Sorry I haven't blogged lately. It's been a really busy couple months. I have a couple thing to write about, starting with the Cable TV man.[br] [br]

Earlier this fall, my bf and I decided to switch cable and internet providerscuz the bill kept going up. This meant letting technicians in the house! I'd only let the furniture delivery guys in a couple months prior. Other than that, NObody came in. [br] [br]

When the van arrived, to my horror it was TWO guys! I had wanted to be brave, but when they came in and immediately set up a laptop on the kitchen counter and set the case someplave else I gave up and explained I had ocd and could they please touch as little as possible, but especially not the sofa. I don't think I could overcome the sofa…. To my surprise, the main guy was super nice about it. He said his son has ocd, so he understood.He told the second guy, and they set to work. [br] [br]

They of course had to touch the cords and cablebox and tv. And of course, I watched them like a hawk to be sure they didn't touch the sofa. They had to go upstairs to bf's room to work on that tv hookup also, but I resistedhovering over that process. I don't go in that room, so it wasn't as anxiety provoking. BUT there's always cross contamination to think about! 😛 [br] [br]

Maybe it was good there were two guys so I couldn't watch both at once in different rooms? Oh my Lord it was stressful! They were considerateof my request, but as many of us know, a "normal" person's Careful is NOT careful enough for an ocd person! I was shakey I was so nervous. Thank God the guy was understanding, it really helped to be able to talk about it and even joke a little to try and distract me a little. (I asked if there was someone I could send a Thank You, My Tech Was Awesome card to on his behalf, but he was the owner of the technician company, so no need) [br] [br]

They were in and out of the house, up and down the stairs, in the garage, etc. It all took maybe 1.5 hours, but it felt a lot longer. My mind kept watching all the things they touched and thinking those were no longer safe. To fight this, I kept reminding myself that bf touches those things and he's fine and this is no different. (So far, I still want to check 2 things they touched, but otherwise I've resisted any ocd-ness.) [br] [br]

I was exhausted and shakey when they left, but a little proud too. I had survived! I wanted to blog about it right away, but I'm a little supersticious about cheering too soon. Yup, that's prob'ly ocd too… [br] [br]

So now I'm considering letting bf have friends over. Maybe start with just one, then work my way up. He's been very patient about it, and I want him to not suffer cuz of my ocd. But I also need to not suffer. It's a goal I'm working towards. Our mutual friend joked, "If I dress like the cable man, then can I come in?" LOL [br] [br]

And I hope there are more service/technicians out there who are as understanding and respectful as these guys. Sure, we have to risk admitting our ocd – and that's not always easy! But I suppose it's a strength to be able to admitt you need help or special consideration. This man told me that he'd had clients where he wasn't even allowed inside. He had to give instructions to the person through the door. So my "keep off the sofa" was far from the most challenging install he'd done. Gotta do whatcha gotta do. [br] [br]