How do you organize your life and keep from getting overwhelmed?

[Anon]

I know this is gonna sound weird and isn't strictly about van life, but since I'm going to be about that life I figured it would be useful to get a vehicle dweller's perspective on the issue.

Lately I've been feeling like I'm getting overwhelmed. Like there's way too many things that need to be taken care of. Especially before making the move to live out of my vehicle and move out West.

Every weekend I spend in my hotel room, I just feel like there's a lot to do, but like I'm kind of just...Floating adrift in my mind, and what time I'm not spending floating, I'm frantically running around trying to do all sorts of things, from:

• Doing laundry
• Washing dishes
• Cleaning my room
• Budgeting
• Doing taxes
• Buying groceries
• Buying personal care items

And it's like the list goes on, and I feel like I'm not really doing anything I really want to do, but I'm almost certain that part of it is that I'm not spending my time effectively. And I mean the main things I want to do, like writing stories and songs, meditating, and working out, can be done in small 15-30 minute bursts every day during the work week. The only things I can't really do during the work week is go hiking, go socializing, practice drawing, and do chores.

I've created schedules before to try and remedy this but they often go astray or I lose track of them for some reason. The Google Calendar notifications on my phone often end up going ignored and dismissed as more annoying notifications.

I kind of feel like I'm also falling into the trap of thinking I need to spend more money on more things before I'm ready to take the leap, and what that's going to do is drain more of my money and require me to work this job longer and further delay my move.

Like, do I even need a generator and a cook stove to stay fed? I've got a warm sleeping pad and a wool blanket and sleeping bag. And I plan on getting a duffel bag for my clothes and using it as a pillow if need be. Isn't that enough for me to jump?

Am I doing something wrong? How do you guys organize your life?

 

[WanderingRose]

I've created schedules before to try and remedy this but they often go astray or I lose track of them for some reason. The Google Calendar notifications on my phone often end up going ignored and dismissed as more annoying notifications.

And therein may lie your problem.

Take yourself by the hand, make yourself follow thru on your to-do lists, reminders and notifications.

I use all of these, following thru is the key.

 

[JDelete]

Multi task, don't overthink, focus on the task at hand.

You don't need a generator. All you "need" at this point is a camp stove. I like a Camp Chef Everest 2 burner stove. With this you can make your coffee, heat up a can of soup, etc.

washing dishes—not sure why that is such a time consuming task for you. I wash my dishes as soon as I get done eating. It only takes about 5 minutes at most. I never have dirty dishes collecting.

Laundry—I am assuming you are using a laundry mat. Depending on how many clothes you have, this could be a once a week or every two weeks task. Instead of sitting there watching the clothes go round, use that time for doing paperwork—taxes, budgeting, etc. Or sit and listen to music and do art. The clothes don't care if you watch them go round or you do something else.

Groceries—once a week go to the store with your list and in one hour or less you have that done.

Main point: you are overthinking this whole adventure. It's common to do that in the beginning. But, stop that. Get a stove and then go camping on the weekend. You will find out real quick what you really need and what you don't need. Repeat this process every chance you get and in time you will know what you need, how to make it all work, etc. And most importantly, you will have established a certain knowing about it all so that when you do head out, everything isn't a new, unknown mystery.

 

[Anon]

Yeah well I usually cook breakfast while doing laundry and washing dishes only takes me 5 minutes tops as well. I usually use a soaped up sponge and some running water and only keep one plate, one bowl, one skillet, and one set of utensils.

Idk, it's like my brain isn't working right today. Maybe lack of sleep combined with eating something wrong. I feel foggy-headed and easily confused, though that's only part of the problem.

At any rate, I will try camping next weekend.

 

[Ripper238]

Well I pretty much wing it with a 9-7 job. I no longer have kids or a house so I have tons of time now even with 5 days of working all day/night.

