I Thought There Was An Intruder In My Apartment

Since completing my Professional Chocolatier course, I haven't had much reason to blog. It's been too hot and humid to engage in kitchen experiments, and life has been somewhat busy as I attempt to squeeze as much enjoyment out of summer as humanly possible for an introvert. One of my favourite evenings so far was spent at Dominion Beach -- I just love being in the ocean and walking barefoot in the sand! I've also had delightful breakfast and brunch dates, taken day trips to Mabou and Halifax, enthusiastically consumed delicious food at Ribfest and Crab Fest, attended the Pride Parade, and taken in a concert at the Jazz Festival. In and around all of this, I've had a chapter published by Oxford UP, done the final edit of a chapter for a forthcoming collection, and made significant progress on an ongoing research project (fun with transcriptions!) with a plan to submit an article to a journal in the coming months. Add to the mix my actual job and you can understand why I needed a vacation from my blog.

Today, however, I felt the urge to share a recent experience with you. As some of you who follow this blog already know, a while back I became trapped in a YouTube vortex watching videos about bullet journals. What you likely don't know, because I haven't been blogging, is that I actually gave in and started a bullet journal about 5 weeks ago, despite my initial skepticism. It's a simple layout that I've developed to accomplish weekly tasks (like cleaning) and bigger goals (like finishing the fibre arts journal article), and to record good things and funny happenings (a little positivity in the mayhem we call life). It's more functional than it is pretty, and I'm ok with that.

Well, in the process of setting up my bujo and making task lists, I also did some reflecting. And one of the things I realized is how much I neglect the floors in my apartment. I swiffer and/or vacuum if I have company coming, but otherwise the dust just sort of collects. I often feel extreme guilt about it, but that doesn't motivate me to take action to fix the situation. And while I know that I technically do have time to clean, I either am so busy with work and other activities that I just want to enjoy downtime or the prospect of moving furniture to do a good job is just overwhelming. I needed a better solution.

My friend Diane has always said that if there is a problem that can be solved by throwing money at it, then you should throw the money. The obvious solution was a robotic vacuum and, I admit, for the past two years, I've considered getting one. I haven't because of the price. "Perhaps this year a robotic vacuum should be my Christmas to-me-from-me-gift," I thought aloud as I absentmindedly typed into the search bar of Amazon. The results focused my mind. There before my eyes was a robotic vacuum for 50% off. After reading a few reviews and confirming the quality of the brand, I impulsively purchased it. Christmas in July, anyone?

My Deebot M81 Pro arrived about a week later. I was very excited to run it for the first time. I set up the docking station in my hallway, charged the robot, and then hit the "auto" button on the remote. I watched it zigzag and wondered how long it would take before Deedee (yes, I named my robot) found her way down the hall. I went and sat on my sofa. Sure enough, about 5 minutes later, Deedee came hurtling down the hallway, taking a boot tray with her. I had read in the user manual that it was important to clear any wires or fringes from her path, but never thought she could move a boot tray. She's more powerful than she appears. I watched her work for about an hour and periodically moved things (chairs, piano bench, rolling chocolate cart) so that she could cover as much ground as possible. She did a very thorough job before returning to her docking station.

Brilliant.

A few days later, I again ran her on auto in my bedroom and office. Clean carpet is grand. A few days after that, I ran her in the living room and was once again impressed with her work. The next time I ran her, on a Friday evening, I used the manual remote function to spot clean. It's sort of like having a remote control car -- or so I imagine, since I never had one as a kid. Anyway, as I was directing her around the apartment, I accidentally hit the wrong button on the remote, but quickly rectified the situation (or so I thought) and sent her back to her docking station. I had an incredible sense of satisfaction that my floor was so clean. It was the same sense you get after doing laundry -- feeling like you have your life together because you have clean underwear. I know you know that feeling.

Well, I went about my business doing my Friday night meal-planning and grocery list-writing, and went to bed around my usual time. I haven't been sleeping great because of the humidity, but it seems exhaustion took over and I fell into a solid sleep. Solid, that is, until I came fully awake after hearing a loud crash.

I thought there was an intruder in my apartment.

I sat up in bed in a full-on panic. What was going on? How did someone get in? What was I going to do? I put on my glasses and got out of bed and moved towards my bedroom door. That's when I realized I could hear a motor running. I stepped into the hallway and there was Deedee: hurtling herself toward the living room, dragging my straight iron with her. I chased after her, grabbed the straightener, and put it back in its place. Then I ran down the hallway and got the remote so that I could send her back to her docking station. It was 5:21am. Exactly 12 hours after I had accidentally hit that button on the remote.

