this post was submitted on 09 Sep 2023
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Context: I currently have a back injury and as such my sleep schedule has been destroyed. There are days that I simply cannot get comfortable no matter where I sit/lie.

The other night I was restless and couldn't get comfortable but was feeling tired. I wanted to brew myself a cup of tea but as luck would have it we had run out of fill-able tea bags. I pulled out the metal tea infusers and found that due to an improper cleaning at last use and who knows how long they had been sitting idle they were absolutely disgusting. Some had mold spots and one appeared to be rusting (how aluminum rusts I don't know).

I REALLY wanted my tea so I busted out my cleaning tools and got to work. She woke up to use the restroom and heard me in the kitchen and made it a point to call me out for being weird and that no one in their right mind would be doing what I was doing.

Is that a fair assessment? I only spent about 50 minutes cleaning them.

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[–] [email protected] 100 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

Read the headline: yes mate, she is.

Read the post: Perfectly understandable, carry on.

[–] ImpossibilityBox 31 points 9 months ago

I love this take.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago

Lol my exact thought process as well

[–] frickineh 9 points 9 months ago

Thank goodness it's not just me. Reading the post had me like "well yeah, obviously, what else can you even do in that situation?" You gotta get the strainers clean once you know they aren't. It's basically the law.

[–] [email protected] 67 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Out of context, that's not normal.

In your context, there is no normal, but your actions were rational.

Hope you recover quickly, friend, and get the cup of tea you deserve.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yeah it’s not “normal” in the sense that it’s probably only happened a couple of times in history, but there’s nothing wrong witht he though process. Although 50 minutes to clean the infusers is a real long time, but if you had no other option, might as well

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago

Depending on how nasty/corroded they were, I could see spending that long at it. Especially using 3am logic.

Daytime logic may have been "I'm going to clean one, and order more teabags and a new strainer right now".

[–] [email protected] 48 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Doing something productive when you can't sleep is, like, the most normal thing you can do. You're fine.

[–] ImpossibilityBox 16 points 9 months ago

Right! My one concession to here (loving) statement is that my ideas of productive can often lean towards the absurd.

Yes, I am handplaning bowling alley floor for a desk at 11:30 at night... why do you ask?

[–] [email protected] 43 points 9 months ago
[–] RizzRustbolt 33 points 9 months ago (2 children)

So you've stumbled into ADHD through the side door eh?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago

Chronic pain actually can cause similar symptoms to adhd lol

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

Yep from reading other replies that looks a bit like that 🤣

[–] [email protected] 25 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

It may not be normal necessarily, but it's completely understandable. You wanted a comfort while you were uncomfortable, and you were willing to work for that comfort.

[–] drekly 23 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Fifty fucking minutes of cleaning for a cuppa?

I do all sorts of things at 3am too, thanks to my awful circadian rhythm. As long as it wasn't you who woke her, you can do what you want. Awake is awake, no matter the time of day. Just be mindful of your surroundings.

[–] ImpossibilityBox 15 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I may or may not occasionally get super fixated on tasks I'm doing. The only reason I know it was fifty minutes was because I listened to the entire Sleep Token album "This Place Will Become Your Tomb".

You can bet your ass that those steepers are nice and shiny clean.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Ever been diagnosed with ADHD?

[–] ImpossibilityBox 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Nope, my family was never really financially stable and we lived next door to a nurse (extreme luck) for small cuts and bruises/illnessess, so the only time I ever actually saw a doctor was for wisdom teeth and a freeway speed car accident that broke a bunch of my bones.

I only recently at the young old age of 32 got insurance that actually covers anything, but old habits die hard so doc visits of any kind are kind of taboo in my brain.

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[–] ShittyRedditWasBetter 20 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I mean there is being restless and there is being loud and starting a project at 3am.

I'm not saying you've done a bad thing here but yeah you are blurring trust line of weird behavior.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 9 months ago

Not normal? Sure.
But it's also not normal to have a back injury that prevents you from sleeping.
So if you can use your sleep time to do something productive that helps you, that may not be normal (IE common) but it is a good idea.

[–] SendMePhotos 18 points 9 months ago

It's not normal, but it's not not normal.

[–] Boiglenoight 17 points 9 months ago (2 children)

It is not typical, expected behavior by most peoples' standards, partly because the majority of people at that time of night are sleeping.

You'd be hard pressed to find support for this as being normal behavior. What's important is whether or not normal matters? If it's considered criticism, why? Is she being awoken by your behavior? If so, then that's probably warranted. Otherwise, if it's just a characterization of what you're doing, so what?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

Tbh, if it was my partner doing it, I can see myself saying that even if it didn't cause me to wake up. Only, its not to criticise, but just to tease them.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 9 months ago

You are not in a normal situation so how can it be normal? Normal activity if you're awake. And you're awake.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Dude, dremels are loud. Don't use them while people are sleeping

[–] ImpossibilityBox 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

In my defense the kitchen is as far from the bedroom as you can get in our apartment and it's an variable speed electric so you can run it relitively slow for (again, relatively) quite operation.