• Doing laundry (multi task during this time since this can take 2 hours of sitting around) like clean room & wash dishes.
• Washing dishes (do this while washing cloths)
• Cleaning my room (do this while washing cloths)
• Budgeting (Sit down and focus time, do taxes is same time)
• Doing taxes (See above)
• Buying groceries (Buy enough to last 2 weeks this can give you more time)
• Buying personal care items (See above)

The above should take a total of 4-5 hours, so at most that kills 1/2 of the day and leaves the next day off for anything. Tons of time.

Don't worry so much, you need to just get into a pattern of things you multi task with so you get more done at the same time. Does not matter the time or what day. Also you are aloud to have a foggy day, then you can use that guilt tomorrow to get things done when you are less foggy. lol

My Google Calendar notifications/reminders get bumped and changed all the time. But they still get done at some point.

 

[Anon]

I went for a run in the forest and unsurprisingly it not only cleared up the brain fog, but gave me a lot more energy, and I've been busy knocking things out on a to-do list all afternoon now.

I cleaned out my vehicle and got it prepped for sleeping in while boiling my hard-boiled eggs for the week, and now I'm going to do taxes and fold clothes while listening to a podcast that I like.

I really should get checked for ADHD, but it may not be that. It might just be me eating like crap the last few days. I'm eating a salad now.

 

[wb8vyn]

Aw heck Gary. You've got it all in hand right now. If you have a vehicle. Sounds like you do. Clean cloths fit in a bag just as good as dirty ones., Dirty dishes take up the same space as clean ones, you don't need many, You are just one person (guy, girl or wanna be) or What ever.
Just throw your stuff in the car, truck or van and go!
What you NEED is food, air and water. All the other stuff is just so much baggage, clutter, stuff. Don't forget to put on your shoes though, they might come in handy.
Oh, and a hat, you may like to have a hat if it rains out. Get my drift?
Take stock, only takes a few seconds. IF it turns out that you MUST HAVE the security and comfort of 4 walls with everything predictable, stay where you are.
I'll give you an example - It's very cold outside where I am. My diesel heater quit. (plugged up fuel filter) unpredictable. Darn, had to go outside to flush it out, only took a short time but my fingers got cold and because I am old, lost feelings in the nose pickin fingers, both of them. I did get things together and running but it's going to take an hour for the feelings to come back. But, I just had to send you something.
I just HAD to. I didn't have to, I just HAD to, this second. So here I am doing my best with what I have.
That's the point, Do the best you can with what you have and do it now, not some day when things are perfect and in perfect order, never going to happen.
Just in case. They sell cans of steno at outdoor stores. Drug stores sell alcohol, works fine for cooking and heating water or wonder of wonders, ---soup. You can eat that right out of the can, no dishes to wash. nearest garbage can is an instant dish washer. clean cloths? Heck your not going to the ball in a tux anyway, who cares, I don't. Unless you smell really bad then I'll just step back a pace and let you breath. In any case I don't want to give you the Bourbonic plague or catch Ebola or what ever the current fad is. Fear rules. Too much TV.
In America, we all need some money. Probably world wide, so check your wallet, couple of bux there? Don't trust banks. Here is why ---popular to common belief, they are not safe places for your hard earned cash. You put a dollar in there today, and tomorrow it will buy you 90 cents worth, where did the difference go? Puff, magic.
Here's the secret, ern it today, spend it today, Puff just lost It's magic. now you have something tangible to use and enjoy, all of it, not 90 percent.
Get your gluts moving, better known as ass. You can be gone by morning or just stay put in your stationary box! Rents due soon?

