Her Favorite Color is Chrome

This week I worked on polishing the chrome on my car. One thing I've realized about newer model cars is that most of the chrome has been replaced with plastic so I had to search for some chrome. The only place I found it was the rims of my tires. 

 I used Mother's California Gold All Chrome Polish and some shop towels. We all know the drill now, spray and polish. I had a helper this week that made my car detailing a co-occupation. 

Before

After

The rims turned out great! As with most of the projects I've done, the rims weren't terribly dirty so it was an easy job that will stay a small time investment if I'm consistent with completing this project on occasion. 

I'm happy with the fact that I found some new projects to work on for my car the last two weeks as I was running out of ideas and getting bored with the list I had made at the outset of this assignment. I have one more idea for the last blog that I'm excited to do. I've definitely noticed ebbs and flows with my motivation to spend extra time on taking care of the cleanliness of my vehicle based on my kid's responsibility in helping to keep it clean, the weeks I've had especially intense work loads for school, or a lack of energy due to the flu hitting our house. I can tell that I've established great habits for keeping my car cleaned out and have appreciated comments made about how clean it is over the last few months. I know I won't repeat every task I have tried on the blog but have found many that are worth the time investment for the result, that I will continue to do. Overall I'm content with the new occupation I chose and feel like it has been a good fit for the amount of time I had hoped to spend and I've derived a lot of satisfaction from my participation. 

De-Grease Lightning

This week I got re-engaged in my occupation and did a task that I've been looking forward to. I cleaned my engine compartment with Zep: Heavy-Duty Citrus Degreaser, which can be purchased at any home improvement store. 

 I diluted the degreasing agent to 1/2 solution and 1/2 water in a spray bottle and coated everything in the engine compartment except the battery terminals. My son and father-in-law helped me clean all the dust and grease from the surfaces. 

Before 

During

After 

While the engine compartment wasn't caked in grease or dust before hand I like how clean it is now and it makes it feel like my car is brand new. This was a quick project that, if I do consistently, will stay a manageable task. 

"Time use is sometimes seen as a reflection of occupational balance, in terms of a balance between occupational categories such as work, rest and play measured in time" (Eklund, M. et al., 2010). I think the last time I can say I truly had occupational balance was when I was in high school. I worked hard at getting good grades and was able to accomplish that. In addition to my school work I had a close relationship with my family, spent quality time with my friends, and participated in sports and clubs at school that I enjoyed. If there was one area I could have worked on to be more balanced it would have been prioritizing sleep. Throughout that period of my life I felt like I had enough time to accomplish all the things I needed and wanted to do. 

I have not been doing well with occupational balance during grad school. I find that I have weeks that I do a great job at a few aspects of my life and realize the areas I slipped in. When I try to prioritize the areas that have been neglected, items that I was doing great with begin to get left undone. I found that I need to have non-negotiable tasks that get done every week and be reasonable about how often I do "extra" right now. I have found that it's important to be consistent and make lists so I am reminded what I have chosen to give my attention to for the day, week, and month. Preparation whether that's food, calendars, homework schedules or laundry helps me to stay out of situations that take longer or need to be fixed. Participation in my new occupation has fit into this concept as I have needed to schedule times and prepare with my father in law to work on some of the detailing projects I have done. 

Mona Eklund , Lena‐Karin Erlandsson & Christel Leufstadius (2010) Time use in relation to valued and satisfying occupations among people with persistent mental illness: Exploring occupational balance, Journal of Occupational Science, 17:4, 231-238, DOI: 10.1080/14427591.2010.9686700

Left no crumbs

The title of my blog post is the latest middle school slang. Apparently if someone "leaves no crumbs" they did something really well. I wish my passengers would do more of that. They're making sure I always have a project to work on for my blog. I'm beginning to run out of new options for tasks I can do to detail my car. My goal is to get creative and find an exciting job to do next week. 

This week I cleaned my dash and steering wheel and dusted the infotainment system (I had no idea it was called that). An infotainment system is the digital system that allows entertainment, information, and controls various vehicle functions. Anyway it's clean now. I also used toothpicks, cleaning spray, and a microfiber cloth to clean the cupholders and gear shifter. 