Groggily I reviewed the user manual and discovered the button I hit was the scheduling function. Hold it for three seconds and it will clear the schedule. "Lovely," says I. Problem solved. And off to the pool I went.

I thought nothing more of it until that night (Saturday) when I once again came wide awake at midnight. I could hear Deedee once again hurtling herself down the hallway. Off to the living room I sprinted to get the remote and send her back to her docking station. I googled the problem. Apparently, if you set a cleaning schedule and then cancel it, the default is for the robot to clean every night at midnight. Who thought that was a good idea? Grumbling, I followed the robot reset instructions in the manual. "There. Problem solved," I said and went back to bed.

On Sunday night, I went to bed at my usual time. I slept fairly solidly. When I woke up at 4am, I was feeling great. Deedee hadn't woken me up at midnight, so clearly the reset had worked. I made my way to the bathroom. On my way back to my bedroom, I happened to glance down at the docking station. Deedee wasn't there.

What in the?

I put on a pair of glasses and walked down the hallway looking for her and discovered her next to my sofa, tangled in the power cord for my laptop. I gently picked her up and unwrapped the cord, then set her back down on the floor. I hit the button to return her to the docking station, but her battery was dead, so I lifted her up and carried her back home.

This was getting ridiculous. What was I going to do? Remove her battery and only put it in when I planned to use her? That seemed to defeat the purpose. Sleep with the remote next to my bed? That would only work if I actually woke up while she was running. There was no way I needed my apartment vacuumed every night -- a waste of energy. I also didn't need the frustration of whatever mess she might get herself into. I googled the company and located a customer support email address, and went back to bed.

Later that day, I began an email discussion with the manufacturer. They insisted that a reset of the robot while it was on the docking station was the solution. I would know it was successful if I heard three beeps. I tried it multiple times, but instead of getting the three beeps, the robot shut itself off. Eventually the company offered a replacement robot. Not wanting to go through the process of a return, I decided to try doing a reset with Deedee removed from the docking station. Sure enough, after three seconds, I heard three beeps. And having made it through Monday night without her running on her own, I am hopeful now that everything is back to normal and as it should be.

Now, you may be wondering how I know whether she ran or not, since she would just re-dock herself assuming she didn't get into trouble. I thought about that as well. Last night before bed, I placed an obstacle in her path in the hallway -- light enough for her to move if she does run. It wasn't repositioned when I woke up this morning, so I think I can safely assume she didn't venture down the hallway last night.

Interestingly, one of the selling points of this robot is that there is a smartphone app available. Instead of the remote, you can control the robot using your phone. In fact, if you use that feature, the robot will apparently send you a text message if it gets into trouble while cleaning (for example, tangled in the power cord of one's laptop). While I think that's a neat feature, it's not something that I want or need, since I only plan to run Deedee on auto about once or twice a week when I'm home so that I can move items as required (and supervise). It also is a slightly complicated set-up that requires resetting one's router, connecting the Deebot to wifi, and syncing it with your phone. Just not necessary for my purposes.

But I also can't help but think of Dan Brown's book Origin. If you haven't read it already, then I suggest you stop reading my blog now -- I don't want to be accused of spoiling it for anyone. That book is about artificial intelligence. In it, Winston, a quantum computer AI assistant, orchestrates a murder. Now, I'm not saying that Deedee would be so bold, but I'm not sure I want to take the chance after the somewhat tumultuous start to our relationship.

Trapped in a YouTube Bullet Journal Vortex

Back in 2015 when I was off work because I was sick with mono, I passed the days with Pinterest and Netflix. I even ended up pursuing new hobbies, like wood burning, because they were the current trend. In fact, I overdid it so much with both Netflix and Pinterest that I’ve never really gotten back into either. Sure, I still periodically watch something on Netflix because a friend mentions a show or I open Pinterest to find a recipe I pinned during what I've termed "the mono period," but I don’t indulge in marathons all that much anymore.

Last week, however, while I was off work again, I found a whole new vortex in which to become trapped: the black hole that is bullet journaling on YouTube.

Wow. Seriously. Wow.

