Gain Hour, Lose Skirmish

Whenever I feel like I've made progress on mitigating the effects of mindless routine, something invariably reminds me how insidious those routines can be. See if you relate.

For many years, I've relied on the weekend NY Times to stay reasonably up-to-date. But until this morning I didn't fully appreciate how heavily I also relied on the Times to remind me when daylight savings goes into effect. Yesterday's Times did not include their usual front page reminder (with a clock visual) that I've apparently become quite dependent upon. And probably because I went directly to bed after being out late last night without checking e-mail or otherwise paying attention, today I arrived at my 10:00 a.m. destination at...9:00 a.m.

Big deal, right? Of course not. Still, an aphorism about neurotic behavior has been ringing in my head since this specific mindless routine caught me short earlier today: "When you always do what you've always done, you always get what you've always got". 

BTW, today's Times also eliminated the front page after-the-fact reminder (with that clock visual) they've printed for as long as I can remember. Are they messing with me?