 

[Anon]

You know I think I might go ahead and put in a notice

 

[wb8vyn]

You know I think I might go ahead and put in a notice

The word there is "might". My fingers are working full blast again. I was thinking that I "Might" Respond to your thinking and give you my opinion. Nah, I am going to just do it. Life got in the way for a while. Learned to type in the third grade on an mechanical Under Wood. No electrical stuff anywhere. The practice line was "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 times" Had to do that ten times without mistake for a passing grade. The word count equaled 5 letters. At the end of the class an average number of words In one minute was 60. An A grade was 100 words per minute over 10 minutes without mistake..
Another was Bad boys rape our young girls behind victory garden walls.. That was the resister color code used in radio and later television. you know Black, Brown, Red, Orange, Yellow and so on. black was the number zero in the first band. Second band was in the second number position. the third band was the third number position, so if the first color was red, that would correspond to the number 2, if the second color was also red, that would correspond to 2 as well, if the third band was also red, that would correspond to the number of zero's to add. So red, red, red, would mean 2200, ohms resistance. Or put another way, 2.2k. orange, orange, orange would mean 33000 or 33 thousand, or 33k ohms resistance. The letter K indicates thousands. Any following color would indicate tolerance.

Ok, here is how life got in the way of my answering you sooner.
As I mentioned in another message, I use a Chinese diesel heater in this trailer. It's cold out, Like 12 or so degrees F. My heater quit. Easy fix I thought. Clean the fuel filter. I did. Started it back up and it ran--- for a while, then quit again.
So I did what I usually do. I did some thinking about it. I thought that I "might" Look closer tomorrow. Then I realized that it was cold and tomorrow was a long way off. By then I'd be stiff as a board. Tomorrow may never come.
So I took my own advice and tore into it right away. UN-installed it. Found up my tool box, made a mess all over the floor. with parts everywhere. It was getting colder, down to 45 degrees in here, I kept going with numb fingers. Pressing ahead, I found the burn chamber clogged with carbon from 2 years of use. Quick as a bunny I scraped the chamber as clean as I could with numb hands, Temp down to 35 degrees in here, I'm shivering, breath fogging. temp outside down to 10 degrees. I kept on and got it back together, re-installed it, fired it up and it worked just like new. By now I have on two pair of pant, three shirts two pair of sox two winter coats and a partridge in a pear tree. Now catch me sitting in front of the heat tube letting the hot air run up inside my pant leg, can't feel my feet, my nose is running like Niagara falls and I need coffee real bad. My wife used to keep in coffee at times like these, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I'm going to have to make coffee myself with frozen fingers that I can't feel. I thought, I "might" do it later, but heck I needed something hot NOW. So going to the sink for water only to find the water frozen. No water, ----no coffee. ----What? I am in another pickle. Dirty hands, No coffee, frozen water. What "might" I do. Did some more thinking. Ah, Hot water heater has water. So, I went to the shower. Turned on the hot water and low and behold, water! At first cold but then warmer and warmer, enough to fill the coffee pot. It's perking right now and smells wonderful. I'm going to live after all. my fingers are in the neighborhood of working kind of.
But, at the same time I was thinking about what you "might" do. Old adage
" **** or get off the pot. Another old adage "times a wastin"

 

[wb8vyn]

Multi task, don't overthink, focus on the task at hand.

You don't need a generator. All you "need" at this point is a camp stove. I like a Camp Chef Everest 2 burner stove. With this you can make your coffee, heat up a can of soup, etc.

washing dishes—not sure why that is such a time consuming task for you. I wash my dishes as soon as I get done eating. It only takes about 5 minutes at most. I never have dirty dishes collecting.

Laundry—I am assuming you are using a laundry mat. Depending on how many clothes you have, this could be a once a week or every two weeks task. Instead of sitting there watching the clothes go round, use that time for doing paperwork—taxes, budgeting, etc. Or sit and listen to music and do art. The clothes don't care if you watch them go round or you do something else.

Groceries—once a week go to the store with your list and in one hour or less you have that done.

Main point: you are overthinking this whole adventure. It's common to do that in the beginning. But, stop that. Get a stove and then go camping on the weekend. You will find out real quick what you really need and what you don't need. Repeat this process every chance you get and in time you will know what you need, how to make it all work, etc. And most importantly, you will have established a certain knowing about it all so that when you do head out, everything isn't a new, unknown mystery.

