What staples do you need to get through the day?

[Harold Mansfield]

I haven't been working for myself and alone for too long, but I am accustomed to the comfort of it.
There are little minor things that I am used to having or being able to do that help me get through the day that would make it really difficult to have to work elsewhere without them.

Fist off, I listen to House and Trance Music all day long. I usually start off with some local talk radio from L.A., N.Y, or Detroit and by 10 a.m. I need the music going.

I have to have my tea in the morning on my desk, or I'll walk to get a cup of overpriced coffee.

Fridge has to stocked with bottled water and A&W Cream Soda at all times.

I also hate working on any other computer other than my own. Without 2 monitors I feel restricted.

If I ever had to go out and get a "real job", I would be miserable without these things at my disposal and couldn't imagine having to do 8 hours without them.

What things do you guys need everyday that make working for yourself comfortable?

[Blessed]

Music definitely - I have a few different "stations" set up on Pandora - so that I can listen to whatever I'm in the mood for easily.

Coffee and sweet iced tea are always close at hand too

Flexibility - the ability to walk away from my work and run errands earlier in the day - when the stores are not as busy, the ability to drop everything and go play at the park for an hour, take a walk, meet a friend for lunch, hit a few garage sales.

For me the hardest part of working away from home for someone else would be not having my kids close by most of the time. I do leave them with sitters on occasion and it's nice, something I wish I had built into my schedule as a regular thing - once or twice a week for four or five hours, but mostly I like having them close - hearing the funny things they say, watching them play and just having them here.

[greenoak]

i cant talk before coffeee....i need it strong and have to have it quiet for about an hour, mostly on the computer...then the garden or back porch..small huddle with dh....then out to it....coffee all day and on my feet all day...no sitting ever.... im out there 10 to 5....
music is a compromise...i like it fast and perky...no dreary female vocals ... which dh likes.....and hes the only one who can change the machine.... also i like it loud but we dont do that either.... i would put marching music and polkas on for the fun of it ..or who let the dogs out.... i talk all day and get interupted all day..by people, workers and phone calls.... for relief i go back into the workroom and paint...
basically i roam around all day and get my priorities going in all the parts of the store....and hear all the efforts and problems....
we are in the middle of an annual event right now..and should have about 2 or 300 people thru today....7 people working....
i had a real job for a few months back in the 70s...lol....

[billbenson]

I can't work with music. I really enjoy music and unfortunately it becomes a real distraction.

Coffee, two cups in the morning.

I can't leave during the day, but I wish I could.

When I take a break, I go into the living room which is close with my telephone in hand and watch something mindless like the food network. I stand up and watch it for 5 min to stretch my legs.

I have a bottle of water on my desk at all times. I live in FL and its hot and humid 6 months of the year. I probably drink a bottle of water per hour. I just refill the water bottles from the tap and put them in the fridg or freezer. I'm not about to buy bottled water. On a hot afternoon I might sneak in a beer. Not like my boss is going to fire me :)

Wife will bring in something to eat here and there.

And then at 5 or 6 when the phone quits ringing I can relax. On a busy day a get about 40 phone calls. I probably have to make another 20. Makes you hate the telephone.

[Dan Furman]

I can't work with music. I really enjoy music and unfortunately it becomes a real distraction.

I'm sort of the same way. But I love music during the day... what to do?

For me, the answer was/is classical music. Not too loud. Not too soft. Kind of there, but not intrusive. I like it a lot.

[Harold Mansfield]

I just refill the water bottles from the tap and put them in the fridg or freezer. I'm not about to buy bottled water.


I never thought I would either. I'm from Michigan where the water from the tap is just fine, but here in Vegas, the water tastes like ( to me at least) slimy rocks. I have no choice.

[billbenson]

My wife went home to El Salvador last year. You can't drink tap water there, just bottled water so she came back and didn't like the taste of the water here, so I have been buying bottled water for her. I think its acclimation, but...

But if you are buying bottled water because you think its healthier, its not. I've seen a number of articles on the subject as well as some stuff on TV that make note of the fact that bottled water is no healthier and in some cases worse than tap water. The one caveat to that is if the plumbing in your home is adding contaminants.

[Harold Mansfield]

But if you are buying bottled water because you think its healthier, its not. I've seen a number of articles on the subject as well as some stuff on TV that make note of the fact that bottled water is no healthier and in some cases worse than tap water.

I've never considered water to be "healthier" either way. I always figured it was just supposed to be an "H" and a few "O's". I don't drink designer water. The supermarket brand is fine...just as long as it doesn't have that taste. Oddly enough, Evian tastes strange to me.

Most people I know from places with a good supply of fresh water lakes like Michigan, NY, MN and so forth, can't stand the water out here either.

I wasn't too fond of it in S. Florida either. Had a yellow tint.


The one caveat to that is if the plumbing in your home is adding contaminants.

No...I've been here 14 years. It tastes the same no matter where.
At times I am positive that I can smell it...as ice cubes, in the shower...I've never smelled water until I moved out here.

It's my one "eccentricity". I cannot, will not, drink the tap water here straight.

It's definitely not for health reasons, you are talking to a guy that cooks pork in whiskey. (Jack Daniels BBQ sauce :))

[billbenson]

As long as this thread is taking a pork twist and its BBQ day: I lived in Puerto Rico for a few years. Not a big fan of it, but one thing that was great. Take a ride into the interior which is beautiful. In the middle of nowhere someone will have a pig on a spit, rice and beans etc. They would take a machete and lop off some pork and give you whatever accompaniments you want for a few bucks. Really good food!

[Harold Mansfield]

I just thought of another one that I didn't realize.
Lately I have had a jones for the Vanilla Oreos. I ran out today and it was really un-nerving since it was already 90 degrees at 10 a.m..I really didn't want to go out and make a special trip in the heat for Oreos, and the later I waited, the hotter it got, so we won't be having Oreos today...but I have been missing them all day.

[KristineS]

I always have dark chocolate peanut M&Ms. Love those things. Don't eat a lot of them, but they're great for taking the edge off a craving for sweets.

Also, bottled water. I live in Michigan, but the place I lived for a lot of years up here had really hard water and it tasted terrible. I started drinking bottled water and I've never gotten out of the habit.

[billbenson]

Complaining about 90 F? Try it with humidity! I've lived in Phoenix and now live in Central Florida. Its hotter (perceived temp) here :)

[Harold Mansfield]

Complaining about 90 F? Try it with humidity! I've lived in Phoenix and now live in Central Florida. Its hotter (perceived temp) here :)

Well, it's only 103ºf today. Better than the 109ºf of yesterday.