Every time I am there, I get the same feeling of excitement and opportunity. Even in a relatively small airport, excuse me, International Jetport (Portland is so proud of its airport), there are people coming from and going to all sorts of places in the world, and connecting even further. There is no horizon at an airport. Nothing is too far. Nothing is impossible. There are teary goodbyes and even tearier reunions. Relatives, lovers, parents away on business, vacationers, basketball teams (we saw the Red Claws heading off somewhere once), kids headed to Disneyland, Disney World and who knows what else?
Blue skies, limitless horizons and boundless opportunity. I love that feeling of general excitement, but is there any single day in a person's life that better exemplifies that feeling than arriving at one's first day of college? That was our day today.
Alas, dear reader, I must already break a promise to you. I promised an explanation of our first concrete counter project, but life has put itself in the way, as it so often does.
I'm still working out how often I'll be serving up episodes for you to read. I suppose it depends on the scope of the topic. It has been suggested by my eldest step-daughter, Hilary, that I also discuss the various projects and diversions that I get into around here. One of the many life diversions today was packing up and taking her to freshman orientation at Bates College. Perhaps she wants to check in here as a way to stay apprised of the goings-on around our house.
This past weekend brought another major diversion. I spent the better part of the two days underneath the kitchen sink. One of the two drains was clogging and not draining properly and the dishwasher didn't seem to be rinsing out soap and food bits as well as it used to. So, under the sink I went.
It was quickly clear that the connections and the sink drain parts had reached quitting time. Gaskets and metal connectors were all crumbling into pieces. Because the local Ace Hardware store only had one replacement strainer, and because pieces kept breaking individually after I had already purchased everything I thought I needed, the chore stretched out over two days and eight trips to four hardware stores in three towns, including drive-bys of three closed stores.
That was merely annoying. Annoying I can handle. The real joy was cleaning out the traps in the three pipes (two sink drains and the dishwasher). Has anyone had the pleasure of doing this yet? Traps are the bend in a drain pipe, usually in the shape of an "S" or a "P", that keeps a small section of water in the pipe. This water prevents the smell of your sewer line or septic tank from rising up through the pipes and into a house. Quite ingenious, in fact. According to the Wikipedia, it was Scottish watchmaker Alexander Cummings who invented the trap along with the first patented flushing toilet in 1775. Smart guy.
Under our sink we have traps that involve a canister-like piece of plumbing. Inside the canister is where the water rests and the food clogs. Let's just say this. Apparently, food that heads down the drain and hangs out in the trap digests very similarly to digestion in our own personal waste systems. What I scraped, wiped, knocked and pulled out of those three traps was not pretty. At one point, I felt like I was doing some manual upper GI work on a horse. I will provide no photos of that for fear of driving away all my wonderful readers and attracting some, let's say unsavory elements of the Internet.
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| The thicker vertical parts are the actual traps. After seeing the poop-like substances clogging the inside, please be kind to your plumber or handy spouse and never let food go down the sink drain again. (Photo by Dave Gagne) |
Not all of the diversions are quite so awful. In fact, I came up with great list of projects to do around the house. Because of my monthly deadlines for work, I usually end up with some empty time in the middle of each month. In August, that time was turned into "Project Week." Bliss. All projects, all day long. The list currently has 20 items on it, most of which I mentioned in the first post. It even includes a secret project, which I can't tell you guys about yet, but I will. I need something to hook you into a second season of episodes.
The point is that stuff gets in the way. I'll keep you posted on some of these side projects as I plow through them. The diversions are part of life, aren't they. The concrete and the stone remain the larger goals. As I go, I try to heed the some guidance which I have cobbled from various places.
Do the things that you have to do as well as you can. Be sure to save time and energy for the things that excite and interest you. An artist in Eastport we recently spoke with went as far as to advise spending your most productive hours of the day on the things you love. Let work get the rest.
Try to stay on the task at hand, even if better tasks are waiting for you to come out and play. This can be very hard, especially for us focusly-challenged, as diversions can now be as close as a mouse-click away.
The majority of the time diversions need to be reigned in like wild cattle so you can finish what needs to be done. Other times, diversions are the wonderful variety that makes this life interesting. Knowing which path to take is sometimes luck and sometimes true wisdom.
Don't dwell too long on the decision. Pick a path and go to it. Good luck at Bates, Hilary. You are a wonderful young woman with a limitless future. We are so proud of you and love you very much. Hopefully the house will look a little bit different by the time your semester ends, if I can stay on task.
And speaking of diversions, I have to go make dinner.
dave
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