Flossing my teeth before I sleep and checking email and as soon as I wake up

It turns out that I'm a creature of habit, and I have some habits that I wouldn't consider unhealthy, but any disruption to my routine can really mess me up.

For one, I absolutely must floss my teeth before I go to bed. If I don't floss my teeth, I cannot fall asleep. I once made the mistake of not keeping extra dental floss in the house, and when I ran out, I discovered that I couldn't sleep that night. Another time, I made the mistake of not packing some dental floss when I went on vacation, so I had to resort to using toothpicks, which don't do the job, that first night before buying some extremely expensive floss the day after. These days, I always keep at least a year's supply of dental floss with me.

Another habit I have is I absolutely must check my email as soon as I wake up. Before I go to the bathroom to release my bodily fluids, I switch my computer on, and as soon as I come back, I log on and check my email. I don't necessarily have to reply to any of them, and I don't even have to read any of them - sadly, they're mostly news alerts. I just want to see if any of my friends and family members have written to me. Anyway, I've discovered that I can't do anything until I've checked my email. If there are problems with my internet connection or with my email server, if my computer isn't working, I won't be able to concentrate on anything until I've sorted out my email. I can't fully concentrate on reading a book or writing a paper. And if I have to rush out before I can check my email, I'll think about my email all day, wondering if my mom sent me anything, or if my friends have replied to me. Wow, more and more, I feel that I'm a very lonely person. I absolutely hate being alone, and the irony is that all these years, I've been doing exercise that I can do alone (cycling, hiking, etc.), I've been moving from city to city all on my own - it seems as though I'm trying to become a recluse. But I guess this blog entry isn't supposed to be about my loneliness.

Another stupid habit I have is that I end up putting off haircuts - I just feel that getting a haircut is kind of expensive - until a big date, a job interview, etc. So I often get a haircut the day before or the day of a big date, a job interview, etc. As we all know, haircuts seldom look good in the first few days after you get one. It may look good at the barber shop/hairdresser's, but as soon as I go home to wash it, I realise that it's too short, too thin, a bit uneven, and rarely the way I want it, and it takes a few days to grow into something that looks and feels decent. History always repeats itself. I got a haircut on the very day of the Graduate House High Table Dinner last November, a haircut that was a bit too short and a bit too thin. There will be another one tonight, and guess what - I got a haircut yesterday, a haircut that looks equally bad.

UPDATE: Here's a picture of my haircut, taken yesterday. I bumped into a friend, and she happened to have a camera handy, so she just had to snap a shot of me and my crap haircut. AND I didn't shave that day. AND I was so sweaty earlier that day. AND I only got about 3 hrs of sleep the night before. AND I gained 5 lbs in a week. That sweetheart there is Kelly, a CSP buddy, and the lucky lucky guy is Kelly's boyfriend.