I shouldn't butt in but I'm gonna anyway. It's my hobby.
I read a book just the other week about cloths dryers. I think it was when I was thinking about taking a shower.
I now have it on good authority that if you fail to watch your cloths go round and round in a dryer, they will run away.

 

[maki2]

My ex husband had the same feelings when I went to Hawaii for a month (house sitting opportunity, a real vacation for me) without him. He complained that he had to spend all his time on chores and running errands.

You are correct, that kind of stuff is an actual second job you do after your other job is done for the day. When I do laundry I put my clothes in ghe washer and use that 25 minutes to do grocery shopping or I take a shower there. . While the clothes dry I work on other things I can do while sitting in my vehicle. The laundry machines are doing the real work of washing and drying so quiit whining about how difficult a chore it is because a next to no effort chore. They truly are labor saving devices, load the clothes in and push a button. A few minutes to fold clothes and its over, a nearly painless process.

 

[A Wing and a Prayer]

I think you may be an INFP personality. If you don’t know what that is, look it up. I’m an INFP and while I have a million different ideas what I could/should be doing I find it hard to get things done. One thing that has helped me is to reward myself for things I accomplish. For example, when I get my paperwork done I will reward myself by working on the drawing or painting I’ve been wanting to do. Or, after I get the house cleaned up, then I can watch a movie without feeling guilty. Break it down into small bites. Decide what you want to accomplish today and reward yourself when you do it. Hope this helps.

 

[scaredycat72]

I have ADHD and you sound a lot like me. I cut off all my app notifications so the only ones I get are my Google calendar. I can't just drop what I'm doing and do something else so I have a notice for my notices. An example would be if I have to leave at 3:30 for a 4 pm appointment, I'll have an alarm at 2 reminding me I have to leave at 3:30 and an alarm at 2:30 telling me I need to get dressed and an alarm at 3 telling me I'm going to be late if I haven't started getting dressed already. All of them help my brain to mentally transition from whatever it is I'm focused on and move to the next task.

Meds would probably make my life a lot easier but I hate the robotic effect they have on me so I have learned to manage without them.

 

[Anon]

Yeah I've suspected for the longest that I might be a high-function ADHD person. It's not like I can't be focused and organized, but it's hard to establish a system, and once that system gets disrupted by a change in lifestyle or living location or a job change, it feels like it takes a month to get back on track because I kind of just...Forget that I created a system to begin with.

I've learned that certain foods make it worse. Coffee makes me extremely focused, energized, and determined. Coffee with milk (especially with sugar added), for whatever reason, has the utmost opposite affect, making me groggy destroying my attention span, and messing me up at work by trapping me inside my head.

If I drink extremely strong black coffee, I don't just get determined, I almost like, start to have grandiose thoughts.

Like one time, I used five scoops of coffee grains and drank coffee, and on the way to the library, I remember feeling like I was in a virtual simulation, and then I started thinking about that villain from Expanse, Marco Inaros, and what would HE be doing in my situation? And then I started thinking about how I could create a rebellion and, it was just crazy.

Then two hours later I just felt exhausted, anxious, had the runs really bad, and was like, "wtf was I thinking?"

Let nobody tell you that caffeine is NOT one HELL of a drug. Just because it's legal doesn't mean it can't alter your mind.

 

[Sky]

I went for a run in the forest and unsurprisingly it not only cleared up the brain fog, but gave me a lot more energy, and I've been busy knocking things out on a to-do list all afternoon now.

I cleaned out my vehicle and got it prepped for sleeping in while boiling my hard-boiled eggs for the week, and now I'm going to do taxes and fold clothes while listening to a podcast that I like.

I really should get checked for ADHD, but it may not be that. It might just be me eating like crap the last few days. I'm eating a salad now.

