⭐︎I tried stopping things I was persistent about 1233

Things are easier done than thought.
Now, I feel like, 'I've been living alone for a long time, so what?'
Some of the things we think are 'natural to do' are just assumptions (probably).
I tried stopping the things I could get by without doing.

(In my case) I realized that it's easier for me to drink water at room temperature, so even though it's hot, I stopped making ice (automatic ice making).

The refrigerator broke a few weeks before Shu (pseudonym, eldest son) announced he was 'moving out'.
I made arrangements in a hurry and welcomed a new refrigerator the next evening.
If I had known I would be living alone, I would have been fine with a smaller capacity model without automatic ice making.

Shu drinks a large amount of water, tea, and coffee every day.
From before the real heat arrives until before it gets really cold, he fills his Thermos tumbler to the brim with ice.
He doesn't just crunch on ice, but when he was a child, I once suspected he had pagophagia.

I originally didn't drink much water.
I'm fine without soup or tea at mealtime.
I like coffee and tea, but I can eat them with just sweets.
If it's pot service, there's always some left over.
I don't need all-you-can-drink or drink bars.

I used to make rooibos tea for a while to consciously drink more water.
Once I started drinking it only out of a sense of duty, I gradually got tired of it.
Even though I actually like rooibos tea.

I'm not doing yoga or particularly health-conscious, but when I tried drinking hot water, I found I could drink it surprisingly well.
Even at my previous workplace, in the middle of summer, my companion was a personal bottle filled with hot water.

How many years ago was that?
When I didn't have any boiled water cooled down and tried drinking room-temperature water, I found I could drink more of it more easily than hot water.
Since then, my water intake has been room-temperature water all year round (warmed to body temperature in winter).
I also bring a personal bottle filled with room-temperature water to my current workplace.
I don't need ice even in midsummer.

I can't break the habit of packing my days off with errands even in extreme heat.
Even after I get home and turn on the air conditioner, the heat doesn't leave my body, and I'm in a state of mild heatstroke.
My body won't accept the room-temperature water I should be able to drink under normal circumstances.
My body is warning me that 'it's dangerous if you don't cool down from the inside'.
When I tried drinking water with ice in it, I was surprised at how much I could drink.
It's scary, hidden heatstroke.

Since Shu, who used ice daily, is gone, I stopped using the automatic ice maker.
Even with the previous refrigerator, Shu was the one who filled the tank, and I was the one who did the annoying cleaning before and after use.
I won't use it at all from now on, so there's no need for cleaning.
I won't be startled by the rattling sound when ice is made anymore.

For heatstroke prevention, I'll make ice using an ice tray I bought at a 100-yen shop long ago and keep it in reserve.
I'll put some yellow Giant Corn in the empty ice storage bin.

Since only water goes down the sink drain, I stopped using a drain net.

My sink drain is set up with a stainless steel shallow punching strainer from the top + a net set on a ring + a trap cover (odor-blocking cup).
I don't use a basket because cleaning it is a hassle.

I don't want it to get slimy, I don't want it to smell, and I don't want it to get clogged.
I've been cleaning the drain every day for a long time, right down to removing and washing the trap cover.

Maybe I'm a real cheapskate, or I just don't cook more than I need, so I've never let anything rot and thrown it away.
I've never forgotten about stored ingredients and let them go bad either.
I don't pour out boiling water or cooking liquid because I repurpose them into soups or other dishes.
I used to use the water from boiling noodles for laundry.
In recent years, I've been wheat-free and don't eat noodles, so I don't pour that out.

In the latter half of the time Yumi (pseudonym, eldest daughter) lived with me, she wanted 'zero contact with Mom'.
She didn't eat the food I made and mostly bought food out.
When she finished eating, she would pour noodle broth, stew liquid, and salad dressing into the sink without hesitation.
The liquid would be mixed with sesame seeds, green onions, and tempura scraps (agedama), and things like back fat would harden into white clumps.
Of course, Yumi never cleaned it up.

How often do you change your drain net?
Since there's no one here to just dump things down the drain, the net doesn't catch sesame seeds, green onions, tempura scraps, or pork back fat.
The only thing that passes through the mesh is the water from washing vegetables and dishes.
The drain net doesn't even get dirty, you know?
Don't I not need it?

I tried stopping using it.
I have an unopened pack of 50 drain nets I bought at the local drugstore left over.
Even looking at the instructions on the back, I don't feel like I'll ever use them all up.

Since it doesn't help to say it, I tried stopping saying things like "Oops!!" or "I forgot!!"

Sure, the sound effect "Charari" might play in my head, but regretting it won't turn back time.

As an aside, I thought it was "Tariraan" or "Chariraan".
So the correct one was "Charari" after all.

Back to the topic at hand.
So I decided to rephrase it like this.
"I'm glad I noticed!!" or "Am I a genius for noticing? (No, I'm not!!)".

I am a master of regret.
I can instantly get depressed saying, "Oops!!", "I made a mistake!!", "I forgot!!", or "I should have noticed sooner."
Once I've thought it, I can't take it back.
At the very least, I tried stopping saying "Oops!!" out loud.
Instead, I decided to say "I'm glad I noticed!!" out loud.

Instead of searching for causes or reasons and getting depressed by asking "Why?" or "How come?", the benefit is that it's easier to shift my thinking toward recovery by asking, "So what should I do next?"
For some reason, this works quite well and shouldn't be underestimated.
The only key point is that you must say it out loud.
I think.
Probably.
I don't know, though.

2025.8.20

#Essay #Blog #Column #Prose #MiscellaneousWriting #PersonalNotes #Depression #AutomaticIceMaker #Ice #IceTray #Pagophagia #DrainNet #TatsuoKamon #MilkFromMyNose