My current readings

I know I have a bit of OCD, but I'm not sure how much. I'm definitely a checker. I like to doublecheck that I have my car keys in hand before exiting my car. And then I make sure to lock the doors from the inside lock button and additionally with the remote locking button. I think this is to ensure that I don't have to worry about it later. And I will worry about it.

Then there is the use of eggs. I'm not sure how most people choose the eggs from a carton. For me, I have very defined rules. That already sounds crazy, but the main rule is to keep the leftover eggs arranged symmetrically from left to right. Second priority/rule is to keep the leftover eggs arranged symmetrically from front to back. I decided at some point that this is necessary to maintain an equal weight distribution and thereby reduce the chances of dropping all the eggs. I have never dropped a carton of eggs, nor have I ever seen a carton of eggs dropped. The probability even without an even weight distribution has to be ridiculously low. But yet I cannot stop myself from this behavior. The third and most likely strangest part of this is that I don't want to keep the same pattern each time. I like adding a bit of randomness. Maybe this is so I have a problem to solve? I'm not sure. But then there is also the problem of how do I make it random when I am the one choosing where to start each time? My beautiful wife is probably unaware of this and does not abide by these rules. That doesn't bother me at all and really only helps the situation because if I am choosing eggs after she has already removed some, I just make an effort to even things out. Then there is also the amount of eggs needed for whatever I'm making. I don't add eggs or throw out eggs to even things out. I just try to get close to the even weight distribution.

Now we get to my current reading situation. In the past, I have tried to only read one book at a time. I used to have trouble keeping track of lots of characters, and therefore thought it best to only read one book at a time. Also, the time I would dedicate to reading was low, so I may have a break of two weeks between sessions of reading, which can make it tough to follow multiple books. Since I am currently without a job, I have lots of time to read (also lots of time to write in a blog). There are also 5 books I currently have and want to read. So I have decided to try for the first time reading multiple books at once.

This immediately caused a problem of how much of each book do I read? I'm not able to feel my way through the situation and just go with whatever I'm in the mood for. I can never figure out what I'm in the mood for with the exception of sex. Nope, I need rules.

But what rules would work best for this situation? I think the ideal would be to finish each book at the same time and to not allow multiple days go by without reading out any one of them. One difficulty is that the books have large variations in length: 1. Chuck Palahniuk's book on Portland = 175 pages; 2. Chuck Palahniuk's Snuff = 197 pages; 3. DiLorenzo's The Real Lincoln = 305 pages; 4. Card's Ender's Game = 324 pages; 5. Dostoevsky's Notes From Underground = 91 pages. I can't just read a set amount of pages from each one, because then I would be stopping at places. I much prefer stopping at the author's defined locations like chapter ends. The chapter lengths are of course not setup for my problem.

So my solution is to start each morning with reading a full section or chapter of each book. Dostoevsky thus far has been kind in providing short chapters, which is good for my problem and good because that is some heavy reading. After the chapters are done, I keep a notepad of pages read and pages left. I then order the books based on relative book percentages left to read. Whatever needs more reading is first inline for reading during the day or most likely that night before bed. Before bed reading is stopped by me falling asleep. And that is pretty much my plan.

I don't know what level of OCD this is, but it is a decent glimpse of how I live my life. The only other addition I would make is that I am also constantly abandoning plans and coming up with new ones. I think I enjoy that process more than the actual carrying out of a plan.