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tripstaysnoided · 4 years

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Flow Just Like Water

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Story and writing-related transparency update and my many shames...

The Question on Everyone’s Mind

“Hey you haven’t updated No Stars over Uptown in almost a year...”

Hmm, I hate it when you’re right. (This section has been rewritten ad-nauseam to curb back the bitchiness by the way)

So back in early/mid 2018, the idea was to divorce Uptown from a person who influenced it (and myself) heavily. She was my most important audience member, the closest friend I ever had, and unfortunately someone who used her power to bully, ostracize, and hurt others with my help. I cut contact when the hurt + some self-awareness finally reached me. Apologies were made and I feel like my work will never be done with it, but there was still Uptown.

Between censored comments, entirely recasting Axel’s save, different plot threads, and a load of disclaimers, there was nothing that would scrub her influence from the story. There was no way to cleanly drop everything because of how deep her influence went. It disgusted me to look back at it, and I had to private the blog because I feared what it endorsed, even if just in the past.

I pulled back from that sims writing community. I had its main thread on the Official Forums removed too (I guess if that was a mystery to anyone). It was a surrender that I never wanted to do, but I had it in my mind that if I was gone, then she wouldn’t be there either. Uptown became this cursed item, and as I quietly retired it, I noticed that she went quieter too. Not gone, but enough to make me sleep easier at night and even occasionally say hello to old friends.

And I hope deep in my heart that no one else is getting hurt in my place, but now this is gonna haunt me all day huh!

The two paths forward...

1) Complete Uptown rewrite that I’ve been threatening everyone with all year. While it won’t ever be clean because I can’t undo time, I do have a sound outline for a story that is much more true to my actual vision and how I’ve evolved, with a few necessary boundaries in place that are going to be there for all stories moving forward: no more casting calls and no more collaborative efforts. I am not going to open myself up to this happening again, even if the people have changed.

2) Same as above, but I continue the original Uptown as a favor to loyal readers alongside the rewrite. I would try to put the effort into it that I initially did, but with no promises on an update schedule and no advertising. I did ask myself “is there Patreon but without pledging money, just the private posts function” but it could operate as part of a private forum, a members-only part of a website, etc.

Also readers of the original would be beholden to a rule of “don’t spoil the rewrite for new readers, c’mon guys”. I mean, not really, but it is a good courtesy to extend to people.

Priority on this isn’t high but you at least will see what is!

I will probably make the blog public again either way due to the many broken links on my Tumblr but we’ll see. There are other things to deal with as I shall list!

Where Life’s Been Regardless

Been spending more time with my grandpa every weekend. Life’s pretty good and he’s warming up to my dogs.

Shiny New Webbed Site

Cucumber Fields Forever is a site I own now. We have a full domain, cucumberfieldsforever.com, a blog with one post, and the framework needed to host stories the way I want to and still through WordPress. The functionality of likes, comments, and following should still be the same but you know...I’ll take feedback too...

The main blog still has an undefined purpose though I do have drafts sitting around about:

The maybe/maybe not hoax band that was on the Metal Archives and the history of Funeral Doom Metal.

The curious case of when Sims 4 babies get their genetics and my only collaboration (read: was talking about it with a friend and might quote her if needed, it’s actually a bit of a doozy)

Amazon.com’s fake dried udon noodles, an actual issue by the way.

Things I’m reading! (This’d be a monthly feature if so)

For the sake of unity, I am thinking of solutions for hosting old and shameful content there including Uptown and for the real fans in my followers feed, Eight Cicadas...a world I totally have plans for too (not really). I don’t want them to be front-and-center, and that’s why I mentioned forums/members-only content. I finally have that power! Maybe.

Ooooh but what are the costs? Not too much to handle, that’s what. 😉 (Like really, I don’t need any hand-wringing about this, I can manage my finances)

Project Queue (In Order of Confirmedness)

Outrun the Scythe: have you seen me post out-of-context Sims 3 pictures? Did you want more? Did you hope it was Linda in Custody? If the answers are yes, yes, and “meh, whatever you want”, then you’re in luck.

Outrun the Scythe is a Sims 3-based tale of a young gay man and his zombie grandma, as they are both offered separate roles of being the undying intermediaries between the world of humans and the influence of a race of space daemons. It’s pretty familiar if you’ve been following me pre-Uptown, taking some cues from stories I’ve kept under lock and key like Eight Cicadas, The Chains of Lyra, and the not-so-locked-up Ironstar Immortals (of which Outrun is just the direct sequel to sans any retconning...ah the smell of early 2013 and performative heterosexuality)

Ah, back to my roots.

It’s a hybrid of gameplay, story, and lore about my little race of daemons with a lot of my own idiosyncrasies that I’m not really ashamed of: basing it off a super-polarizing Sims 3 challenge from a site I moderate, using a lot of EA’s pre-made townies and their genes, lots of unnecessary posemaking, stupid references. It’s a comfort to have in my roster.

While the first few chapters are in the middle of revision, I have around six in the queue and will be making this public when I have ten. I’m guessing December then?

Undocumented Black Widow Challenge: I just did this for fun/forum kudos (yes, in fact I have joined many forums), there was going to be a short story but it was quickly becoming something against my code of ethics. I mean, sims die and all. (read: I had to choose between “heterosexual widow” and “widow with some same-sex marriages that still end in tragedy, reinforcing negative stereotypes to the public for the sake of me not getting bored and detached during gameplay” so there were no good choices. Except for her affair with the mailwoman, 10/10) I hope to finish this before October ends and get my medal on Boolprop, I’m pretty far through it all. I might upload the sims involved anyways. This is for TS4.

I mentioned it because it’s keeping me busy. But not for long!

NaNoWriMo 2020: Dipping my toes into that again! It’s not sims-related, just a tale of lesbians, nosy neighbors, a haunted beach house, and some light murder and kidnapping. And I actually got my brother to scout out locations for me this weekend. If there’s any demand, I can share chapters as the rough drafts are finished, especially for the sake of proofreading.

Not saying I’m publishable, but wouldn’t it be nice? Will keep me occupied for much of November.

Untitled “Dear Diary” Challenge: Tired of feeling left out of the fun on the Boolprop forums, their “Dear Diary” challenge was the one that appealed to me the most on first glance. Why? Probably once I found an idea that let it be set in the early/mid-2000′s to begin with and explore some interesting characters through diary entries (which I have mixed feelings on as a literary device but I think that’s just me saying “well I didn’t like Dracula”, yes you get bonus points for writing it like a diary)

Also writing is the one skill I’m good at across multiple games. Wanna hear me bitch about the cooking skill tree in TS4 or riding in TS3? I’ll spare you.

