If I was once pro-active, I now procrastinate. Or more forgivingly stated, I tend to work on projects around the house in spurts. Sometimes, I have a more urgent response due to an internal customer ( my wife). It was the same thing over a new ceiling fixture in the living room last Spring. Two weeks months sitting in the shipping box in a back room. With two hours of effort: installation was done, drywall patched, and mess cleaned up. A couple weeks ago, the toilet handle in the front bathroom broke off. With friends coming over for dinner that evening, I was encouraged to went out for parts and got the job done.
The front bathroom started to act up again last week. The sink drain, once the basin was filled, was sticking closed. When I replaced the lever, a slow leak ran down the lever from the drain onto the floor. A small pool under the sink was noticeable a day later. And the toilet was continually running. For a week I would shut off the toilet valve when I left for work, turning it on for a few hours and then off again when I went to bed. I thought it would be perhaps ten minutes to swap out the valve, but after work, I just didn’t have energy motivation to mess with it. Today was to be the day. Take the dogs to the park; stop at the donut shop on the way home; home to drop off the dogs and then back out the door to the big box store. After my second trip to the store, bringing the sink lever with me that time, I got both challenges completed.
I have lately been thinking about retiring from full-time work. Devote my time and passion to blogging. But if I am not fixing an appliance in the house, I am painting, patching, sanding, or installing something. I spend weekends tending the yard (weeds, watering), fixing leaks, walking dogs, cleaning up poop, washing cars, taking cars for tires, to the carwash, or doing routine auto maintenance. Other times I am tweaking the washing machine lid contact (electrical), fussing in the garage. Somehow I thought “retirement” would be spending time with friends, going for walks along the beach, or helping with some activities with my church. ( I do those things now – in addition to everything else.) I’d be better off procrastinating on that decision. Weekend projects are exhausting.
It's a Dog's Life 