Mishaps, Mistakes, and Messes

Contrary to my article title, Ohioans got it right yesterday and voted down an amendment to eliminate the simple majority. Many are seeing it as a win for abortion rights and the group leading the charge for pro-choice. Although I see the link and applaud the win, similar votes are coming forward in other states. Arizona has a very similar vote coming up in the weeks ahead, but of all the shocking voter results like in Kansas and Montana, Arizona is a different beast. Time will tell if the American people continue to disprove of the GOP and their thirst of dominance and top-down law. But if the Democrats were looking for fuel to drive a lack-luster campaign by a president, who although as achieved some notable results, he just doesn’t represent the Democrat party and the issues at hand for America. As a person that believes that getting things done in politics generally means you reach across the aisle for bipartisanship, my opinion is beginning to waver and think that fire might have to be dealt with by fire. The Right isn’t fighting for America, they are fighting for an ideology that no longer represents conservatism, but instead represents extreme views and ancient neanderthal actions. Hell, these idiots now are rejecting Jesus Christ and evangelical doctrine and the beatitudes as liberal talking points and being to soft and weak. Christianity has become nothing more than something you say you’re for as you press forward with fascist doctrine and a strong-hand government demonstrated by DE-Santis and Trump. I do hope for the sake of this country that peoples’ voices and votes continue to reject the right- and left-wing extremists. I also hope that we find better candidates to run in the 2024 election. Neither party demonstrates its willingness to support the mainstream vote and are more hellbent in forcing the battle to see who can be more extreme. If that is the way of the future, I don’t see centrists like me and someone like Biden as being the future. More so, voting will come down to voting against someone or some issue because we despise the other guy more than another. We will end up not finding things best for the country and support democracy and the constitution, but instead what supports thirty percent. I may get back to voting for candidates with no hope in the independent parties as the taste left in mouth would be so bad by showing any support for the radicals of the two major parties. Had to get that off my chest, now onto the real reason for writing this morning.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve been made aware of personal limitations more and more. Sometimes there are limitations on my ability to stay focused, but more troubling for me is the physical limitations. I’ve become a clumsy old klutz. I have to limit what I do based on whether I can do something or if I will be in pain for days for doing so. Now you can add in a lack of awareness in performing simple tasks that years earlier I could process every pro and con for and prevent or avoid certain outcomes. Now, I’ve come to expect that I will screw something up because I think more about my knee hurting than doing something right. I’ve started taking shortcuts that I pay for and eliminate safety precautions because they are uncomfortable. I now understand why people just give up doing things more complicated than getting out of bed, reading a book, typing a story, and just enjoying another day that you’re grateful for having. I’m too young to think like this! I’m 62, not 80. Whoever is saying the sixties are the new forties must never have done anything when they were in their forties. IT SUCKS!!!

I have always had pride in myself for being able to do anything. I’ve often said many things in life don’t require intelligence, just fortitude. But what I’m finding out is that no matter how simple something is in theory, you still have to be able to do it. Four years ago, I tiled the backsplash in the kitchen. On projects, I don’t mind paying someone to do what I don’t want to do, but I still like to do something that leaves my stamp on a project. The game room had the lighting and cabinetry, the guest house the flooring and trim work, the garage the insulation and interior siding. Even on the pool, I provided temporary power to the installers saying I would get to putting permanent power in later.  Every one of these having some sort of regret. When it comes to landscaping and the work done, I wanted no part of doing any of it. And I feel better for choosing right. So why do I choose wrong over right on so many of these projects?

Yesterday was a prime example of disregard for safety. It was hot and instead of continuing to work upstairs, I chose to go to the garage and try and finish the last row of interior siding with OSB. I’ve gotten out of the habit of wearing safety-toed boots because they are just too hot to wear in 90+ heat, so I wear athletic shoes for the lightness and breathability. What seems to happen for me as I get more tired, I become less conscious and ultimately will do something like dropping a cut portion of OSB across my big toe breaking my toenail at the cuticle and bleeding like a stuck pig because I take a baby aspirin daily. Now I’m sidelined from both with literally three more pieces of OSB to put up and being done with the garage. I’m sitting here drinking coffee by myself and writing instead of being at my dad’s talking about current events. Mishaps cost me time, both in the fact that I just sit and think about it instead of completing, but also that I put myself on a short timeline to get done and now will be on an even tighter schedule to complete.

Last week, I finally got around to putting the power-driven cover for the pool on permanent power. While building the deck a year and half ago, we discovered an electrical junction box with live power running onto an outlet near the firepit area. Why there was a junction box where we found it, I have no explanation for, but was certainly in our favor in being there. I literally just had to wire-nut the three wires and then connect those three wires to the control box. Simple and twenty years ago, I’d have been done thirty minutes. Not now, it took two days and caused lots of frustration and ultimately a call today for the pool maintenance folks to fix the tilted cover. I wasn’t paying attention while lifting the top and didn’t notice only one side was lifting. I had knocked a plug loose on the box and now because of the weight of the cover and the tilt, it wouldn’t go beyond a certain point in trying to get it back level. These problems are the worst because they cost me money when I make a mistake. Not to mention the embarrassment in having to admit I couldn’t do something that will have be fixed by someone who doesn’t have anything over me except physical capability.

We built a storeroom in the garage that after 8 months, two weeks ago I finally got around to ordering the pieces to put my shelving units together to finally get to cleaning up the mess made by emptying out the pay-by-the-month storage. Yesterday I cut the final shelves wood pieces and straightened up a little while taking a break from mounting wood sheathing on the wall. Maybe in another week I’ll be able to finish the garage, storage, and get back to my back and knee pain from crawling around installing flooring. The pool cover should be fixed today and hopefully I will be back to a place of waiting for the next mishap, mistake, and mess I can leave, make, or experience. I take more pills daily than I took most of my life. I can’t imagine a day where pain pills and muscle relaxers aren’t part of my routine. I’m sure Jen would like that if I’m going to cause an injury, that I should do so to some part of my body other than my feet. She hates feet and I’ve caused two injuries in three weeks to toes. I use an inhaler to breathe, a CPAP to sleep, pills to stand and walk, and live in constant fear of what I will do next that is stupid, clumsy, or embarrassing.

But today, aside from my toe injury laying me up, it is National Lazy Day, so I get a break from feelings of guilt for sitting here not accomplishing anything, instead I get to celebrate that I’m not causing any new mishap, mistake, or mess.