I guess I could have included “spending time on Boolprop with old and new friends” in where my life has been. It’s a nice lil community if also a place with its own idiosyncrasies as well. So it doesn’t feel like I’m promoting another community if/when I make a thread there for Outrun the Scythe, I want to have a couple chapters of this ready to go by Outrun’s release, though it’s not gonna be the highest priority compared to it nor as long because I think I can blast through the gameplay quickly.

This one will be played in TS4 due to it having the easiest writing skill/I dunno variety is the spice of life. And hopefully another December release.

Defunded or Forgotten?: Oh shit I actually released stuff in 2020 and told no one? I do have a “mortifying ordeal of being known” sinking feeling whenever I get a site hit because it’s not my best work (but good enough) and veered sharply into issues I may be over my head in, though I try to be a good noodle with research and listening. Maybe hiding is bad after all.

Being based off a very flawed and incomplete Sims 3 challenge I found in the annals of the Official Forums, there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work just making sense of things. And I’m scared of working on reconstructing the house but I haven’t abandoned the project yet. The story has eight chapters so far and is pretty game-based with some additions here and there. Scared of how long it could be though!

Date for this unknown.

Untitled Sunlit Tides Decadynasty: another year-long abandoned TS3 project with a much stupider reason why. Last update was about Hua getting ready for her wedding, and I wanted to do some poses for a bait-and-switch wedding chapter because to put it mildly, her real one was an absolute disaster.

Blender decided to fuck up its interface again, I got discouraged (this probably does account for some of the Uptown delays too), and when I decided to plow forward, it was for other projects instead.

Meanwhile I played all the way to Gen 5′s teenhood and the only thing stopping me is time (it takes almost 30 minutes to load the file right now, though they’ll be looking at moving towns in a couple gens) and maybe fear of the Logic skill.

Date for this also unknown but it’s easy to pump out updates once I’m in the groove for it. My third heir had a difficult life so maybe I’m just trying to bury it.

Also I just noticed the view count there was really good and probably because I linked it here on Tumblr last year. Thank you so much guys. I can’t really fret over views on Carl’s forum these days thanks to the years-long death spiral pretty much every forum anywhere has been riding on. But it’s a nice surprise. And it’s an alright little challenge recap to read during your lunch break or whatever.

The Wawas

I figured I’d end on the real news everyone wants! Both the chihuahuas are a year and a half now and reached their adult size around a year ago. For the most part, they are happy and healthy dogs.

#state of the uwunion #long post

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philsdrill · 7 years

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Chapter 23: Doughnuts

Fic Summary: “Everyone had a link with their soulmates, some could hear some of their partners thoughts, some had a tattoo that would appear with their partners name; for me, I knew when they got sick.” For a while Phil has thought that his soulmate might have an eating disorder and doesn’t expect to meet him in the restaurant where he works.

Genre: a lot of fluff, recovery, really fucking domestic, waiter!Phil

Warnings: eating disorders, anorexia, bulimia, hospitals, panic attacks, references to past abuse, mentions of suicide, mentions of self-harm, a lot of awkwardness, small amounts of smut. This is potentially triggering so for your own sake, please think twice about reading if anything this might affect you.

Disclaimer: I don’t have personal experience with eating disorders, but have done some research. If I have anything about them wrong, feel free to send me an ask and I’ll sort it out.

Word Count (for this part): 6.5k

[Uploads will be approximately every couple of weeks! (hopefully)]

A/N: This chapter has been almost ready for a few days but I kept forgetting to proofread it, so finally here it is. A little disclaimer: there’s a few mentions of medications in this chapter, and despite a bit of research I’m not an expert on them, so Dan’s medications and the way he takes them may not be quite accurate. I’ve tried my best but I’m an about-to-be design student, not a doctor.

MASTERPOST

<= Previous Chapter

Dan’s POV:

It had been the best part of a week since Adam left us and headed home, and we’d kept in touch with both him and Ethan. They both seemed to be doing okay, which was more than could be said for me.

I’d been able to get a lot of rest over the last few days, really just sleeping away the time while Phil was out at work, but still I felt like I hadn’t slept properly in weeks. I’d been sleeping fine up until a few days ago, but of recent, I’d been plagued by confusing dreams and nightmares.

Waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, having a panic attack, was not ideal, but the last few nights seemed to have featured these disturbances. Phil was clearly worried about me; he did his best to help me through it at the time, but I couldn’t hide how it was making me feel.

As I sat, eating my lunch, I thought back to last nights dream. It hadn’t really been a nightmare, more a mess of confusing and disorientating thoughts. Images of falling into the middles of giant doughnuts, being consumed into a nothingness, drowning in a pool of my own tears. A tall brown-haired lady with no face shouting at me, pushing me down, trying to drown me. I’d awoken struggling to breathe, Phil shaking me and trying to pull me out of it. It took a couple of minutes before I realised the dream had been a dream, and I felt confused for a while afterwards.

“Dan,” Phil said, reaching his hand across and clamping it on my shoulder, “Dan, you in there?”

“Sorry,” I said, shuddering in realisation that I’d completely spaced out, “I was thinking about the dream again.”

“You need to talk about that at your appointment,” Phil reminded me gently, “See if they can tell you what’s happening or at least give you some advice to make it stop.”

“Yeah I will,” I nodded, my anxiety about my therapist appointment this afternoon increasing even more.

“Are you going to be okay by yourself?” Phil asked, clearly sensing that this wasn't going to be the easiest appointment for me.

“Yeah I’ll be fine,” I insisted, knowing that I would be once I got there.

My therapist was lovely, and although talking about my problems was a little scary, I could manage without Phil. It was someone to talk to independant from Phil, and the professional help really did help. Even just telling her things came as a bit of a relief, because she knew all about the problems I was facing.

I said goodbye to Phil at the door, him pulling me into a hug and giving me a goodbye kiss. I felt he maybe drew it out slightly longer than usual, but I wasn’t complaining. I took a bus to the therapist’s place. Despite being able to take Phil’s car if I wanted, there wasn’t really much parking around the place and the buses worked well.

I arrived with about ten minutes to spare before my appointment, giving me time to sit in the waiting room and relax. It turned out my therapist was free, as five minutes before the appointment was due to start, she popped her head out of her room.

“Oh, Dan; you can just come through if you want,” she said, smiling.

I got up from my seat in the waiting room, making my way to her office and settling in my usual seat. The consultation corner of her office was quite informal, a couple of comfy seats around a low coffee table. She had her desk and laptop at the other side of the room, separating that side of things from the relaxed consultations she wanted to have with her patients.

She disappeared briefly, probably to get my file from the storage room, then sat next to me around the little table.

