

The fruit, left on the counter, attracted fruit flies.

I removed the fruit - I partially discarded it, partially moved it to the fridge, and resolved to never buy fruit from Costco again until and unless I get a really, really large family. That resolution will hopefully help me in the future, but it did not remove the fruit flies.

Today, on a day's notice, the landlord visited and he did not like the fruit flies. He told me to get rid of them. It was quite embarrassing. I immediately ordered fruit fly spray and traps from Amazon, sent him a copy of the Amazon's receipt to show that I have initiated anti-fruit-fly action, and said that I would invite him over as soon as the fruit flies are gone.

He has not responded - well, it has only been an hour and a half since I emailed him and he usually lags in his responses.

So that pretty much puts an end to my laziness - I will now be engaged in fruit fly fighting activities!

Thank you for the advice on eggs. I will implement it.

Clearly, Costco is the source of all evil - both boiled eggs and fruit-fly-spawning fruit came from there.

[hamster-bamster]

I will keep this thread for accountability purposes, reporting on the progress from time to time.

I feel so bad right now; as if the landlord had caught me in some nasty act.

[H3rmit]

Wow, was it a giant cloud of fruit flies or is your landlord just really uptight?

I think if you spray the flies with any kind of diluted soapy water it will do them in. Then you can wipe up the fly-ridden soap liquid. I mean if it was a cloud of them.

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by H3rmit

Wow, was it a giant cloud of fruit flies or is your landlord just really uptight?

I think if you spray the flies with any kind of diluted soapy water it will do them in. Then you can wipe up the fly-ridden soap liquid. I mean if it was a cloud of them.

To me, it was not a giant cloud. To him, it probably was. So, based on HIS impression, I will apply the diluted soapy water remedy - I have a spray bottle.

I will let you know how it goes!

[Gr3tta]

it's temporarily unpleasant, but the fruit fly infestation will be short lived once the fruit is gone. lesson learned! enjoy fruits in smaller quantities!

[hamster-bamster]

I am having a real problem.

The landlord, who is an extremely nice Persian man (not a corporation or a property management company, but an individual) wants the condo refinanced. So he needs it to be in top shape for the appraisal.

I am going to buy some spray and fruit fly traps now!

Thank you for the support!

[H3rmit]

Originally Posted by hamster-bamster

buy some spray

So diluted dishsoap or SaferSoap in an old spray bottle didn't work?

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by H3rmit

So diluted dishsoap or SaferSoap in an old spray bottle didn't work?

I sent him a receipt from a hardware store - not for reimbursement, but to show that I am taking care of it. He asked to spray for insects, so I complied. Not to discount the effectiveness of home remedies.

[livefast3315]

Originally Posted by Gr3tta

hamster-bamster i think i know exactly how you feel! the freedom to get up when you want, go to bed when you want, go where you want, when you want, eat what you want ----- wow! i think the euphoria will fade on its own. i would continue to enjoy your freedom, but keep an eye on the things that do honestly need to be done. (like paying the bills, taking out the garbage, that sort of thing)
...and if you can afford and like ready-made hardboiled eggs - enjoy them!

Agree enjoy.

[hamster-bamster]

I am doing better.

I have prepared my living room for steam carpet cleaning on Thursday. Now I need to prepare the bedroom.

It will look better.

The steam carpet cleaning is because of the landlord - I would not be spending money by myself - but I will enjoy the results and I hope that I will be motivated to keep it nice once it is nice. It is much easier to be motivated when it is, say, 90% nice and you need to do a little bit to make it, say, 95% nice, than to deal with total disasters.

The fruit fly population has gone down quite a bit!

Also, the woman who helps me with the cats came and trimmed the nails on two of the cats. The third one, named Maddy, escaped. I will try catching Maddy, placing her in the bathroom, and repeating the request for the lady to come in next weekend. I am afraid of cutting the nail too much, past the point where it is safe and no blood comes out, so I need help. The good thing is that I won't be scratched so badly now in the mornings - they come and wake me up to give them their breakfast and scratch me. The one who is the worst in that regard did get his nails trimmed yesterday.

