Tag Archives: chores

Chore masters

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I grew up watching the Jetsons, expecting that one day I’d get to travel around in flying cars. And in this cartoon, the Jetson family had a robotic maid named Rosie, who was always cleaning up behind them. While I’m not sure if flying cars are going to be widespread in the next few years, I think we are going to see a lot of robots doing chores for us.

Just a couple weeks ago I was in a store and watched a robot make a latte for one of the customers. His order included a choice of milk art to go on top… a little flair to add to the experience of having a machine be your barista.

How long before we see somewhat intelligent, human-like robots in every house, each doing mundane chores we’d all rather not do? I’m sure these robots won’t put the wrong items in the dryer… like I do. I’m sure they won’t complain about yard work… like I do. I’m sure they won’t sit on the couch at the end of a long day wishing there weren’t chores to get done… like I do.

I look forward to having a chore master robot that will do the mundane things I don’t like to do. I’d be thrilled to not do dishes again. I’d love to not spend time folding down boxes and putting out the garbage and recycling. I’d have no issues with the idea of never vacuuming again. I’m ready, just wondering how long I have to wait?

Very long day

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My flight was at 7am Toronto time. I got up at 4:15, which is 1:15am Vancouver time. It’s now 8:30pm and I’m back home watching a movie. Then my alarm just went off to remind me that I haven’t blogged today. Other than two fifteen minute naps, I’ve been up 19 hours today and I’m staying up until my wife gets home in about an hour.

Because a 5 hour flight wasn’t enough to fill my day, I also did the Coquitlam Crunch with my buddy after he got off work, and I came home from that and did a small workout. So I must admit that right now I feel the effects of being up for this long. The hot tub and shower definitely didn’t help to wake me up at all.

So, I’ll finish writing and turn my movie back on that I started much earlier today. I won’t be surprised if my wife finds me asleep with the tv on. Yes, the day has been, and still is, long… but it has also been good. My suitcase is unpacked, the pool and hot tub chemicals have been topped up, and the garden has been watered. It’s amazing what you can do in a 19+ hour day!

Distraction and Focus

I spent spent 45 minutes on social media. That wasn’t my intent, I have a to-do list that will take me a fair bit of time, and I haven’t don’t my normal daily routines, like writing here, yet. Now that I’m here, I’m focused. I have my headphones on, and my ‘Writing’ playlist playing softly in my ears. I know that I won’t be distracted, and I won’t get up from my laptop until I hit the ‘Publish’ button. I know how to focus, how to stay on a task until it’s done. The issue isn’t the doing, it’s the getting started. Once I’ve started, it will get done (usually) efficiently and (usually) effectively, (I’m far from perfect).

But the world is full of distractions. My phone is probably the biggest one. But so are things like feeding the cat, doing the dishes, television, and tasks that are easier to do than getting started on something bigger. Social media algorithms are designed to keep me engaged, learning from me, and pointing me to things that will keep me scrolling, liking, sharing, and wanting more. I’m not the only one. I love when my wife has to do report cards, suddenly she finds the time to bake, and I get my fill of things like chocolate chip cookies and banana loaf. As a 30 year teacher, I can tell you that she writes amazing report cards that really show that she has put thought into every report… every kid. But before she spends hours on the task, she bakes, cleans, and finds many reasons not get started.

Distractions can be useful, after all the cat does need to be fed and the dishes won’t clean themselves. But distractions can also be a complete waste of time. They can suck time up like a vacuum. A vacuum only sucks what you point it at, and likewise if you point your distractions towards a time-waster, that’s all it takes in. Part of me knows that I work a bit better when I have a deadline, and today I have one with a family commitment in a few hours that will take up the rest of my day. So, after being distracted for 45 minutes, I’m now wondering if I’ll get everything done that I hope to finish. How much less stress would I have placed on myself if I had used that 45 minutes better? Or would I have done the same amount of tasks but simply spread them out to fill the time?

I’ll never get rid of all the distractions I have, but I do think often about how to reduce the ones where I don’t use my time well. I battle with the joy I get from death scrolling on social media, and the thoughts I have about how much better I can use that time. What if I used that time for more writing? What if I spent that time with family and friends? What if I actually started doing archery again? Those are not things I would consider distractions. Those are things I’d like to focus on. Will they give me the same dopamine kick social media gives me? Probably not, but the dopamine spike doesn’t seem like something I should focus on.  That just seems like an empty distraction.