“How’re you doing, Dan?” she asked me, getting the conversation started before we got onto anything serious.

“Alright,” I told her, “Like I could be better; I’ve got a few things that are bothering me, but I’m okay.”

“Okay,” she nodded, “We’ll get to those, we’ll start with the usual questions. Are you still getting on well with your eating?”

“Yup,” I said, nodding,, “I think I’m doing okay. Phil’s happy enough. He still thinks I could do to eat a bit more, but I’m a healthy weight and everything.”

“And are you happy enough about it?” she asked, curiously.

“Yeah, I think so,” I told her, “Like I still have moments where I feel less good, but I feel better in general.”

“How is your relationship with Phil doing? Do you still find he’s a bit overbearing with how he keeps an eye on you?” she asked.

“It’s good,” I told her, “I’m fine with it now. I think I’ve gained more of his trust now that I’m doing better, so he doesn’t need to watch over me so much. Also now… I’ve had to take on the role of being the stronger one in the relationship a couple of times recently. Phil’s been diagnosed as lactose intolerant and I’ve had to look after him when he’s been sick, encourage him to eat when he’s not really feeling like it. I think I’ve gained more of an understanding.”

“Yeah, so you’ve kind of found yourself in his shoes recently,” she nodded, “I know the situation’s not ideal, but I can see the understanding you’d get from that.”

She paused, picking up my file from the table and making a couple of notes, “Okay, now… your anxiety. We have you on antidepressants and you have beta-blockers to take during the panic or anxiety attacks; how are you getting on with them?”

“Good… I think,” I said, taking my time while I thought about how to explain what I’d been going through. “The antidepressants have me feeling less anxious throughout the day in general, and the beta-blockers have been absolute life savers, like I don’t know how I would get through an attack without them.”

“How frequently would you say you’re having panic attacks now?” she asked.

“Maybe about once or twice a week?” I said, hesitantly, after thinking about it for a minute, “But they’ve been a bit different recently.”

“Can you explain what you mean by different?” she asked, her tone somewhere between curious and concerned.

“Well my… uhh…,” I hesitated, deciding on what to call my relationship to Martyn, ”... my brother-in-law accidentally brushed my stomach and that seemed to start off a panic attack. I took my medication and calmed down a bit but then when I tried to talk about it and explain to him and his soulmate why I had panic attacks, I started having some kind of flashback of my ex where all I could see was her face and all I could hear was her voice and I didn’t really come out of it until one of them got Phil.”

She nodded, making some notes in my file, “Any other examples you feel you can tell me about?”

“Last week Phil and I were looking at our finances and trying to sort a couple of things out and let’s just say our financial situation isn’t the best because I’m an unemployed uni dropout and he works part time,” I explained, “And it stresses me out that we’re eating into savings and I’m doing nothing about it. We started arguing about me wanting to get a job and I hadn’t really noticed, until Phil asked me where my anxiety tablets were, that I was having an anxiety attack. I took them, but everything was really weird and fuzzy for a while and I didn’t really feel like I was there.”

“Okay, so flashbacks and dissociation,” she nodded, making a couple more notes, “Do you experience any trouble sleeping, or nightmares for example?”

“Actually, yeah, these last few days I’ve been having confusing dreams - nightmares I guess - about my ex,” I told her, feeling a little nervous recalling them, “I’ve woken up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, having a panic attack.”

Nodding, she scribbled something else down in her notes, “Can you tell me what happened in the dream? Don’t worry about it if you can’t.”

I started to recall it for a second or two and felt sick at the thought.

I shook my head, “Sorry, I’d rather not at the moment.”

“Okay, Dan,” she nodded, laying the file and her pen down, “I’m not going to formally diagnose this yet, but it sounds like you could have post-traumatic stress disorder.”

“Could you explain?” I asked, a little scared as it wasn’t something I knew much about.

The psychiatrist started to explain the symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (or PTSD to give it it’s acronym) and how these linked to how I’d been feeling recently. She informed me that it was a type of anxiety disorder, so it had probably been grouped together with my other anxiety under the term of ‘general anxiety’ until now.

I forced myself to take a couple of deep breaths and not get worked up about it. Nothing had changed, apart from maybe knowing another detail about my problems.

“I’m going to ask you to come and see me a bit more often,” she said, pulling me away from my thoughts, “I’m going to suggest you book an appointment in for next week and then the week after, but it's up to you.”

“Okay,” I nodded, knowing it would be best to do what she suggested, “I’ll do that.”

She continued to tell me a little more about the disorder, making her way across the office to her desk to grab an information leaflet about it. As she moved things aside to find the leaflets, a flash of dark green caught my attention. She lifted a folder from on top of this green box, but my attention seemed glued to the box.

Doughnuts. It was a box of doughnuts.

The alarm bells started ringing my head and my heart started to beat a little faster. It made me feel stupid, but doughnuts had to be my biggest trigger. In a way, they’d led to everything. I tried to keep myself together, but my mind was already racing to that fateful box of doughnuts I’d eaten almost a year ago.

I was handed the leaflet that my therapist had at last found, “I’d like you to read through this with Phil and make sure he knows what’s going on.”

I agreed and mumbled a thanks, but I couldn’t really focus.

Not here. This couldn’t happen here.

I knew I needed out of here. I wanted to be with Phil at home, back in our cosy flat and the safety of his arms.

“I need to go home,” I told my therapist, pulling my phone out my pocket and texting Phil.

Can u come and get me - like asap

I kept it brief, knowing Phil wouldn’t question it. He’d be here soon and then everything would be better.

“Dan what’s wrong?” she asked, getting on my level by returning to her earlier seat.

I shook my head. She was a psychiatrist. She could figure out what was wrong if she needed to know.

“Dan, do you need to take your beta-blockers?” she prompted, clearly recognising I was having a panic attack.

I nodded. I was getting there slowly, but hadn’t quite got round to getting them out yet. I lifted my jacket onto my lap and opened up my pockets to find which one I’d put them in. I thought I’d checked all of my pockets, but I must’ve missed one as I didn’t find them the first time. I searched through my pockets again and that was when the realisation hit me.

I didn’t have them. What did I do?

I felt the tears welling in my eyes and ignored the concerned queries of my therapist, only mumbling to her that I’d left them at home. Knowing he was at home too, I texted Phil again.

cnu bring anxiety pills i fprgot

I knew my typing skills had failed me, but I decided it was a pretty decent attempt for the amount I was shaking. After my previous message, I could see that Phil had texted me back to ask if I was okay, but I didn’t need to reply. I’m sure the jumbled message about my anxiety meds would answer that.

Knowing Phil would be ten to fifteen minutes away, I tried to keep myself together while I waited. I focused myself on my breathing and answered a couple of my therapist's questions, telling her that Phil was on his way and that I really didn’t feel good.