My occupation is falling under letter H in the Depiction of The Meaning and Attentional Components model which is Attentional Boredom. When an occupation causes Attentional boredom there is more demand than available resources and overstimulation occurs. (Westgate EC & Steidle B, 2020) To be fair this is happening in most areas of my life simply because there are more tasks to be completed each day than time available to do them. In this case the demand is cleaning my care and the resource is available time. 

It's interesting to me that boredom can come from overstimulation but I can see how my desire to spend time car detailing almost becomes something I avoid and feel resentful about because I know I need to do it and there is a time constraint attached. Now that I have done most of the projects I was looking forward to doing, some of the novelty of detailing has worn off. I have never been particularly excited about cleaning my car but I wouldn't say it's a job that bores me. I will continue to put extra effort into making my car look its best now that I have practiced this occupation and found jobs that are easy to do that make my car look nice. 

Westgate EC, Steidle B. Lost by definition: Why boredom matters for psychology and society. Soc Personal Psychol Compass. 2020;14:e12562. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12562

Fresh Air

I've started several of my detail jobs with the disclaimer that I thought the project would be a waste of time or that I wouldn't be interested in ever doing that specific task again but ended up loving the result. Well this week is not one of those weeks. I decided to clean my air vents and the results were anti-climatic. 

I started out by vacuuming each vent. 

I used soapy water and Q-tips to make sure I was dusting all the surfaces inside the vents. 

I'm not showing the dusty Q-tips because....ew. There honestly wasn't much to clean in the vents, maybe it would have been a more satisfying job if I had a more impressive before and after. 

Accomplishing work on my occupation this week was difficult. We had the flu go through the house. Each of my girls got sick then me and my son, it was long and drawn out and it was all I could do to get the basics done this week. Working on car detailing just felt like another assignment to get done due to my circumstances. 

The occupation I chose can be a co-occupation or it can be done independently. The first two projects I did were with my father in law and I plan to do a few more with him as he has tools and knowledge about projects I'm interested in that I hope he will share with me. My son also helped me with my occupation one week and we worked together to get my car's exterior washed and the interior dusted and windows cleaned. However I've done several weeks of work on my own without anyone teaching me or helping me and I didn't have any problems with that. 

When I participated in working on my car as a co-occupation there was definitely shared physicality. I shared the same somewhat small space with another person working on the same car and sharing the same activity. As far as emotionality, in both cases the individuals involved had shown interest in and wanted to help with detailing the car. Everyone enjoyed the experience and had a positive experience. There was also shared intentionality as both times I had company the individuals were invested in a successful outcome as much as I was. Both my father in law and son wanted to help and appreciated the end result of the work we put in. Roles were also clearly understood in each case. When I worked with my father in law he was the expert and I was the student, while when I worked with my son I was the teacher and he was content to receive and follow through on instructions when needed. 

Wanda Mahoney & Elysa Roberts (2009) Co‐occupation in a day program for adults with developmental disabilities, Journal of Occupational Science, 16:3, 170-179, DOI: 10.1080/14427591.2009.9686659 

Just Roll With It #6

 This week for my new occupation I worked on my tires. I actually anticipated that this project was going to be a waste of time and that I wouldn't be interested in ever doing it again but I really liked the result. I used a rag and Meguiars's Hot Shine tire spray. We've got the drill down at this point, like with most Meguiar's products it's an apply and buff off situation.

This project is done for pure vanity. The spray doesn't provide UV protection or clean the tires it just gives them a glossy deep black finish. The combination of silicone polymers helps make the rubber water resistant to create a longer lasting finish. 

Before

After

I'm still appreciating that I picked this occupation. I've never kept my car so clean consistently before and I like the habits I've formed to accomplish this. 