So - I won't be scratched for a while and I have put all the kiwis into the fridge and I won't buy bananas for now and there are far fewer fruit flies around and the carpet cleaning will be done with the add-on anti-pet-odor-protection (!), so I am making progress!

[hamster-bamster]

I am happy to report some progress:

1) The fruit fly infestation is almost gone. I see maybe 5-10 fruit flies in the kitchen still, but it is nothing compared to the dread of just a few weeks ago.

2) I have made a spreadsheet with my credit card debt and am taking care of paying quite a bit more than minimal payments to the extent that I currently can. It is impossible for me to do more than I can, but at least I am current on everything so there would be no late fees.

3) I have set up automated payments for the internet and cell phone so there is less hassle for me now (I know, this should have been done long ago, but still, better later than never!)

[Gr3tta]

Hey, good for you! Boy, those fruit flies were real buggars!
A spreadsheet is a great idea for keeping track of bills. And automated payments help me out a lot. I'm so glad you were able to set those up!

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by Gr3tta

hamster-bamster i think i know exactly how you feel! the freedom to get up when you want, go to bed when you want, go where you want, when you want, eat what you want ----- wow! i think the euphoria will fade on its own. i would continue to enjoy your freedom, but keep an eye on the things that do honestly need to be done. (like paying the bills, taking out the garbage, that sort of thing)
...and if you can afford and like ready-made hardboiled eggs - enjoy them!

I am updating this old old thread of mine.

So... as people have predicted, I eventually grew out of this.

Also, as money became very tight, I simply started trying to be as self-sufficient as possible.

So this is what I do now:

1) I buy 36 raw shelled eggs at Costco (best deal).
2) At home, I have two plastic containers for eggs. One is a two level container for 12 eggs on each level and the other is a one level container for 14 eggs.
3) I boil 14 eggs in two batches (I got an egg timer that swims in the saucepan with the eggs and changes its color as they cook). I then pour some cold water on hard-boiled eggs, pat them dry and write today's date using a blue Sharpie. Then I load them into the 14-egg container.
4) I load the rest of the eggs into the two-level container. I eat 2 hard-boiled eggs a day, so I cook them once a week. If I am feeling ambitious, I skip a day of eating hard-boiled eggs and make an omelette or sunny side up eggs.

When I opened that thread, I never could have dreamed of eventually posting such a... how do I say?.. well-organized update to it.

and thanks for reading.

[thickntired]

Your post gives me hope. What the hell, buy purple, boiled Easter eggs! 🔮

To get rid of fruit flys: cup of apple cider vinegar with a drop of dishwashing liquid. They fly in and die. I put mine by fruit.

[katelyn1019]

I think that you are enjoying being able to enjoy stuff. Its kinda like when you move out of your parents house when you turn 18, being able to buy or do whatever you want, but I also think that this will pass. Eventually you will get used to being able to do what you want.

[katelyn1019]

Originally Posted by katelyn1019

I think that you are enjoying being able to enjoy stuff. Its kinda like when you move out of your parents house when you turn 18, being able to buy or do whatever you want, but I also think that this will pass. Eventually you will get used to being able to do what you want.

Oh sorry, I didn't realize that this thread is old

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by thickntired

Your post gives me hope. What the hell, buy purple, boiled Easter eggs! 🔮

To get rid of fruit flys: cup of apple cider vinegar with a drop of dishwashing liquid. They fly in and die. I put mine by fruit.

Yay!! I just bought a gallon of apple cider vinegar because I make a final hair rinse solution with it (meaning - after the conditioner). Vinegar smooths the shaft of the hair, making it is easy to comb and lustrous. Vinegar solutions on Amazon, among hair products, are ridiculously expensive, but if you read the ingredients list, it is basically water, apple cider vinegar and some essential oils.

So you are saying that I can kill two birds at once with Apple cider vinegar?

No, not two birds - two flies!

This is such an easy recipe and a great use for... how do I put it?.. more than sufficient supply of IKEA cups that I purchased in the beginning of the year.

Definitely will put it near fruit.