“Dan, did I do something that triggered you?” she asked, her voice remaining calm and collected.

“No,” I should my head, my chest tightening as I tried to get the words out, “The doughnuts.”

In my blurry haze of consciousness, I couldn’t really remember whether I’d told her about nora’s doughnuts. I must’ve done!? Surely, but I couldn’t be sure.

The room before me seemed to vanish into a sugary haze, the memories of Nora’s harsh words drowning out those of my therapist trying to help me.

What the fuck, you fat imbecile. You ate my entire box of doughnuts - you were fat enough already, you worthless piece of flab! Do you not understand the meaning of my doughnuts? Get the fuck out of my life, that’s it, I never want to see you again!

As a once off, it could’ve been put down to a mood swing, but with a slap across the face and a couple of punches, that was really the final straw. She’d broken me so much already and I was too weak to even think about repairing things. I quickly fell to my worst after that; if I wasn’t good enough for her, surely I wasn’t good enough for anyone.

When Phil picked me up off the floor the night of my nameless date in his restaurant, that was the first light I’d seen in months. I tried to focus on the thought of Phil to try and bring me out of this flashback, the one fleck of brightness amongst all my dark thoughts. I gave up all hope on focusing on the present; I could vaguely see people moving around me, but there was too much going on in my head to take it in.

Phil’s POV:

When I got Dan’s text, asking me to come and get him asap, I hurried to get myself out as quickly as possible. I didn’t know what was happening, but I could tell from his message he needed me. I pulled on a pair of shoes, which happened to be Dan’s, but we were close enough in size that it wouldn’t matter too much.

I was grabbing my keys, about to head out the door, when I got his second text.

cnu bring anxiety pills i fprgot

I wasn’t one to swear, but at that moment I did, muttering a profanity under my breath. This wasn’t good; if he was looking for his tablets, then he was having a panic attack and if he didn’t have them, well then that was going to be a bad one.

It took me a couple of minutes to find them; they ended up being on Dan’s bedside table, as a result of the nightmare come panic attacks he’d been having recently. I zipped them into my coat pocket to make sure I didn’t lose them, then rushed out of the house and down to the car.

It was about a ten minute drive to the physciatrist practice; I’d taken Dan there once when there was a bus strike, so thankfully I knew where it was. What I didn’t know was my way around inside. I explained the situation to the receptionist, who was very helpful and took me to the room Dan would be in.

I knocked on the door first, but there were probably too many voices talking in there to hear. I pushed the door open and walked in, taking in the scene before me of three people huddled around Dan, who was sat on a chair in the corner, shaking profusely and seeming to ignore the three people who were trying to speak to him.

“I’m Phil, his soulmate,” I explained, making my way across the room and pushing into the little circle they had formed.

At that, they parted a little to let me closer to him. They were no formal introductions, but the lady closest to Dan, I presumed was his therapist, as she seemed to know what was going on.

“Empty doughnut box on my desk seemed to trigger him,” she explained to me, quietly, “Have you got his medication?”

I nodded, “Yeah, I’m going to try and talk to him, could one of you maybe get a glass of water and give us a little more space?”

Once the others had moved away, I was able to focus more on what was happening to Dan. He was seeing, but not really watching. His eyes were on me; he seemed to have noticed I was here but his thoughts must be elsewhere.

“Dan,” I said firmly, looking him in the eye, “Can you talk to me? Tell me, what did you have for breakfast this morning?”

I knew perfectly well that Dan had had a bowl of crunchy nut cornflakes and some tea, but I was trying to get a reaction out of him.

“Phil, help, N-Nora…” Dan stuttered.

“She’s not here,” I told him calmly, “I’m here and no one here is going to hurt you.”

I slowly reached out a hand towards Dan, but didn’t place it on him. I didn’t know exactly what was going on in his head, but if he was anywhere near the memory of Nora hitting him, I didn’t want to make things worse.

“Dan, can you take my hand?” I asked him, “I’ve got your medication and I’ll give you it in a minute; just need you to relax a little bit first.”

Dan slowly reached out his hand to meet mine, then suddenly he was shuffling over right next to me and trying to nuzzle his body into my arms. It was a sudden change in his demeanour, but it was a sign of things getting better. I loosely brought my arms around him and let him lean on me, feeling his shaking resounding through my body too.

It was at this moment that the lady I presumed to be Dan’s therapist, handed over a cup of water. I took it from her and retrieved Dan’s pills from my jacket pocket. I took out his dose and held out the pills and water to him.

“Dan, you need to take these,” I said softly, trying to stay as calm as I could for him.

Dan nodded, trying to calm his breathing for a couple of seconds to reply, “Don’t wanna… feel sick…”

“Only when you’re ready. Let’s take some deep breaths first, yeah,” I said, moving my hand onto his chest and working with him to try and slow his breathing a little.

A couple of minutes later, I offered Dan the tablets again. This time he took them, albeit a little hesitantly, and held them in his own hand. I passed him the cup of water, then moved around so I was supporting him a little more. He got them down okay, which was a relief. His gag reflex could be sensitive at times and he sometimes struggled with swallowing them. It was really now a case of waiting for them to take effect and doing my best to help in the meantime.

“You’re going to be okay,” I told him, continuing to hold him.

I kept an open posture, allowing Dan to climb onto my lap if that was what he wanted. I didn’t mind; I just wanted him to feel better. As I predicted, Dan did end up sitting between my legs, curled up tightly with his face buried in my chest.

“How’re you feeling?” I asked him, rubbing my hand up and down his back.

“Safer now. Still really shaky but…” Dan paused to take some deep breaths, “N breathing’s hard.”

Nodding, I took into account what Dan was saying and tried to help him with his breathing. I encouraged him to exhume his his face from the folds of my coat and sit up straight. Dan was no stranger to breathing exercises so all he needed was a little support and encouragement.

The extra people in the room had now disappeared and it was down to just the lady I presumed to be Dan’s therapist. She was watching me as I helped Dan, but made no effort to intervene. Hopefully that meant I was doing the right thing.

Eventually, Dan had his breathing more or less under control and he was no longer shaking quite so much.

“How d’you feel about heading home now?” I asked him, wanting to make sure he was ready first.

“Please,” he mumbled, “I just want my bed.”

“Okay,” I nodded, looking up to speak to his therapist to let her know we were about to go.

“I think he’s okay for us to head home now,” I said to her, “Is there anything he needs to do before he goes?”

“Yes, just let me explain to you first what I was talking to Dan about,” she said quickly, “Dan’s spoken to me about his recent panic attacks and nightmares or trouble sleeping, which I understand you know about?”