In the OTPF-4 we learn that a context is both the personal and environmental factors that are particular to an individual (American, 2020). The measure of success for patients is based on whether they are able to participate comfortably not just that they are able to participate, have meaning, and purpose in what they are doing. I found that many of the projects I have chosen to do for my occupation would be readily available to anyone who was interested in car detailing. Many of the tasks I have completed on my car have been low cost, low skill and would be accessible or easily accommodated for many with various disabilities. 

As I thought about my occupation I realized there could be some environmental barriers such as bad weather or individuals who had access to a persons vehicle who didn't respect the work that had been done. I know these would affect my success in this occupation. While I would have satisfaction in doing projects I would get very discouraged if I didn't get to enjoy the results of my hard work. 

There could also be personal barriers such as not seeing the need to keep a car clean because a person grew up riding in a car that wasn't maintained or having severe mental illness and finding it difficult to maintain a project that needs steady upkeep. At this time in my life my biggest personal barrier is time restraints and choosing which areas of my life need my time the most. I like that there are tasks that I can carry out that have an impressive result for minimal time and work. 

American Occupational Therapy Association. (2020). Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process (4th ed.). American Journal of Occupational Therapy. 74(Suppl. 2), 7412410010. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2020.74S2001 

Workin' at the car wash, yeah!

This week I had grand plans to clean the engine compartment of my highlander but needed to save that for another week. I rolled out of bed Saturday morning to take my car through the car wash. This still feels like a luxury because we always washed our own cars growing up and on a tight budget car wash money is the first thing on my expense list to go. I found a place in Meridian that does an early bird special for $5 so I always go there when I'm not washing my car at home. My son caught me on my way out the door and I loved having a little buddy join me for my occupation this time. 

We dried the car, washed the inside of the windows, wiped down the seats and dashboard, and vacuumed. 

Crossing my fingers it doesn't rain for a few days. We hit Sarah's bagels on the way home but made ourselves wait to try the cinnamon sugar kind so we could keep the car crumb free.....at least for the morning. 

I'm finding I'm really enjoying my new occupation. I didn't realize how much noise having my car messy made in my head. When I put just a little effort into it everyday I appreciate the time I spend driving and riding in it. Nothing gets lost or forgotten in the backseat, and I like having something in my life feel put together.

I found the concept of flow from lecture and the article we read this week to be really interesting and something I'd like to have a part of my life more often. Flow is characterized by having a balance between the challenge of a task and skills possessed. There is an importance of clear goals, feedback, and concentration to the point of losing self-consciousness and negative thought. (Wright, Sadlo, Stew, 2007). I think I've experienced flow to a small degree with the occupation I have chosen. I don't feel like any of the projects I have done thus far have challenged my skill, but many of the other characteristics of flow have been met as I've worked on my car. I also don't think it's an activity I would ever do just for the sake of the enjoyment it gives as was explained about autotelic occupations. I have liked having clear goals, seeing the feedback of projects turning out how I want them to and losing track of time as I worked and listened to music. 

In order to experience flow more often with my occupation I would need to find a few projects that challenge my skill level. It may be hard to experience flow as I'm learning especially from someone else but as I do a challenging project again on my own I can see aspects of car detailing creating a state of flow for me. 

Reference

 Jonathan J. Wright , Gaynor Sadlo & Graham Stew (2007) Further Explorations into the Conundrum of Flow Process, Journal of Occupational Science, 14:3, 136-144, DOI: 10.1080/14427591.2007.9686594

The rubber hit the road

When I had my first daughter the hospital required I watch a few parenting videos before I left with her to make sure I knew the basics of caring for an infant. I appreciated that they cared and took the information, along with all that I had gleaned in my 23 years and went home with my baby. Everything was great until I found one key piece of information that had never occurred to me and no one had prepared me for. My vehicle would never. be. the. same. As my baby got older the carpets of my car were introduced to barf, milk, juice, and every kind of snack that can be crushed into a soft surface. I finally wised up and purchased rubber mats for my car and have never looked back. When I got my current car that was the first thing I bought after I got the keys. My rubber mats got a spa treatment this week!

Supplies were very simple this time, dish soap and a scrub brush. I had a skinny brush that was able to get in all the small spaces in the rubber mats. 

