Too Much Time On My Hands

Recently I had the misfortune of experiencing an EIE (extreme illness event.) No, it wasn’t Covid but to be honest, I am not entirely sure what it was. I can, however, report that it put me out of commission for 5 long days. I was miserable and feeling very sorry for myself.

As is often the case when illness strikes, boredom sets in and I was no exception. After doing everything I could possibly think of (ie. reading, daydreaming, staring out the window, singing my favorite songs and even an attempt at meditating) I finally gave in and started scrolling through my phone. As you can imagine, that was a big mistake. In no time, I was drawn right in and slid down the rabbit hole. I was doomed.

It began innocently enough, once I tapped on Instagram. There to my astonishment was a reel showing someone wrapping gifts. Big deal you might think, but this was extraordinary! The person was wrapping wine bottles that looked so neat, and other gifts that looked like gifts in themselves. (you almost wouldn’t want to open them because they were truly works of art.) The reels went by quickly, but were just long enough for me to think I could wrap like that too. I couldn’t resist, but it turned out that , no, I couldn’t wrap like that too.😔

Purposely choosing to narrow my focus, I had a brief fling with tieing bows. It looked simple enough but those of us who are dedicated Instagram followers are well aware that more often than not, all is not as it seems. Things that look so easy are often so hard, and this was no exception. I quickly gave up.

On a related topic, I spent some time watching how to tie scarves in different ways. Now this was something that was not only educational but also looked like a lot of fun. The smiling ladies who tied scarves around their necks without even looking in the mirror were fascinating. Then I started wondering if they wore scarves with every outfit they owned and didn’t they have better things to do than make videos of themselves tieing scarves. It wasn’t long before my interest faded..

I have always wanted to know how to fold a fitted sheet. I know I’m not alone on this one. Who doesn’t despair at the mess they make of trying to fold one neatly? It’s definitely a learned skill and one that I would love to master. Determined to get it right, I wasted upwards of twenty minutes before I threw up my hands and took another decongestant.

And who doesn’t love a good recipe? I am a sucker for a beautiful picture accompanied with the words “easy and delicious.” It gets me every time. So, naturally,I decided that I would look through the recipes I had saved on my Instagram feed. Who was I kidding? Not only was my saved list never ending, I was never going to make any of them. This was nothing more than a visit to Fantasyland, and it was half an hour of my life that I was never going to get back.

On a more practical note, I started to look at reels of people folding clothes. I really thought I had hit the jackpot with this one. I have long dreamt of drawers full of clothes that were so organized, I would leave them open so people could see them and marvel at my abilities. Not that I often invite guests into my bedroom.😄 And another one bit the dust.

At this point I decided I wanted only passive entertainment, and fortunately, Instagram was able to provide that too. I happened on videos of how to park your car. Now this was just what I was looking for! It offered practical advice along with hilarious clips of people making a complete botch up of parallel parking, and people taking up two spaces in a parking lot because they couldn’t stay between the lines. Interestingly, not only was it hilarious, but mildly comforting because I often suffer from the “parking outside the lines” issue. Knowing that others have a similar affliction made me feel much better.

By now, I was exhausted. My decongestant had stopped working and I was pretty sure my fever was back. Time to call it a day, crawl into bed and take a quick nap. Uh oh…..just as I was about to log out, a post appeared on how to clean your bathroom in 5 minutes using only one home made product. Fortunately being able to breathe (hence the decongestant) took priority and I reluctantly logged off. But I could hardly wait for nap time to be over.😴A whole new world of useless information was waiting for me.

We’re doing a new blog post every Monday so stay tuned for our next one entitled “ I Love Rock ‘n Roll.”