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“From what he told me, I was suspecting that post-traumatic stress disorder was forming a big part of his anxiety. From witnessing this episode, I think I can confirm that,” she explained, “I’m not going to spend ages telling you about it because Dan should get home, but he has a leaflet there about it and you can read up about it on the NHS website.”

“Okay, we’ll look into that,” I said, “Does he need to book another appointment?”

“Yes, I was telling him I’d like to see him weekly for a bit, but I think we’ll make the first appointment in a couple of days if he can make that?” she said, “I’m going to speak to his doctor about possibly increasing his dose of antidepressants.”

“Okay,” I nodded, taking a mental note of what she’d said to think about later, “And do we just do that at the reception?”

“Yes,” she said, cheerily, “Right, I’ll let you be on your way and Dan, apologies, I hope you feel better soon.”

Keeping my arm around Dan, we made our way out of the building, stopping at the reception desk to book his appointment on the way. I took the lead and did most of the talking for him, knowing that his emotional state was a bit too fragile for him to want to face it alone.

We made it home in ten minutes, Dan silently staring into space in the passenger seat next to me. It was only once we were home in our own space that he actually opened up a bit and spoke about how he was feeling. I followed him into our room and lay down with him on the bed, while he told me all what had happened, from his therapist telling him about PTSD to her looking for the folder of information leaflets and uncovering a doughnut box. His recollection of his panic attack come flashback was a bit less clear, but I could tell he’d lost almost all focus on what was going on in the room.

I was meant to be working the late shift at the restaurant that evening, but I didn’t feel like I could leave Dan after that. I called my manager and explained the situation, being very apologetic and asking whether someone would be able to take my shift.

Fortunately, he was in a good mood and he knew of someone who was looking for some extra shifts this week. Clearly, he had to call and see if this person was free, but he texted me back ten minutes later to let me know that all was good, they could take my shift.

I let Dan have some alone time whilst I made the two of us dinner. It was important that he had the peace to sort out his thoughts by himself. Yes, there were a lot of things I could help him through, but everyone needed some alone time, even from their soulmate.

After couscous stuffed red peppers with a light sauce, we spent some time together again. Dan wasn’t up to doing much, so we put on some anime and relaxed together. In a way I felt a bit lazy, as I should’ve been working but here I was sprawled on my sofa instead. However, Dan was more important to me than the restaurant I worked in. I could get a new job; I couldn’t get a new Dan.

About ten o’clock, when I could see tiredness starting to take a toll on Dan, I suggested we go for a bath together before heading to bed. Dan jumped at this offer, willingly untangling himself from me so I could get up to run the bath.

I asked Dan to bring fresh towels from the cupboard with him when he came, but also to take his time in coming through because it would take me ten minutes to get the bath filled. As the water ran in, I plopped in a bath bomb, watching as it slowly dissolved in front of me.

The bath bomb was still dissolving when Dan appeared with the towels. I took them from him to put on the radiator and let him watch the fizzing colours disperse into the water. Watching it dissolve was part of the fun and I didn’t want to deprive him of that.

When the bath bomb had fizzled out and the water was both the right temperature and depth, we stripped out of our clothes and hopped into the bath. I got in first, making space for Dan between my legs, where I could cuddle him to my heart’s content. We stayed in there until our toes started to shrivel up, me pressing kisses to Dan’s various body parts the whole time and generally trying to make him feel good.

Wrapped in fluffy towels, I invited Dan to come to the kitchen with me to make hot chocolate. It wasn’t really a necessity in our bedtime routine, but I had to admit it was nice to have a hot drink that was free from caffeine before going to bed.

We took our hot chocolates back to our bedroom and still wrapped in our fluffy towels, we sat down on the bed to drink them. Ten minutes later, we were pretty much dry, and now filled with warmth on the inside. We each found some pyjamas, as the night was to be a cold one, then went to brush our teeth together.

Once we were in bed, cosy amongst our duvets, I didn’t hesitate to find Dan and hold him close. Usually I would wait until he rolled over into my arms, but today I knew he needed it. The weight in my arms was something I was used to falling asleep with now, Dan’s warmth keeping my heart happy, and mine hopefully doing the same in return.

A couple of days later, Dan returned to see his therapist. For the first time ever, I accompanied him to the appointment, mainly as moral support. We both knew that this was a follow up about what happened the last time and may possibly result in a change to his medication. He was a little anxious about seeing his therapist again after the episode he had in her office just two days ago. When he expressed how he was feeling about going, I offered to come with him. I always offered, but until now, he hadn’t taken me up on it.

The appointment wasn’t very long; Dan’s therapist talked to him a little more about his anxiety and PTSD and agreed with him that he would start taking an increased dose of antidepressants to help him through it. She gave him a prescription for the new tablets, with the only difference being the increased strength. She had discussed with his doctor that this was the most sensible course of action for him. The antidepressants were already working for him; he just needed a stronger dose. It would be less of a shock to his body than trying him on something else entirely, and although there may be side effects, it was thought that these wouldn’t last much more than a week.

We left with the prescription and picked them up on the way home. The next day, Dan started on his double dose. At first, he seemed fairly normal, but by lunchtime on the second day, the side effects were starting to hit him.

It started as a headache, but by mid-afternoon he had his head in his hands and a bucket in his lap, complaining of feeling sick. There was nothing I could do other than make him tea and keep him company. I couldn’t get out of work that evening, but I got Dan to bed before I left and he was still sound asleep when I got home.

I took the next couple of nights off and stayed home with him, but his symptoms didn’t seem to change much. He complained of headaches and nausea and in general he was a bit spaced out, but it never seemed to escalate further than that. After seeing his symptoms weren’t getting worse I had faith that he would be okay by himself and decided to work another night, but this time I asked Louise over to keep an eye on him while I was gone as he wasn’t going to be asleep this time.

I must’ve been tempting fate with thinking he would be okay, because about an hour before the end of my shift, I got that all-too-familiar feeling of worry and I knew that Dan was throwing up. With it being about eleven o’clock on a weekday, I was down to only a couple of tables, so I rushed to see my manager to see if I could be excused. He was able to speak to a couple of my colleagues and agreed that they took on an extra table each. I thanked them, then grabbed my stuff and headed on my way.

I texted both Louise and Dan to say I was on my way home. They might very well have been too busy to pick it up, but it was worth a shot.

I unlocked our front door and was immediately saw Louise standing in the bathroom doorway. That must be where Dan was. I shut the door behind me, took off my jacket and called out a 'hello’.

Louise let me past without a word, allowing me to crouch down next to Dan as he hunched over the toilet.

“I'm here now,” I said softly, gently putting my arm around him.