Yeah man I find too much on the wi fi and in so called civilization gives me fog, adhd symptoms and a work out in nature always cures. There are people with tin foil hats actually with clear valid documentation of the effects of our so called civilized lifestyle whereby we are exposed to unknown endless less than favorable outcomes inclusive of even more symptoms. Bottom line as a Psychology major, it does not help to add more diagnoses when life style changes and healthier choices can reduce if not end symptoms. Sounds like you got it ! Better food, fresh air and exercise as well as limited emf exposure.

 

[wb8vyn]

Yeah I've suspected for the longest that I might be a high-function ADHD person. It's not like I can't be focused and organized, but it's hard to establish a system, and once that system gets disrupted by a change in lifestyle or living location or a job change, it feels like it takes a month to get back on track because I kind of just...Forget that I created a system to begin with.

I've learned that certain foods make it worse. Coffee makes me extremely focused, energized, and determined. Coffee with milk (especially with sugar added), for whatever reason, has the utmost opposite affect, making me groggy destroying my attention span, and messing me up at work by trapping me inside my head.

If I drink extremely strong black coffee, I don't just get determined, I almost like, start to have grandiose thoughts.

Like one time, I used five scoops of coffee grains and drank coffee, and on the way to the library, I remember feeling like I was in a virtual simulation, and then I started thinking about that villain from Expanse, Marco Inaros, and what would HE be doing in my situation? And then I started thinking about how I could create a rebellion and, it was just crazy.

Then two hours later I just felt exhausted, anxious, had the runs really bad, and was like, "wtf was I thinking?"

Let nobody tell you that caffeine is NOT one HELL of a drug. Just because it's legal doesn't mean it can't alter your mind.

Like so, so many others by the ton. Think about what you wrote? "Caffeine IS one hell of a drug. You used the word "legal" for emphasis. To End, you wrote "alter your mind".
First, think about your personal mind set and experience. Second, that caffeine is a mind altering drug with the UN said implication that this alteration is BAD. Third, That Said alteration is bad for others because caffeine is bad for yourself.
Carry that one step further.
You are the Caffeine police, or elected to be in charge of Caffeine. What would you decide was the correct amount of caffeine for me? From personal experience and mind set would you ban caffeine or just limit everyone's access. Or maybe tax the hell of out it so that only the wealthy could aford it? What is the correct action?

I know I've gone off on a tangent here. The fact is that some foods are banned in Europe, Canada and Australia, that are marketed in the US as health foods. Sugar has been touted as bad yet is labeled on food by several different names on the same package.
The population just goes along with out thought, like cows going to the barn at milking time.

 

[Sky]

Like so, so many others by the ton. Think about what you wrote? "Caffeine IS one hell of a drug. You used the word "legal" for emphasis. To End, you wrote "alter your mind".
First, think about your personal mind set and experience. Second, that caffeine is a mind altering drug with the UN said implication that this alteration is BAD. Third, That Said alteration is bad for others because caffeine is bad for yourself.
Carry that one step further.
You are the Caffeine police, or elected to be in charge of Caffeine. What would you decide was the correct amount of caffeine for me? From personal experience and mind set would you ban caffeine or just limit everyone's access. Or maybe tax the hell of out it so that only the wealthy could aford it? What is the correct action?

I know I've gone off on a tangent here. The fact is that some foods are banned in Europe, Canada and Australia, that are marketed in the US as health foods. Sugar has been touted as bad yet is labeled on food by several different names on the same package.
The population just goes along with out thought, like cows going to the barn at milking time.

