My life is filled with temporary solutions. “I’ll just put this here until…”
It is amazing how much time can pass with a bookshelf tucked into a corner until I decide where to actually place it. How many years can go by while we attempt to save enough money to replace the thing that is currently “weatherproofed” with a plastic bag taped over it.
“No!” I snarl at my partner, “Don’t you dare put that there! It’ll sit there for years!”
“But…”
“Somewhere else. Somewhere I don’t have to look at it, reminding me that we still haven’t solved that problem.”
***
We got a new faucet. Another new faucet. And by some minor miracle, it was available in Sydney, and was on the clearance rack! So we “solved” our problem for $60, and there was much rejoicing.
But the real problem in our kitchen is that we need a double sink. We cook all the time, we generate 18 meals plus another 10 – 12 snacks a day. The stove is in use while the dishes are being washed, there is always somebody carrying things to the bathroom to get water or to wash things in the sink. The sink that we have is an odd size (34 inches long) with a (mumbledy-snarrgly) draining rack where the second sink should be… which means that to replace the sink, we need to replace the counter. And to replace the counter, the sink and the faucet is more like a $800 – $1000 project… and would probably leave us without a kitchen for several days-to-weeks if our previous experience with home renovations is anything to go by… which is why it still hasn’t been done after nearly 6 years of owning the house.
And these are the snarly types of first world problems. They cause irritation on a daily basis, because the solution is so obvious. But we slap on “temporary” solutions and then live with them for years.
What I have learned from this is… if you are going to create a temporary solution, it better be something that you’re prepared to live with for a really long time. Because once the temporary solution has been implemented, the problem is downgraded from urgent to irritating. And something else (like the car going “boing! thunk” around corners… for a completely random example) will be more pressing. Possibly forever.
Or at least until it’s time to sell the house and you have to fix all the things that nobody in their right mind would be willing to live with.
6 responses to “Temporary Solutions”
Our current sink is 38″ long and made by a company called Franke. Is it possible to cut your countertop to fit a bigger sink or is it a cabinet issue?
It has to be between 34 and 36 inches. And have two bowls. But thank you for any suggestions. I’ll look at their website and see whether they have anything. 🙂
Our house was built in 1925 and everything is a “temporary solution”. And our kitchen sink is also a single basin, an old porcelained farmhouse kitchen sink. When I replace it, which will happen at some point, it will be with another single basin sink, but an oversized industrial stainless one. One of our dogs removed the letter O from my keyboard, also broke one of the tabs off the frame for the key, so I’m currently typing with the little nipple thingie glued in place. Got to replace this keyboard anyway, several letters stick, but I’m procrastinating I think because I’ve never replaced a laptop keyboard.
The tile in the bathroom has two tiles that keep coming up. I’ve re-attached them several times now and as a result, I still haven’t finished grouting. It’s been months. After a while all the little glitches start to seem normal and I don’t even see them anymore.
Except for this damn keyboard, which does drive me crazy.
This made me laugh. I had a brief moment of looking around my not-quite painted bedroom this morning, thinking, “I should really list all these half-finished projects.” And then I thought… “No. That will *not* make me feel better.” (Of course, because the painting is not quite finished, the bedroom furniture is under my son’s bed, and in the basement, and in the sunroom, and therefore everything that is half-assed about those parts is more glaring. But I’ve got WORK to do. Yay! Work!)
And yes, a sticky keyboard is the sort of thing that will drive a person round the bend.
Since referred to XKCD in your last post, here’s one quite relevant to this one: http://xkcd.com/974/ – be sure to read the mouse-over text.
Time is a non-renewable resource. Think carefully how you spend it.
Yes. It struck me to wonder how many hours we have spent standing by the sink waiting to use it or carrying things to the back of the house for washing.
But mostly, I’m trying not to spend it sweating the small stuff. Mostly.