“Sorry,” Dan mumbled, “For umm… making you need to come home.”

“It's fine,” I told him, “I was down to two tables so it was no problems for the others to take them on. You're more important.”

“You've been sick once, yeah?” I confirmed, “How're you feeling?”

“Shit,” Dan said, “Like I know there's more but I don't know if it's gonna come up or not. I feel like it might, but then I've been feeling sick for the past few days and it's never actually happened until now.”

“Okay,” I nodded, running my fingers through the damp hair on his forehead.

“Louise, what have you given him?” I asked, turning my head around to speak to her.

“Just water,” she said, “I didn't know what else he should take because it's the medication that's making him feel this way.”

“Yeah, me neither,” I explained, “I've been going with water and tea the last few days and I don't know if it really helps much.”

I turned back to Dan, “How about I go and make you some tea? D’you think that’ll help?”

“Don’t leave me,” he replied, looking up at me miserably.

“Okay,” I said, settling back on the floor next to him, “I wont.”

“I can make tea if you want?” Louise piped up from behind us.

“Dan?” I said, looking to him to see what he wanted, “D’you want some tea?”

Dan looked a bit unsure, but nodded anyway, “Okay.”

“Chamomile, yeah?” I confirmed with him.

Dan nodded again and I passed his decision onto Louise, “Okay, chamomile tea. The box of teabags is probably on the counter next to the kettle. If not, it's in the cupboard above the kettle. No milk or sugar or anything.”

Louise headed off to make the tea and I turned my full attention back to Dan, “How sick are you feeling? D’you want to take the bucket and head back to the living room? Or wander around for a bit?”

“Maybe go to the living room with it, yeah,” Dan replied, slowly lifting his head up from where it rest on the toilet seat.

“Okay, take your time,” I said, getting up myself, then offering him a hand up.

Once he was back on his feet, Dan clutched the bucket to his chest and we slowly walked through to the living room. He settled on the closest sofa and gently tugged the hem of my shirt for me to sit down next to him. I sat down next to him and put my arm around him, comfortingly.

“Louise’ll only be a minute with the tea,” I told him, as looking up, I could see into our kitchen where Louise was slowly stirring the teabag around with a spoon.

Sure enough, it couldn’t have been much more than thirty seconds later, when Louise came through with the steaming cup in her hand and passed it over to Dan. He held it for a couple of minutes, to let it cool down enough for him to drink, then slowly started sipping on the hot drink.

It didn’t seem to be making him feel any worse, but then he wasn’t always very vocal about it, “Let me know if you feel any worse, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Dan nodded, then made a hesitant sound, “Actually, my head’s pretty sore again. Can I have more paracetamol yet?”

“Good point, yeah you can,” I said, getting up from the sofa to go and grab them from kitchen where he’d put them after dinner.

With the dregs of his tea, Dan swallowed his dose of the painkillers, then sank back into the sofa. He shut his eyes, which at first I presumed to be out of tiredness, but when he scrunched them up and brought a hand to his forehead, I realised it was out of pain.

“I think you need to get to bed,” I suggested, “You really don’t look too good.”

“Mmm,” Dan mumbled, sounding like he was agreeing with me.

“Right, how about you go and brush your teeth while I see Louise off?” I suggested.

Dan agreed, and with a little encouragement, I ushered him along to our room and into our en-suite. I left him alone to brush his teeth, while I showed Louise out. It took a couple of minutes, with her getting her stuff together and putting her coat on, a goodbye hug and then a few more things she’d forgotten to say, before she went out the door.

I was just opening the front door when Dan walked out of our room, only wearing his pyjama bottoms. He turned bright red as he realised Louise was still here and he was shirtless. Before he could run away, I put my arm out and pulled him into a hug, holding him close to my side so he could use me to cover himself up a little if he wanted.

I said my last goodbye to Louise with Dan glued to my side. It was only once I had shut the door that he stopped hiding himself behind me.

“I thought Louise would've gone already otherwise I wouldn't have come out shirtless,” Dan explained, “I took my other one off because I'd sicked on it a little and I couldn't be bothered finding a clean one.”

“It's alright,” I said, “I know you felt a bit self-conscious but you didn't need to be.”

“I know,” Dan nodded, “It's just instinct.”

Noticing Dan seemed a bit unsteady on his feet, almost like he was going to pass out, I put my arm back around him and guided him back into our room.

“Bed time for you,” I said, light-heartedly, “You look like you're going to pass out.”

“I feel a bit that way too,” Dan commented, letting me help him up into the bed.

Once Dan was laying down, settled with the duvet over him, I brought the bucket over next to the bed and put a glass of water on the bedside table.

“Right, water and a bucket there if you need either of them,” I told him, “But please wake me up if you're feeling bad. I'll join you in a couple of minutes.”

I left Dan to sleep and went and got myself ready for bed. When I returned he was already asleep, snoring softly with his face half-buried in the pillow. I got in next to him, and doing my best not to disturb him too much, I cuddled up next to him. I knew he would be cold with only being in pyjama bottoms and I knew he would appreciate it anyway.

Over the next few days, the side effects slowly died down and Dan started to feel a bit better. The antidepressants seemed to be doing their job better now, leaving him more or less anxiety free. He was sleeping better and having less random panic attacks. Emotionally, he still seemed a little spaced out, but I think that was preferable to the anxiety he’d been experiencing previously.

I was starting to see that he might be doing well enough to think about getting a job, but I would leave it until he mentioned it himself. I didn’t want to push things; he was the best he’d been in a while and that was progress.

Next Chapter =>

#phanfic #phanfiction #phan #phanfluff #tw #tw;ed #phan fluff #soulmate au #soulmates #au #fanfic #waiter!phil #ed #someday

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ralph31ortiz · 7 years

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7 Productivity Power Tools for the Busy Educator

Dr. Frank Buck on episode 227 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Become more productive today with these seven tools from Dr. Frank Buck. Automate what you can and save time.

Middle School Science teachers should get the FREE Xplorlabs Fire Forensics kit.Solve a mystery. Meet Next Generation Science Standards. Have fun!

Go to http://www.coolcatteacher.com/firelab today to get your Free Fire Forensics Kit.

Listen Now

Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

***

Enhanced Transcript

7 Productivity Power Tools for the Busy Educator

Link to show: www.coolcatteacher.com/e227 Date: January 9, 2018

Vicki: Today we’re talking to one of my dear friend, Dr. Frank Buck @DrFrankBuck. He’s really a productivity guru for education leaders.

We’re going to talk about seven productivity power tools for the busy educator.

So Frank, what is your first tool?

Tool #1 Toodledo

Frank: First and foremost, Toodledo.