I mean, I had seen a few videos on bullet journaling over the past two years -- enough to know it was a thing, anyway -- but I hadn’t actually done a deep dive into it as a lifestyle (to call it anything less wouldn’t capture how encompassing it appears to be). There’s little question that the ornate style with hand lettering using brush-tipped markers is beautiful and appealing. But how does one find time to do that? Often the pages are sketched out in pencil first before being traced in pen or marker and enhanced with colour and, of course, populated with content. Custom calendars, spreads, and layouts. Collections of collections (movies, books, bucket lists, podcasts). Habit trackers, meal planners, mood trackers. Social media accounts and their reach. Doodle pages. It seems endless. And how valuable is it?

(Disclaimer: I am aware that the ornate version was not the intent of the original bullet journal method, but it’s become a phenomenon unto itself.)

I recently saw an ever-so-helpful post on Facebook reminding people that they have the same number of hours in their day as Beyonce and that it’s all in how you use your time. I'm not sure comparing oneself to Queen Bey is fair. I bet she doesn’t have to wash dishes or pick up groceries or spend hours on end arguing with telecommunications businesses to get good service at a decent price (an annual saga for many of us).

Still, I understand that we all choose how we invest our time. And I don't in any way judge those who choose to invest theirs in bullet journals. I just would truly like to understand how much time goes into creating these layouts, populating them, and revising them. And beyond that, do they work? Are people getting out of them what they want and need? I've seen a lot of flip-through videos where a layout is described as not having worked for the user or where the user just stopped filling it out part way through the month. More than that, is it really better than the plethora of digital solutions we already have at our fingertips? I already have a Fitbit that tracks my exercise, which I then track in Sparkpeople because I prefer their system. Do I also need to colour a block in my planner? 

I say this as someone who was a devout user of a planner for decades. I always purchased the academic year instead of the calendar year. I liked the week-at-a-glance layout. My preference was for coil bound. But even I -- who in grad school coached a university professor on how to use a planner effectively -- have switched entirely to an electronic calendar. It wasn't by choice -- I still prefer a paper planner. That feeling when you've found the perfect paper and your pencil glides smoothly across the surface as you write cannot be matched! And I still feel lost in August when I am not out shopping for this year's make and model. But, in our tech-based world, I just can't see a reason to duplicate my effort. I would either have to transcribe electronic calendars into analog or vice versa because at work we use calendar invitations. [And I'm aware that for some people it causes frustration if all of an individual's appointments aren't logged there when it comes time to pick a meeting date and time.] So, it just isn't practical.

Still, I love stationary -- and notebooks in particular. Heck, as you all know, I actually make my own as a hobby (for example, this one, this one, and this one). So I feel compelled to get into bullet journaling just to use up my notebooks! At least I did until I found a new black hole on YouTube. There are videos on how to use your notebooks. Clearly, I'm not the only person with this issue.

And so after several hours of watching videos of how to use up notebooks, let me draw the following conclusions to save you some time:
1) They basically just suggest that you expand your bullet journaling to multiple volumes, putting your collections into their own distinct notebooks (for example, a travel notebook, a one-line-a-day notebook, a gratitude notebook, etc).
2) Notebooks can also serve as a practice space for your bullet journaling (hand lettering, borders, etc).

Interestingly, none of the videos I watched suggested you turn an unused notebook into a recipe book -- I guess handwriting recipes is too old school even for the bujo fanatics.

So, what would I do with my notebooks?

I tried a habit tracker. I made a few pages while watching TV. Every time the pen slipped and resulted in a less than perfect line, a little piece of me died. This is not an activity for someone who is Type A or a "perfectionist" -- I abandoned it.

Next, I thought about this blog and how sometimes I find it hard to remember what I've already blogged about or to come up with a topic if I'm in a blogging mood. I decided a log of the posts and their topics at the front of the journal and a list of future blog posts at the back of the journal might actually be helpful. I added dates. When I decided yesterday to schedule a few old posts on Twitter as #ThrowbackThursday content, it was actually helpful -- easier to flip through than to scroll and search on Blogger. But, of course, the Type A in me isn't loving the experience. Somehow while writing out my blog titles, two pages stuck together and upon my final flip-through, I discovered two blank pages right in the middle.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Incredibly annoyed with myself, I sketched out the Blogger logo to fill the space, but will probably eventually take a glue stick to it so that I don't have to be reminded on a daily basis of my error.

I'm really not cut out for this. Too much Brain, not enough Heart for bullet journals maybe?

I think in the future, I'll use my notebooks for note-taking the way I used to in grad school.

I'm still buying the brush-tip markers though...