I scrubbed the mats, sprayed them off and left them to dry in the sun. I took the opportunity to vacuum out my car really well while the mats were out of the way. 

Before 

                                                                               After

Did you know that rubber comes from trees? It's true!

I found thinking about self-determination, motivation, and autonomy really interesting both to my chosen occupation and to vehicle ownership in general. Many people have very strong feelings about what make and model of car they think is best. I have always had great experiences with Toyotas'. The things I care most about in a car is that it's reliable and gets good gas mileage but others might have strong feelings about the color or speed of their car. I have the choice to get the kind of car I think is best while my neighbor across the street chooses to drive a big truck so he can pull his trailer for work. The reasons we decide to drive the specific cars we do depends on our past experience, economic opportunity and personality.

I think the kind of car we drive has more to do with choice but the way we experience our car is a decision. What kind of music we play, who rides in it, the conversations we engage in, and how we take care of it are all part of our autonomy in vehicle ownership. 

Reference

Tracey Parnell, Gail Whiteford & Clare Wilding (2019) Differentiating occupational decision-making and occupational choice, Journal of Occupational Science, 26:3, 442-448, DOI: 10.1080/14427591.2019.1611472 

"Oiling and Lotioning, Lotioning and Oiling. I can't take this no more!"

 10 points for whoever can name the movie the title of this blog comes from. This week I worked on conditioning the leather seats in my car. I found a product that would both clean and hydrate the material which is not real leather but "Softex", a synthetic composite. I learned that this material is more resistant to cracking and fading than leather but still needs to be maintained to keep it looking at its best. The supplies I needed this week were Gold Class Leather Cleaner and Conditioner (another Meguiars product) and a rag.  

I knew my seats needed to be vacuumed but since they're black and didn't look dirty I was surprised by how much came off on the rag after cleaning them. Again, this project was straightforward, I sprayed the product on the rag and coated all the leather surfaces. I did put some muscle behind it since I was cleaning the seats as well. My only complaint about Meguiar's products is the fragrance. Artificial fragrances give me a head ache and I don't think they're needed. Most people prefer to buy air fresheners for their car with the fragrance they want. 

Before

After

It's difficult to see the results in the pictures but I can tell that consistently using a conditioning agent for my seats is going to keep them from looking dull and will protect them from being as susceptible to rips and tears as my vehicle ages. 

Wendy Peffercorn would be so proud. 

This week I let stress get the best of me. I prioritized family and school and everything else slipped a little....my car included. I still worked on it and took it to discount tire when the notification light came on that my tire pressure was low but it didn't stay as clean this week. My sense of occupational well-being wasn't as strong as it has been previously when I was proud of the progress I had made and maintained. 

However, I do think it's important to recognize what we prioritize in life. I get to choose when certain occupations take the back burner and others are given more time. It's most important to me to give my best to school and my kids right now. If we think about the hours we have in a day and the occupations we engage in, we can rank them in order of importance to make sure we are giving the most time and effort to what we value most. As we do, some occupations may be neglected or forgotten at least for a time, which may shift our identity. What's important is recognizing when our well-being is affected and adjustments can be made to realign our priorities. While car cleaning and organization is great, part of me is wishing I had picked something active like boxing or yoga so that an occupation that is part of my identity could also be homework. I guess this tells me where I need to shift my occupations to make time for activities that improve my well-being!

Reference 

Hasselkus, B. R., & Murray, B. J. (2007). Everyday occupation, well-being, and identity: The experience of caregivers in families with dementia. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 61, 9–20.

Bumper Makeover

For my second post I'm sharing about restoring the plastic on the exterior of my car. I'd like to state upfront that Meguiar's is not sponsoring this post. I was just a big fan of the product I used so I'm going to be complimentary of it. I only needed two items for this project. Meguiar's Ultimate Black and a rag. 

I was amazed at the low effort and time commitment compared to the results I had. All that was needed was applying some of the Ultimate Black to the rag, coating the plastic surfaces on the car and buffing off any residual product. This treatment is meant to restore any non painted surface on the exterior of a car, increase shine, and is also a UV protectant. 