That’s my task manager. That’s where everything that I have to do “lives.” And I’m surprised that it doesn’t get nearly as much press as it deserves. It is a free tool. It is web based.

I can add to it with my voice. It includes a large notes field for each task, which is free whereas a lot of other tools you have to pay for that. I can forward emails to it, so that helps me keep my email inbox empty. I can move unfinished tasks en mass to a future day.

It is a great tool; it’s sort of like my brain, I couldn’t live without it.

Vicki: Wonderful. OK, what’s your second one?

Tool #2: TaskClone

Frank: Well, my second one… most people would say Evernote, but I’m not going to say Evernote because everybody knows Evernote. But for everybody out there that’s either using Evernote or they’re using OneNote — Taskclone.

This is a wonderful tool,. It’s about $15 a year, but it integrates either Evernote or OneNote with your digital task manager.

So let’s say that I’m in a workshop, and I’m taking notes in Evernote. As I’m taking notes, I think of some things that I want to do, following that workshop. Well, I just continue to take notes right there in Evernote, but I put a little checkbox in front of those things. Before I close down, I just tag that note “taskclone.”

Magically, those things with the checkbox beside them appear on Toodledo on the day that I want to see them, and then the little attached note is a link that takes you right back to the note in Evernote.

Fabulous tool! It’s a must-have if you use Evernote or OneNote.

Vicki: It is truly a remarkable — in somes ways, secretary. It just takes care of putting things where they need to go.

Frank: Oh gosh, absolutely.

Vicki: OK, what’s your third?

Tool #3: IFTTT

Frank: The third one is IfThisThenThat (IFTTT). In the world of productivity, one of the mantras I keep hearing is, “Eliminate. Delegate. Automate.”

Teachers are pretty good at the first one — looking at things that just don’t need to be done and getting rid of them.

Most teachers are also pretty good at delegating, especially those master first grade teachers. You go in their classroom at the end of the day, and twenty kids are doing twenty different jobs. Everybody helps.

But the third one, automate, is really our opportunity for growth. IfThisThenThat does that. It allows different services to work together. For example, Instagram and Twitter — when I put something on Instagram, I’d like the same thing to go on Twitter. But instead of having to do double duty, I just have a little applet that I’ve created. This is an applet that says, “If I post to Instagram, then post to Twitter.”

Some other things that I have on there — on Twitter, when I see really good articles, I’m usually reading those on my phone, and I’d really like to read the articles when I get back to my computer desktop. So how do I hang on to all those little links? Well, I just have a little applet that I created that says, “If I “like” a tweet, then send it to Toodledo.” So all I have to do is click the “like” button, and then there’s a task that’s sitting over on Toodledo, so I can just forget about it, work through my Toodledo list, and there it is for me.

Some other things… “If I add something to my Google calendar, then send my wife an email.” That automatically keeps her updated on some of the things that I’m doing.

So it has so many features, does so many things. I used to not teach it in workshops because I thought it would be too difficult for people to understand, but I have been dead wrong. People eat it up.

Vicki: Well, and if you’re looking for home efficiency, I actually use it. I have Philips Hue at my house. It takes sunset times, and it starts powering down one of my lights because I tend to work too late. So at sunset, I know that I have about another 30 minutes. And that changes throughout the year, and I just love it because it kind of helps me keep my internal clock straight.

Frank: (agrees)

Vicki: OK, what’s our fourth?

Frank: OK, the fourth and fifth help me with my writing.

Tool #4: Hemingway App

The fourth one is a website called HemingwayApp.com. Hemingway, like the writer. So this free site does more to clean and tidy my writing than anything I can think of.

You copy and paste your draft into that site, and then just check your ego at the door, because it turns all these sentences colors. It flags sentences that are hard to read. It flags passive voice. It flags words that it suggests that you simply eliminate.

When I start working through that, and start resolving the suggestions it’s making, my writing actually really is a lot, lot better.

And then the next one… Vicki, I don’t know about you, but I cannot proofread my own writing.

Vicki: (laughs)

Tool #5: VoiceInstead

Frank: My brain tells my eyes what I meant to say, not what I said.

And even if I read my stuff out loud, no. My eyes… they see what I meant, and not what I wrote.

But I have a little Chrome extension called VoiceInstead. So while I’m there at that HemingwayApp, and I’ve got things cleaned up, I just highlight the whole thing, right-click, and in the little menu will be VoiceInstead.

And it reads it back to me. When I hear someone else reading it, I catch everything. It’s just a simple little Chrome extension called VoiceInstead that you can just get from the Chrome store.

Vicki: Those are two great tools, and we’ll just add one little caution. HemingwayApp does not like GoogleDocs. It does not save it for you. So if you close the web browser…

Frank: (laughs) Exactly!!!

Vicki: … without copying it… as my students have learned, because we love Hemingway. It’s a fantastic way to teach, making writing more concise.

OK, what’s our sixth?

Tool #6: igHome

Frank: Number six is igHome.

Several years ago, a lot of us used to have those personalized Google pages as our home pages. I loved it! But then Google discontinued it.

Right about that time, someone created igHome to really fill that void.

So here’s what happens. When I open my browser, right there, staring me in the face is my Google calendar, Toodledo, and Gmail — side-by-side. Right below it is the weather forecast for the day, the local news and the national news beside that. I have an electronic sticky note where I just need to paste something electronically. I have commonly used bookmarks.

I really think of it as my internet organizer, because really, all of my internet-based tools are in some way connected to that igHome.com homepage. I can get to it from anywhere. I love it. Couldn’t live without it.

Vicki: So we don’t have to complain about iGoogle going away, we can use this. Of course, there’s Netvibes and Pageflakes, but I’m really intrigued by this.

Frank: I have used Netvibes. I liked it, but really the igHome I like even better.

And what I tell people is, “Good tools come, and good tools go. But usually good tools are replaced by better tools. So don’t worry about it, because something better is coming along. Just watch for it.”

Vicki: OK, what’s our last one?

Tool #7: Spreadsheets (like Excel or Google Sheets)

Frank: The last one, Vicki, is spreadsheets.

If I had to point to one tool during my professional career that is the biggest game changer, it would be that. I’m so glad that back in 1987 — that long ago, 30 years ago! — I read some little chapter in a book about using Appleworks spreadsheets, and I had this epiphany.

I thought, “I could put my gradebook on this thing!” And suddenly, I was no longer spending one Saturday out of every six, hand-averaging grades and getting them ready to go on to report cards. Huge gamechanger.

And the thing that I would say to that busy educator is not that you necessarily have to go out and become the Excel guru — because I’m certainly not — but just start to formulate the question…

“Here’s the problem that’s in front of me. I wonder if maybe Excel or Google Sheets would do XYZ?”