Pools Out for Summer

It took a good part of the weekend, but I got the pool set up for the summer. The water pump driven solar panels are up, but as you can see in the image the pool is not quite full yet and so I still have to test all my pluming connections for leaks… but the hard part is done.

For the past few years the ritual of getting this pool ready has marked the start of summer for me. While it will be at least 2 weeks before it gets warm enough to swim, having it up and spending more time in the back yard makes the last few weeks of school a lot more enjoyable. It certainly helps that it’s also bright out a lot later.

The funny thing is that I really don’t go in the pool much. My wife loves it and gets in regularly, while I mostly go in to vacuum it. I might sit on an inflatable seat a handful of times at the most, but I love the hot tub and would rather sit in it than the pool. For me the pool isn’t a destination, it’s a symbol, a symbol of summer.

Podcasts in the background or foreground?

When I’m doing repetitive tasks and chores I listen to podcasts. I find them easier to follow than audio books when the task requires some of my attention. There is something about long format interview podcasts that really appeals to me. I find that I can feel like I’m sitting in the room with the people having the discussion, like a fly on the wall, observing, but not participating… yet still part of the conversation.

Listening today really made me want to revitalize my podcast. I enjoy the process. I just need to design a schedule that allows me to commit to it. I don’t want to put the effort in to produce two or three more then stop again. I think I need to start the school year up again then figure out if it’s something I want to add while I’m busy. Because if it feels like work after a full week at work, it’s not going to last very long.

I need to decide that it’s something I want to do in the background of my current schedule, or if I’ll just enjoy the work of other people. There’s a big difference E tween enjoying a good podcast and putting the time and energy into creating one.

Errands day

Some days are just task after task. The day feels slow then you look back and realize that it was a good day filled with small accomplishments.

My favourite thing to do with errands is to listen to a book. Something like watering plants suddenly feels like it’s worthwhile doing. But some tasks pull me away from my book and I find myself rewinding to re-listen at times. Still, this isn’t work, it’s errands. And if I’m searching through camping gear and forget that I’m also listening to a book, that’s ok.

Getting stuff done always feels good after the fact. Check a few things off of the ‘to do’ list, and listen to a good spy novel while I’m at it… sounds like a pretty good summer day to me.

Un-handyman

I’m trying to set up a new pump, sand filter, and solar panels for our above ground pool. Whenever I do something like this, my ineptitude at being a handyman goes on full display.

Wrong items picked up at Home Depot, not having everything I need, and hours of watching other people do what I want to do on YouTube, lead to hours of work and very slow progress. To top it off, the flexible piping that was supposed to arrive yesterday still hasn’t come in.

So now I have a half-done job that can’t be finished, and even when the piping comes in, I’m still not 100% sure how I’m going to strap the solar panels onto my garage roof?

I wish I had more skills in this area. I don’t. The good news is that I got a fair bit done today… by putting a lot of time into the project. However, there is still a fair bit to do, I’ll probably end up at Home Depot 2-3 more times, and I’ll be rewatching a few videos when I’m ready to start the new pump and filter up. Such is the life of an un-handyman trying to do handy things. If I keep doing things like this, hopefully I’ll be able to remove the ‘un’ and just call myself handy.

Yard work

I’ve probably written about this several times before, but I’m really not a fan of yard work. I don’t understand growing grass and making it nice and healthy, just so that it needs to be cut more often. I think weeds are prettier than a blanket of green grass. I understand watering a vegetable or herb garden, but flowers are made to be outside… if they don’t grow with the weather you have in your environment, then they are the wrong flowers to grow.

I love being outside, and I enjoy my back yard immensely. I want to spend time out in the sunshine. In fact, I’m about to assemble our above ground pool and I’m looking forward to putting a couple hours into this. So, it’s not that I don’t like doing chores outside, I just don’t like gardening, and cutting the grass, and weeding. Maybe one day, 30 years from now, if my knees and back are capable, I might fall in love with nurturing a garden. But right now, I’d rather sit in my back yard and enjoy the dandelions… if only my wife (and neighbours) agreed with me. 🙂