Routines
I was not allowed out for several days last month.
My wife and daughter were mad at me because I went out, forgot to drink water, got dehydrated and had to spend 3+ hours in the ER.
You see, I have a routine.
It’s helped by Mia.
Mia is 11 pounds of HavaPoo.
She sits by my side as I write.
Every two hours she gives me her time-to-potty look, and that’s when I know to get up, take her out, and grab a water bottle on the way.
This particular day, however, put me off the routine.
Some honey-do, or Mom mission, I forget which.
(You’d think I’d get a pass, because of this, but that’s another subject.)
I have somewhat limited native executive function skills, so when not on routine I kind of forget stuff, like lunch, drinking water, those types of things.
So when experts claim we operate with apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals, I have to push back.
I was sitting in a cabana by the beach that day, eating a sandwich—at least I remembered lunch—it was warm out, and my heartbeat suddenly spiked to 120 BPM.
And, I nearly made a fatal mistake.
I had no other obvious symptoms.
I immediately associated the increased heartbeat to some emotional trigger, and the cure for that is a long walk.
Imagine if I had done that.
I would have face-planted walking down the hot FL beach.
But, another routine I’ve developed is to get facts when confronted with the unknown.
I searched the web for:
- What could cause your heartbeat to go suddenly to 120 BPM?
And the first result to my search was ‘dehydration’.
I grabbed a 1 liter bottle of Smartwater and drank half.
I waited.
Nothing happened.
I drove to the ER.
They took a history. Waited for the Smartwater to kick in and sent me home.
So, on that list of things the experts seem not to understand, you can place a checkmark next to:
- apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals
Routines for me are functional; not emotional.
Written May 25 2026