It is great that your giving the information and encouraging people to think and become more informed about what they are ingesting and consenting too, wb8vyn. After all the stake holders and investors love people to act like consumer cattle grazing themselves into slaughter. Sorry but I just loved that subtle message in the movie Blade, whereby the head vampire portrayed as a Wall St. traidor said to the hunter, ''look at them like cattle herding to slaughter'' as he looked out the window at the people on the streets of NY city with that zombie like fogged brain look, rushing to their jobs. LOL

 

[Sky]

Like so, so many others by the ton. Think about what you wrote? "Caffeine IS one hell of a drug. You used the word "legal" for emphasis. To End, you wrote "alter your mind".
First, think about your personal mind set and experience. Second, that caffeine is a mind altering drug with the UN said implication that this alteration is BAD. Third, That Said alteration is bad for others because caffeine is bad for yourself.
Carry that one step further.
You are the Caffeine police, or elected to be in charge of Caffeine. What would you decide was the correct amount of caffeine for me? From personal experience and mind set would you ban caffeine or just limit everyone's access. Or maybe tax the hell of out it so that only the wealthy could aford it? What is the correct action?

I know I've gone off on a tangent here. The fact is that some foods are banned in Europe, Canada and Australia, that are marketed in the US as health foods. Sugar has been touted as bad yet is labeled on food by several different names on the same package.
The population just goes along with out thought, like cows going to the barn at milking time.

Yeah I've suspected for the longest that I might be a high-function ADHD person. It's not like I can't be focused and organized, but it's hard to establish a system, and once that system gets disrupted by a change in lifestyle or living location or a job change, it feels like it takes a month to get back on track because I kind of just...Forget that I created a system to begin with.

I've learned that certain foods make it worse. Coffee makes me extremely focused, energized, and determined. Coffee with milk (especially with sugar added), for whatever reason, has the utmost opposite affect, making me groggy destroying my attention span, and messing me up at work by trapping me inside my head.

If I drink extremely strong black coffee, I don't just get determined, I almost like, start to have grandiose thoughts.

Like one time, I used five scoops of coffee grains and drank coffee, and on the way to the library, I remember feeling like I was in a virtual simulation, and then I started thinking about that villain from Expanse, Marco Inaros, and what would HE be doing in my situation? And then I started thinking about how I could create a rebellion and, it was just crazy.

Then two hours later I just felt exhausted, anxious, had the runs really bad, and was like, "wtf was I thinking?"

Let nobody tell you that caffeine is NOT one HELL of a drug. Just because it's legal doesn't mean it can't alter your mind.

Well Gary 1/2 the battle is being able to be aware of one's self. Given that you have expressed creative aspirations, I do not doubt that you can get over stemmed and go into altered perceptions of time and space. All the greatest greats had what would be deemed as manic moments and in a social climate of repression and control, one with such empathy and talented expression can be mis-understood and mis-diagnosed. As long as you keep self aware and monitor your chemistry as it can change given what, how much and what other extenuating external or internal stimuli are occurring on a given day and do not risk injury to yourself or others, live on ! It is not a dress rehearsal this is your life - enjoy and beware of that part of your that expects perfection - life is not perfect and is just changeable and at times messy out of ? whose order ~ lol.

 

[Sky]

I

The word there is "might". My fingers are working full blast again. I was thinking that I "Might" Respond to your thinking and give you my opinion. Nah, I am going to just do it. Life got in the way for a while. Learned to type in the third grade on an mechanical Under Wood. No electrical stuff anywhere. The practice line was "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 times" Had to do that ten times without mistake for a passing grade. The word count equaled 5 letters. At the end of the class an average number of words In one minute was 60. An A grade was 100 words per minute over 10 minutes without mistake..
Another was Bad boys rape our young girls behind victory garden walls.. That was the resister color code used in radio and later television. you know Black, Brown, Red, Orange, Yellow and so on. black was the number zero in the first band. Second band was in the second number position. the third band was the third number position, so if the first color was red, that would correspond to the number 2, if the second color was also red, that would correspond to 2 as well, if the third band was also red, that would correspond to the number of zero's to add. So red, red, red, would mean 2200, ohms resistance. Or put another way, 2.2k. orange, orange, orange would mean 33000 or 33 thousand, or 33k ohms resistance. The letter K indicates thousands. Any following color would indicate tolerance.