[–] over_clox 6 points 9 months ago

Can confirm, low speed Dremel isn't loud, especially from another room. 👍

[–] Mediocre_Bard 12 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You have autism. It's cool though. Keep doing your thing.

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[–] LazaroFilm 12 points 9 months ago (2 children)

If you have back pain this may not be the right activity for you. Scrubbing g while bend over a sink. I don’t care about the time but the activity doesn’t help your injury.

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[–] profdc9 12 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Lack of sleep can make you do weird things. It's not keeping anyone wake, it's not hurting you or anyone. Enjoy your tea.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

A dremel is not a quiet tool. Don't they spin at some obscene RPM?

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago

I'll avoid the word normal, but definitely not something most people would ever do. (It's the sort of thing I might do though.)

Obviously I don't know the details of your back pain, but I would caution you that doing stuff like that (focusing intently on something in front of you, possibly bending over slightly, for an extended period of time) is probably not good for your back.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago (1 children)

When you need tea, you need tea.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I may be remembering wrong but in the middle ages people would often wake up at like 2am 🕑 do stuff and go back to sleep.

[–] flubba86 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

It was more like 11pm till 1am. They went to bed at 7pm, so sleep for 4 hours, get up, do stuff for a couple of hours, go back to bed, and sleep for another 4 hours, get up at 5am.

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[–] Vector610 9 points 9 months ago

Not normal. But also not a problem. You couldn't sleep, needed something to occupy yourself.

[–] HipHoboHarold 8 points 9 months ago

I'm with the others. It's not normal, but it's not an issue.

My boyfriend likes to come home around 11:30 at night, have some coffee, and maybe play a bit of a video game while he eats.

Seems weird. But he also works an over night shift from 7 pm to 7 am. So it makes sense in that he's awake at night. He sleeps a lot during the day. At first, seems weird. Once explained, not so much. At that point most people are understanding.

[–] TheInsane42 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

Nobody in their right mind would be awake at those times... when the body would cooperate.

My wife goes to the attic to do the laundry when she can't sleep. However, I sleep trough anything (even when they blown up an ATM on the parking lot behind the house) so I'm fine with that.

That your wife found you cleaning after she woke to go to the toilet, I see no problem. Having back issues keeping you awake isn't normal and on the pther hand, when you look around at what is 'normal', would you want to be like that?

Maybe next time skip the powertools, but enjoy your tea when you can't enjoy your sleep.

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[–] AssPennies 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yeah that's pretty fucked. Who uses a brass toothbrush?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

How else do you clean those pesky gums off of your teeth and expose ALL of the pearly whites?

[–] waterbogan 8 points 9 months ago

Given the circumstances you have described it doesnt seem that far out of the "normal" ballpark to me. I've seen worse and lived with worse. Maybe not strictly normal but no big deal

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago

Shit my cleaning at 3 am is more productive and better for some reason, I have scoliosis and it makes it hard to sleeptimes, so I play games or walk around in circles or some other random stuff.

[–] NeoNachtwaechter 7 points 9 months ago

A dremel is sacred.

How dare you wake it up in the middle of the night!!

Sadly, she is right.

[–] morphballganon 6 points 9 months ago

I'm sorry to hear you married a muggle.

Whether it's normal or not should not be on anyone's list of concerns, unless they're trying to fit in through deception.

If my wife or I caught each other doing something like that, our instinct would not be to complain, and certainly not by suggesting there's anything wrong with being weird.

I'd much rather be weird than boring.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

Time of day is a matter of cultural tradition and coordination with other people. For me it’s always been a relative matter to when I woke up. Got up at 8 am? I expect to go to sleep 12-1 am. Get up at 3 am? Normal to go to sleep at 6 pm. Get up at 4 pm? Totally normal to be cleaning tea strainers with a dremel at 3 am.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

Gustavo Fring would find your cleaning... ...acceptable.

[–] over_clox 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Only thing I would have done different is use a nylon brush instead of brass. Brass often leaves its own residue on other metals, even if only miniscule.

Regardless, I'd say carry on. I'd rather a tinge of brass flavor than obvious mold.

[–] ImpossibilityBox 5 points 9 months ago (3 children)

I started with a acid brush, and then moved onto a nylon. The residue was being very stuborn which is why I moved onto the brass brush and dremel.

I finished outt which a fabric wheel in the dremel, the idea being to help wipe away any brass or residue that got left being in the final cleaning steps.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

Totally normal, nothing wrong

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

who wants to be normal?

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