Text 387, 97 rader
Skriven 2006-08-30 18:52:12 av Ardith Hinton (1:153/716.0)
    Kommentar till text 380 av James Bradley (1:134/77.0)
Ärende: The World Turns...  3.
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Hi, James!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

JB>  Yes, I can set realistic goals, and more and more,
JB>  they are achieved, but I'm still a "pie in the sky"
JB>  chaser.


          While you've had to scale back your goals, you're achieving them more
often.  I put the subordinate clause first there... and the main clause is what
really matters.  I hope you'll never lose sight of that pie in the sky....  :-)



AH>  I've always managed to produce the required item within
AH>  a few minutes, even if it hasn't seen the light of day
AH>  for some time.  I often wonder whether she realizes how
AH>  fortunate she is.  :-))

JB>  Fortunate for Nora, her aide, or you? <L>


          I was thinking about the aide, because some of this stuff is probably
older than she is.  But I hear what you're saying... [chuckle].



JB>  Most tools are useful for many chores, but some are
JB>  pretty specific.


          Uh-huh.  With tools for woodworking, plumbing, roofing & suchlike I'm
definitely the sidekick... not the superhero!  But from a scientific standpoint
kitchen implements are tools as well.  I can use various multi-purpose tools to
sift flour.  Nora can't.  Sooner or later she may have to cook for herself on a
limited budget and/or with whatever she can easily reach in a tiny kitchen.  So
we're doing a bit of experimenting to find out what works best for her....  :-)



JB>  the question "Am I ever going to use this?" is a lot
JB>  more prevalent.


          I can relate... really!  I love tools of all sorts.  I decided, years
ago, to cook with simple tools because I didn't have space for a lot of gadgets
& I do the same thing routinely when we're camping.  I tend to use what's handy
in preference to an item which is used only for one specific purpose & which is
therefore buried away in an obscure corner.  But I also find it very satisfying
that you could send me out to the tool shed to fetch some gadget or other & I'd
probably understand what you meant.  When we did tennis in high school PE I was
the only girl who knew what wing nuts were, for example.  There's something the
books about birth order don't tell you.  As another friend (elder of two girls)
once commented, she was #1 son.  That's pretty much how it was with me....  :-)



JB>  ... I learned how to shingle a roof, with at least
JB>  a few different materials. I felt comfortable in my
JB>  techniques, and had the implements in the tool trunk.
JB>  Will I ever get a chance to practice it? Not bloody
JB>  likely. Again, I'm not intending to burden you with
JB>  this; just to state what is what.


          Understood.  And I'm not discounting your feelings... I'm saying "yes
but" because my preferred reasoning style moves me to look at both sides of the
coin.  If I were you I'd be loath to part with such implements whether or not I
expected to use them again.  Roofing could be a quite a challenge, even if your
hip improves significantly... and I'd rather you didn't fall off any roofs!  We
sold a nice baritone sax years ago, however, when Dallas became asthmatic after
a severe bout of pneumonia.  Now his condition has improved to a point where he
could probably use it in the community band at least.  The moral of the tale is
that there is no way to be sure what you'll be doing a few years down the road.

          Yes, all these things take up space.  Sooner or later you may have to
get rid of some stuff if you can't move to a bigger house.  But you're the only
person who can decide what's really important to you.  There are various people
in my life who find it difficult to understand why I keep certain things.  When
I scratch below the surface, however, I see they have other things... collector
plates & knicknacks, several drawers of fabric they might use one day, a bushel
of socks, a roomful of paperback thrillers or dead monitors... which, if I took
their advice as gospel, I would probably advise them to cut back severely.  ;-)



AH>  "Onward & awkward", that's my motto.  :-)

JB>  And, it is mine too! <ROTF> That *never* gets old!


          Glad you like it... [chuckle].




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)