2022, Family, Fantasy, home, Kids, Mysteries, Uncategorized

Dessert Anyone?

39 Comments

I am not usually a procrastinator; in fact, I’m usually the opposite.  I almost always start with the thing I don’t want to do and then reward myself with the more pleasure task afterwards – unlike Oscar Wilde, I like to have the dessert at the end.

But every now and then I encounter a project that just throws me for a loop – a project that lingers and lingers while I find excuse after excuse to not get to it.  It tortures me and I keep putting it off, even though I remind myself that it won’t take as long as I think, it won’t be as hard, I’ll feel so great when it’s finished.  About the only way I’ve found to counteract this is a deadline.  Once there is a deadline, then I’m all in for getting it done. 

My front porch (yes, she’s going to talk about the front porch again) is right up there.  I didn’t have any problem scrapping (although it was taking forever), no issues with sand blasting (although tim helping did set up a deadline if I’d needed it), no issues with replacing the broken glass panes, no issues with getting all the glass to the correct recycling center, no issues with sanding the window frames.  

Getting the ceiling done – I’m just tilting at windmills.  I simply cannot get myself to stain the ceiling.  It started with taping up the plastic – took me a month to figure out how to trick YA into doing it with me.  Of course, I could have done all the taping on my own in less than 30 minutes, but I just couldn’t make myself.  Now that I don’t have plastic on the to-do list, you’d think the staining would be easy.  But no… again, every time I think about it, some other thing that is much more enjoyable “needs” to be done. This past weekend, I spent close to 10 hours in my studio…. cuz I really need more cards, right?  Right now I’m trying to think of how to trick YA into the staining as well.

Any projects you’re procrastinating on right now?  Any thoughts on how to get YA to do the ceiling for me?

39 thoughts on “Dessert Anyone?”

  1. With regard to projects I have been procrastinating, a list would not be entertaining. Suffice it to say that there are a couple that have been pending for over a decade.

    As to inducing YA to stain the porch ceiling, have you tried asking her?

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    1. It would be hard to explain, but YA often has a knee-jerk “no” answer to some of my requests – all depending on a lot of factors, several of them at play in this scenario. Since she has been doing quite a bit of home maintenance lately (painted back stairs’ railing, painted breakfast room ceiling, installed a new shelving unit in Nonny’s room – all at her own initiative), she will probably balk at a direct request. I’ve found that in some situations like this, if I can maneuver her into thinking it’s HER idea, things go much more smoothly. That’s how I got the plastic taped up.

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  2. Bribery usually works well. Of course, it might not be money she wants. But are you willing to pay whatever “price” she names?

    If that doesn’t work, try threatening her with a horde of TBers descending her on like the plague and nagging her until she either agrees to help or goes batshit crazy. 🙂

    I always have a To-Do list. I’m pretty good at ignoring it until I really, really need to do it. mostly writer-business stuff. I finally got around to redesigning and ordering business cards after letting my stockpile dwindle to one. Then I found six in a notebook! 🙂

    I’ve got a shed that needs some paint touch-up. A tree limb that needs trimming. A book that needs writing (I peck away at it, but if I was a real go-getter or on a deadline, I’d find a way to write for 8 hours a day, five days a week.). Porch steps that need replacing.

    It’s easy to blame my wife for some of the exterior repairs. She’s a control freak, so even if she put me in charge, she’d still manage to make the final decisions. So I defer to her procrastination. She’s getting better the past few years about taking the lead on hiring people for projects such as refinishing the porch floor and removing two trees in the backyard that were becoming a problem–one leaner, one encroaching on the house and the roof too much.

    Bottom line, things get done around here but since there’s rarely a pressing need to do a chore/task, inertia controls the conversation more than anything.

    C in O-town

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    2. Chris, I like the idea of a horde of Baboons punishing YA. You could expand this and make it part of your next plot line—Matt joins a blogger book group and unleashes the friends on his next enemy. Now THAT would straighten out the Bad Guys forever. The Bad Guy would have to sit and listen to MPR gossip, book talk and recipes. Hah.

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  3. I believe we have reached the time when we will now hire someone to clear out the rain gutters and downspouts. We have a one story, ranch style home, so the roof isn’t that high, but it is getting too high for Husband to climb up the ladder to clear them out fall and spring. The recent hail storm filled them up with shredded leaves, so there he was on Sunday doing it again.

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    1. Good idea. My son was out about 10 days ago to do just that. Having Lou, age 78, up there was too much danger for me—but he would have done this!

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  5. I find that if I am procrastinating for several months on something that needs to be done, it means that I am simply unwilling or unable to do it. When I finally decide that I’m not going to do it, I will consider the cost of having someone do it for me. If I feel it’s a reasonable price, I hire it out. Life is short.

