Today was a good day. After yesterday's admission that the list was being driven by Miss Daisy (or at least it is Miss Daisy and I am Morgan Freeman's chauffeur driving character) things really got motoring today. Five items were mercilessly defeated, and a number of others have had the gauntlet wafted in their general direction.
I started the day with a biggie - Repair Fence (#92). In the recent gale force winds that swept the country, one panel was completely brought down. When I found out I was not happy. Mainly because I would have to put it back up. DIY is not listed on my CV under "Skills" or "Interests and Hobbies". Four years ago, when the last fence blew down, it took me (read father-in-law being ably watched by me) three weekends to put the new one up. Although he did leave behind most of the tools I used today. Turns out I'm a DIY genius - I knocked it up in no time and, touch wood, it'll survive the next set of gusty winds.
I had time to kill therefore and had decided to attack another item - # 18 Tidy Office. For the record I decided all by myself. My wife is, however, taking credit. Rosie usually has to tell me what jobs need doing, I am unable to look around and see that there is work to do. That is unless she has started doing it first, I then try and take over the job. It drives her insane. Just before Rosie left to go to the shops this morning she kindly suggested that I "get on with repairing the fence and sort the office". So now it looks like I only did the jobs because she told me to.
Well the joke's on her because I didn't even finish tidying the office. Instead I did some other jobs. Ha. Egg on your face. Riding on a Nick Knowles DIY high from the fence success I decided manual labour was the way to go, plus the toolbox was already out of the loft and it's a real pain carrying it up and down two flights of stairs. I made short work of # 103 Put up Curtains in Office (I admit the tool box wasn't really required as the rail was already up and so were the rings); # 169 Put the Metal Carpet Thingy Back Down between Landing and Bathroom (this was altogether more challenging as I had reused the screws completing a 2010 item 'Put Up Children's Coat Hooks'); # 140 Fix Iwan's Wooden Jigsaw that Finn Broke Immediately Upon Opening on Christmas Morning (Super Glue. Done. Twenty minutes later - broken. Super Glue. Done.)
So, after the most productive day so far, there are only one hundred and sixty items to go. Good times.
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Saturday, 7 January 2012
# 36 Repair/Replace Toilet Seat
We're nearly a week in and this 'Blog' thing has turned out to be slightly more challenging than I'd anticipated. It's been a busy week...at work, the 'To Do List' has taken a back seat...way back. Hence the reason for attempting # 36. An easy one to achieve - even my limited DIY abilities can stretch to unscrewing one seat and changing it for another. Although I did manage to lose one of the rubber washers in a bathroom about the size of a phonebox. And the answer to the question you are all asking is - white, MDF.
So I haven't been that productive and the rate at which I've been completing items from the list has been less than lightening. I suppose # 2 - 'Write a 'To Do List' aiming for 100 things' has been ticked off. I have, in my defence, been busy adding to the list. I revisited the original inspiration - Mike Gayle's 'The To Do List' (# 94)- and have now created a list that exceeds 150 items. I might have bitten off more than I can chew. Only time will tell.
Oh, and in pursuit of # 5, there has been a 4 pound loss, not a completely wasted seven days then.
So I haven't been that productive and the rate at which I've been completing items from the list has been less than lightening. I suppose # 2 - 'Write a 'To Do List' aiming for 100 things' has been ticked off. I have, in my defence, been busy adding to the list. I revisited the original inspiration - Mike Gayle's 'The To Do List' (# 94)- and have now created a list that exceeds 150 items. I might have bitten off more than I can chew. Only time will tell.
Oh, and in pursuit of # 5, there has been a 4 pound loss, not a completely wasted seven days then.
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
# 30 - Check Cholesterol Levels. Keep Them in the 'Safe Zone'.
Okay so it was only a matter of time before the true nature of the 'To Do List' was revealed. Like hundreds, if not thousands, of deluded souls at New Year I resolve to lose weight (# 5), getting fit and eating more healthily (both # 6). I know what you're thinking, fat chance. After a fortnight of soups and Ryvitas you'll be stopping off for petrol station pasty on your way to McDonald's before going home for tea (these are not actual events but are based on a true story!)
Don't fret, this time it'll be different. Why? Because it has to be. The sad truth is that if I carry on the way I've been going I will be heading for an early grave. For the last three or four weeks I've been suffering from chest pains - although not life threatening (a mere 3 on the Gaviscon Scale) they got me thinking. A trip to the doctor's was called for.