Ok, here is how life got in the way of my answering you sooner.
As I mentioned in another message, I use a Chinese diesel heater in this trailer. It's cold out, Like 12 or so degrees F. My heater quit. Easy fix I thought. Clean the fuel filter. I did. Started it back up and it ran--- for a while, then quit again.
So I did what I usually do. I did some thinking about it. I thought that I "might" Look closer tomorrow. Then I realized that it was cold and tomorrow was a long way off. By then I'd be stiff as a board. Tomorrow may never come.
So I took my own advice and tore into it right away. UN-installed it. Found up my tool box, made a mess all over the floor. with parts everywhere. It was getting colder, down to 45 degrees in here, I kept going with numb fingers. Pressing ahead, I found the burn chamber clogged with carbon from 2 years of use. Quick as a bunny I scraped the chamber as clean as I could with numb hands, Temp down to 35 degrees in here, I'm shivering, breath fogging. temp outside down to 10 degrees. I kept on and got it back together, re-installed it, fired it up and it worked just like new. By now I have on two pair of pant, three shirts two pair of sox two winter coats and a partridge in a pear tree. Now catch me sitting in front of the heat tube letting the hot air run up inside my pant leg, can't feel my feet, my nose is running like Niagara falls and I need coffee real bad. My wife used to keep in coffee at times like these, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I'm going to have to make coffee myself with frozen fingers that I can't feel. I thought, I "might" do it later, but heck I needed something hot NOW. So going to the sink for water only to find the water frozen. No water, ----no coffee. ----What? I am in another pickle. Dirty hands, No coffee, frozen water. What "might" I do. Did some more thinking. Ah, Hot water heater has water. So, I went to the shower. Turned on the hot water and low and behold, water! At first cold but then warmer and warmer, enough to fill the coffee pot. It's perking right now and smells wonderful. I'm going to live after all. my fingers are in the neighborhood of working kind of.
But, at the same time I was thinking about what you "might" do. Old adage
" **** or get off the pot. Another old adage "times a wastin"

I am so honored to be able to read your writing as you are a very good writer and I have upmost respect for elders like you, who have only the kind of intelligence along with giddy up and go that you of long years, have. I live off the grid DIY now but was raised in the west coast City life, by a father who was always working making money so that he could do nothing and pay others to do everything. For some reason both my brother and sought to do, work in the trades etc... wanted unlike our father to be able to do things fix things and it is so hard to find that and the giddy up anymore.in the main population. I take away like an true Engineer how you stop and think, wow that is an endangered species of activity. Luckily, I have found kind people. An adopted uncle, replacement father figures through out my life to help me learn some things but it has not been always rosy at trying to figure things out and your story will stay impressed in my memory when I come across such a situation. In fact I try to stay ahead of these things to spare myself further suffering and you have reminded me that before I go out with the chain saw I'd better tear into it an scrape that exhaust filter today. Sir thank you for being you. The problem with Uncle who passed now, is that he was a hermit and did not care how much and how many of us wished he would share his knowledge. He also did a DIY off the grid cabin, 50+ years ago. He had been an Engineer and had home made things that were before there time, like solar set ups that did not come onto the market for years later. Well thee old adage, what does not kill ya will make ya stronger is my end mantra for the day as has been for many years. Thank you for sharing your knowledge !! !!

 

[Tony's Dream]

I seek simplicity in all I do. I have found that scheduling only controls me. Don't get me wrong, my current job is all about time management and maximizing the use of my time. When I'm off, it's all about me. When I am traveling, I do look ahead and decide where I am going and what needs to be done along the way, but I don't make my schedules so rigid that I let it control me. Each day I begin by looking at my to do list and set about doing what needs to be done. Like the good book says, let the worries of today be sufficent. Let tomorrow be anxious for itself.