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    1. A friend of mine had a “rule” – every couple of weeks she made her list, and if something kept showing up repeatedly that wasn’t getting done, she made herself take it off the list (in some way). Conversely, if she began accomplishing some new thing regularly, it went on the list so she could cross it off. : )

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  6. Rise and Put Off the Day, Baboons,

    Procrastination List:

    Make more polymer clay embellishments for ear warmers

    Completing 9 last CEUs for professional license by Aug 31 (out of 40)

    Watching the last episode of several series (I do this every time I do not want a series to end. I just won’t watch the last one. That way it does not end. It is called Adaptive Denial).

    Draw and edit a last children’s book of my mother’s stories,”The Armistice Day Blizzard.”

    Schedule my yearly physical.

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    1. Oh, I have to do some CEU’s for supervision by Oct.31. I want to get them done this month. I have read the book. I just have to take the test.

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  7. Well, there’s getting a new computer, a new printer. Figure out whether my computer backup system is working… Figure out where my email folder for Volunteering (full of tons of contact information) has disappeared to.

    And it’s like you say, VS – I’ll find any unsavory task and jump on it, to keep from doing these things. Most of them involve getting on the phone with tech support… Sigh.

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  8. I moved into an apartment building 12 years ago to not deal with such chores. But I am procrastinating on two things: 1) quit splitting infinitives 2) carpet is a mess. They will only replace it with hard floor. Mastic will make me sick. Will take 2 days and I will have to deal with moving furniture. Or I could move out and save money. But I would lose my wonderful apartment. And how would I deal with moving? Yuck. Been hanging over me for five months. Slow thinking and trouble making decisions could be related to my brain issue, or not. Now have to decide about switching to another clinic to get to a neurologist or maybe not there either. Only real option is local detestable Mayo Clinic.
    Daughter and family flew to Boise to see brother. Mr. Tuxedo came down with Covid for third time in 6 months. Now they will pretty much have to drive home. About $3000 for rental car etc

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    3. Clyde, I’m sorry your local Mayo is so bad.

      The first of July is when the new Fellows and Resident’s start. Kelly and I had already joked it was a good thing I was in on June 30th, and not July 1. In the OR, before getting put out, I asked who was in a hurry to get out, but they assured me, no one was coming or going that day.

      I had one mix up with prescriptions on discharge and I did have to grumble about one of the docs for that, but all the nurses, aides, technicians, and everyone else I dealt with was superb.

      And so sorry to hear about Mr. Tuxedo.

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    4. Replace the carpet with vinyl plank. The adhesives are typically very low odor. Also, with proper staging and the cooperation of the installers, the entire area need not be totally empty. Many times as a courtesy to customers. I have demolitioned and installed half an area. Then the next session, move the furniture onto the finished area and complete the job. Of course, it’s easier to have the entire area but some circumstances require being adaptable.

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      1. Wes – maybe you have expertise to save me ahead of time? I’ve had a stack of carpet squares w/ adhesive backing that I’ve been saving for a few years for this porch project. For a front porch is this a good idea? I’m trying to not spend any more money if I don’t have to but I also don’t want to be trying to fix this in a year or so…..

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        1. Heat and cold won’t bother carpet tiles but rain and snow is bad. The adhesive might have aged out so I suggest using strips of double faced tape at the perimeter and an “X” of the tape from corner to corner. While in storage, the carpet may have become distorted. If so, just re-stack them like cards.

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    5. They have worked the drive home down to about $1200. Mostly in reduced in lower rental car costs. Delta refuses to cancel/refund tickets.
      Was supposed to get a call from Mankato clinic by now. I can out procrastinate them.

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      1. Delta the airline with no heart or soul. They say my daughter husband and daughter should fly home then their 17 year old son can fly home alone later

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  9. Show pictures of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Inspirational!
    Gotta sanitize the aviary. That takes about 2 hours. It gets totally emptied of all toys and perches then wrestled into the bathtub. Poop remover gets spayed on and then showered away. All the perches get scrubbed. Let everything dry. Reconfigure the toys. I’ll do that once a month but I’m a week late. The Birds don’t like the disturbance but treats settle them down in a few hours.

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  10. Much thanks for the prompt to get things done. The monthly sanitizing of the aviary is complete. It took a full 2 hours. I suspect my age will continue to extend the process. But The Birds are settled in much more quickly than usual. They must be getting old.

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  11. I had getting our puppy neutered next month on the to do list and scheduled it and let the breeder know, and he asked us to wait until Kyrill is a year or 18 months old, as the hormones are important for the developing growth plates, and dogs neutered at the typical 4-6 month time frame are more prone to arthritis. We shall wait, then, and it goes back on the to do list.

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