The Doc was very sympathetic - her diagnosis was swift; with a smile she prodded me in the stomach, "that won't be helping". After jumping (metaphorically not literally) on the scale, she was ready to offer a solution, "lose 30 kilos if you want a normal BMI". So simple, why hadn't I thought of that!? She also suggested a cholesterol test (# 30) would be a good idea given the family history so at 4pm today I manned up and allowed a surly nurse to commandeer three vials of my blood. Results next week.
# 5 on the 'To Do List' obviously wrote itself - 'Lose Weight'. The 30 kilos is clearly a long term target so the first target is # 59 'Lose Enough Weight to be Able to go on Rosie's Exercise Bike' (17 stone is the maximum user weight).
On the lighter side of news I have managed to tick another item of the list - # 37 'Get Cream for Elbow Rash'. Although I have been reliably informed they no longer make a 'cream' and so will have to make do with 'ointment'. Is there a difference? Oh yes, "ointment leaves a greasy residue". Every silver lining has a cloud.
Don't fret, this time it'll be different. Why? Because it has to be. The sad truth is that if I carry on the way I've been going I will be heading for an early grave. For the last three or four weeks I've been suffering from chest pains - although not life threatening (a mere 3 on the Gaviscon Scale) they got me thinking. A trip to the doctor's was called for.
The Doc was very sympathetic - her diagnosis was swift; with a smile she prodded me in the stomach, "that won't be helping". After jumping (metaphorically not literally) on the scale, she was ready to offer a solution, "lose 30 kilos if you want a normal BMI". So simple, why hadn't I thought of that!? She also suggested a cholesterol test (# 30) would be a good idea given the family history so at 4pm today I manned up and allowed a surly nurse to commandeer three vials of my blood. Results next week.
# 5 on the 'To Do List' obviously wrote itself - 'Lose Weight'. The 30 kilos is clearly a long term target so the first target is # 59 'Lose Enough Weight to be Able to go on Rosie's Exercise Bike' (17 stone is the maximum user weight).
On the lighter side of news I have managed to tick another item of the list - # 37 'Get Cream for Elbow Rash'. Although I have been reliably informed they no longer make a 'cream' and so will have to make do with 'ointment'. Is there a difference? Oh yes, "ointment leaves a greasy residue". Every silver lining has a cloud.
Monday, 2 January 2012
# 1 - Set Up and Keep Up a Blog
Okay, so this is my first attempt at a blog and this is the first post. It's a minute to midnight and I'm back in work tomorrow after a fortnight's break, but I want to get the show on the road.
The idea for this blog was stolen, virtually wholesale, from Mike Gayle's book 'The To Do List'. I read the book about two years ago and decided to write a list of my own. There were 96 items on the '2010 to do list', over half remain incomplete at the time of writing.
So I have reprised the 'To Do List' for 2012. I've included many of the incomplete items from the original list, for example, # 43 'Clean and polish all shoes' and # 58 'Do more around the house (preferably without being asked)' and some brand new things like # 37 'get cream for elbow rash' - I should probably include 'diagnose elbow rash' as well, although I think we can take them as a package!
There are currently 80 things to do on the 2012 incarnation, although this is likely to increase over the coming months.
Anyway, as and when the items are achieved (or attempted) I will add a post to the blog thus increasing engagement and hopefully providing the impetus to complete the challenge that is 'The To Do List 2012'.
Wish me luck.
The idea for this blog was stolen, virtually wholesale, from Mike Gayle's book 'The To Do List'. I read the book about two years ago and decided to write a list of my own. There were 96 items on the '2010 to do list', over half remain incomplete at the time of writing.
So I have reprised the 'To Do List' for 2012. I've included many of the incomplete items from the original list, for example, # 43 'Clean and polish all shoes' and # 58 'Do more around the house (preferably without being asked)' and some brand new things like # 37 'get cream for elbow rash' - I should probably include 'diagnose elbow rash' as well, although I think we can take them as a package!
There are currently 80 things to do on the 2012 incarnation, although this is likely to increase over the coming months.
Anyway, as and when the items are achieved (or attempted) I will add a post to the blog thus increasing engagement and hopefully providing the impetus to complete the challenge that is 'The To Do List 2012'.
Wish me luck.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)