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  1. In college I had a summer job on an assembly line in a factory. My duties varied, but I was typically standing and picking two things off of one conveyor (one with each hand) pivoting about 90 degrees and setting them on another conveyor. Pivot back and repeat. The entire motion took around 10 seconds and, for added cruelty there was always a clock within my line of sight.

    It was mental torture. I had to stay alert enough to not fall or stumble (often I was within feet of a blast furnace) and there were hard, sharp surfaces everywhere. Yet, I found if I was too alert I would notice every 5 seconds transpire (one separate view of each of the two clocks in my sightline; pre and post pivot) and I couldn’t help but continually do the math on how many more repetitive actions I would have to do until the next, 15 minute break.

    So I would play albums in my head. Complete albums, note for note, track by track. Had it not been for that I think I would have gone mad.

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