I was so impressed with this before and after. The treatment is meant to last a few weeks through rain or washing. This is a detailing trick I will continue to take time to do in the future, when it's needed. 

One factor that had a hand in helping me choose my new occupation was that I was worried about some areas of my life getting neglected as I began graduate school (I say as I contemplate the three loads of clean laundry sitting on the couch waiting patiently to be folded). Keeping my life organized and my spaces clean is important to me and some days more people see the inside of my car, than the inside of my house. I think I do have part of my identity wrapped up in my productivity and ability to successfully juggle all the balls I have up in the air at this time in my life. 

I was interested in the idea of self-concept as being how we view ourselves and look forward to the day that I can proudly and confidently say I am someone who has a clean car. As this becomes part of my ongoing identity I wouldn't worry about someone needing a ride unexpectedly because the habits to keep my vehicle pristine would become more automatic and habitual. 

I can say that my choice of new occupation had some need for social approval attached to it. From lecture we learned that this could create a level of self esteem that would be tied to having someone appreciate my clean car. There's a reason why car detailing shorts get so many views on social media. Everyone loves a clean vehicle and there are few things more embarrassing to me than needing to fling wrappers and gym clothes into the backseat to make room in the passenger seat to give a friend a lift.

In the article we read this week we learned about occupational biographies and how our identities evolve over time through planned and unplanned events. In lecture we learned that our experiences are on a continuum. The "space" of my vehicle has meant many things to me as a kid, young adult, new mom, and now as I'm attending college. I can see how my past, present, and future efforts, and the amount of effort I have put into the occupation has changed over time and will continue to do so, thus a part of my identity will change as well. 

References 

Ruth Kjærsti Raanaas, Anne Lund, Unni Sveen & Mona Asbjørnslett (2019) Re-creating self-identity and meaning through occupations during expected and unexpected transitions in life, Journal of Occupational Science, 26:2, 211-218, DOI: 10.1080/14427591.2019.15920112.

Wax on, Wax off

After learning about the assignment to start a new occupation and in line with our goal to be self reflectors to be good therapists I realized I love a new hobby or I now know to call them occupations. However, the thought of coming up with a new craft or sport to learn while starting grad school made me feel panicky. I found a great alternative that I'm looking forward to learning about, needs to be done, and brings me joy when I do it and get to enjoy the results. 

This semester I'm learning about car detailing. Car detailing is the process of cleaning and restoring the interior and exterior of a vehicle to as close to like new condition as possible. I found that aside from my desperate attempts of keeping my vehicle free of gold fish crackers, smelly soccer cleats, and gum wrappers I hadn't spent much time focusing on the aesthetic upkeep of my car. I just had the opportunity to trade in my trusty Honda Odyssey for a Toyota Highlander that I love so I'm excited to learn how to take better care of it. 

These are the supplies I used to detail my windshield. I used WD-40 to recondition and clean the rubber on my windshield wipers. I washed my windshield really well then applied and buffed off butter wax to make the glass hydrophobic so the water beads off and the windshield wipers are more effective. 

Just waiting on a good rain storm so I can see how well this worked. It looks pretty though!

One thing I appreciate about the occupation I ended up choosing is that the place (my car) as Delaisse, Hout, and Veronis presented is always with me. If I have 15 minutes I can go out to my garage and do a quick project to work on my new occupation. However in terms of space, I have already become much more sensitive to the work I am putting in getting ruined. When my kids eat in the car or leave their day's worth of possessions I am much more annoyed about cleaning them up after working hard to make the car look nice. As far as my car being a "container for experiences" I value having a car that looks nice as I drive my kids around, have important conversations with family or friends in it, or take some much needed alone time to decompress after a long day. I realized a car can become a home away from home. I never regret taking the extra time I have to keep it cleaner and to start learning about ways to make it look its best. 

References

Delaisse, A.-C., Huot, S., & Veronis, L. (2020). Conceptualizing the role of occupation in the production of space. Journal of Occupational Science, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/14427591.2020.1802326