Because once you’ve got the question, there’s probably a sharp student who can find the answer for you.

And I’m still running into situations where I don’t know the formula or if there is a formula to do the particular thing that I want done, so all I do is just Google it.

I put the word “Excel” in the Google search box, whatever it is I’m looking for, and somewhere in the world, somebody else has had the same problem, the same question, and has posed it on some bulletin board. And somebody else, somewhere else in the world, a lot smarter than I am, has come up with the answer. Just copy and paste it, and change the little cell references, and you’re good to go.

So that’s my number seven, spreadsheets.

Vicki: Well, remarkable educators, I think it’s important that we all have productivity power tools.

Do our students have power productivity tools? I’m amazed at how many students don’t know how to set a reminder, or set a calendar appointment, how to put things on a list.

These are some great tools that Frank has given us. Frank tends to pick things that are very, very reliable and rock solid. So if you need a place to start, these are awesome.

But the big thing is — do you have a place to put your calendar? Where are you going to put your notes? Where are you going to have your reminders, and your To Do List? We all need these essential things so we can be productive in today’s modern world.

Thank you, Frank!

Frank: It’s been a pleasure. Thank you, Vicki.

Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford

[email protected]

Bio as submitted

Frank Buck is a veteran school administrator, public speaker, productivity coach, and author of Get Organized!: Time Management for School Leaders. He has spoken to audiences throughout the United States and internationally to help busy professionals achieve total control over their time and the peace of mind that nothing is falling through the cracks.

Blog: https://FrankBuck.org

Twitter: @DrFrankBuck

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored podcast episode.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

The post 7 Productivity Power Tools for the Busy Educator appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

from Cool Cat Teacher BlogCool Cat Teacher Blog http://www.coolcatteacher.com/e227/

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aira26soonas · 7 years

Text

7 Productivity Power Tools for the Busy Educator

Dr. Frank Buck on episode 227 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Become more productive today with these seven tools from Dr. Frank Buck. Automate what you can and save time.

Middle School Science teachers should get the FREE Xplorlabs Fire Forensics kit.Solve a mystery. Meet Next Generation Science Standards. Have fun!

Go to http://www.coolcatteacher.com/firelab today to get your Free Fire Forensics Kit.

Listen Now

Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

***

Enhanced Transcript

7 Productivity Power Tools for the Busy Educator

Link to show: www.coolcatteacher.com/e227 Date: January 9, 2018

Vicki: Today we’re talking to one of my dear friend, Dr. Frank Buck @DrFrankBuck. He’s really a productivity guru for education leaders.

We’re going to talk about seven productivity power tools for the busy educator.

So Frank, what is your first tool?

Tool #1 Toodledo

Frank: First and foremost, Toodledo.

That’s my task manager. That’s where everything that I have to do “lives.” And I’m surprised that it doesn’t get nearly as much press as it deserves. It is a free tool. It is web based.

It is a great tool; it’s sort of like my brain, I couldn’t live without it.

Vicki: Wonderful. OK, what’s your second one?

Tool #2: TaskClone

This is a wonderful tool,. It’s about $15 a year, but it integrates either Evernote or OneNote with your digital task manager.

Fabulous tool! It’s a must-have if you use Evernote or OneNote.

Vicki: It is truly a remarkable — in somes ways, secretary. It just takes care of putting things where they need to go.

Frank: Oh gosh, absolutely.

Vicki: OK, what’s your third?

Tool #3: IFTTT

Frank: The third one is IfThisThenThat (IFTTT). In the world of productivity, one of the mantras I keep hearing is, “Eliminate. Delegate. Automate.”

Teachers are pretty good at the first one — looking at things that just don’t need to be done and getting rid of them.

Some other things… “If I add something to my Google calendar, then send my wife an email.” That automatically keeps her updated on some of the things that I’m doing.

Frank: (agrees)

Vicki: OK, what’s our fourth?

Frank: OK, the fourth and fifth help me with my writing.

Tool #4: Hemingway App

The fourth one is a website called HemingwayApp.com. Hemingway, like the writer. So this free site does more to clean and tidy my writing than anything I can think of.

When I start working through that, and start resolving the suggestions it’s making, my writing actually really is a lot, lot better.

And then the next one… Vicki, I don’t know about you, but I cannot proofread my own writing.

Vicki: (laughs)

Tool #5: VoiceInstead

Frank: My brain tells my eyes what I meant to say, not what I said.

And even if I read my stuff out loud, no. My eyes… they see what I meant, and not what I wrote.

And it reads it back to me. When I hear someone else reading it, I catch everything. It’s just a simple little Chrome extension called VoiceInstead that you can just get from the Chrome store.

Vicki: Those are two great tools, and we’ll just add one little caution. HemingwayApp does not like GoogleDocs. It does not save it for you. So if you close the web browser…

Frank: (laughs) Exactly!!!

Vicki: … without copying it… as my students have learned, because we love Hemingway. It’s a fantastic way to teach, making writing more concise.

OK, what’s our sixth?

Tool #6: igHome

Frank: Number six is igHome.

Several years ago, a lot of us used to have those personalized Google pages as our home pages. I loved it! But then Google discontinued it.

Right about that time, someone created igHome to really fill that void.

Vicki: So we don’t have to complain about iGoogle going away, we can use this. Of course, there’s Netvibes and Pageflakes, but I’m really intrigued by this.

Frank: I have used Netvibes. I liked it, but really the igHome I like even better.

Vicki: OK, what’s our last one?

Tool #7: Spreadsheets (like Excel or Google Sheets)

Frank: The last one, Vicki, is spreadsheets.

“Here’s the problem that’s in front of me. I wonder if maybe Excel or Google Sheets would do XYZ?”

Because once you’ve got the question, there’s probably a sharp student who can find the answer for you.

And I’m still running into situations where I don’t know the formula or if there is a formula to do the particular thing that I want done, so all I do is just Google it.

So that’s my number seven, spreadsheets.

Vicki: Well, remarkable educators, I think it’s important that we all have productivity power tools.

Do our students have power productivity tools? I’m amazed at how many students don’t know how to set a reminder, or set a calendar appointment, how to put things on a list.

These are some great tools that Frank has given us. Frank tends to pick things that are very, very reliable and rock solid. So if you need a place to start, these are awesome.

Thank you, Frank!

Frank: It’s been a pleasure. Thank you, Vicki.

Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford

[email protected]

Bio as submitted

Blog: https://FrankBuck.org

Twitter: @DrFrankBuck

The post 7 Productivity Power Tools for the Busy Educator appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

from Cool Cat Teacher BlogCool Cat Teacher Blog http://www.coolcatteacher.com/e227/

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