Several years ago, my sisters and I were sitting around talking about work stuff, and how sometimes it was challenging to get things done during the day due to the number of times you got a phone call, an email, or a messenger/text ping from a colleague or family member/friend whose situation was supposedly "urgent" but not really.
I chimed in at one point and told them that was why, on balance and all things considered, I did my best work at night.
One of my sisters chuckled and jokingly asked," You do know what that sounds like, right?"
Oh my, I thought. Upon reflection, it hit me, and all three of us laughed about it.
But in general, it's true. I do my best writing, best administrative work, best catching up on emails, etc., at night - when it's quiet and I'm not getting 15 notifications in the span of a few hours on my phone, and when I know mom is resting comfortably,
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On the home repair/improvement front, though, the record is decidedly mixed, to put it charitably. For instance, there was the cabinet painting project I took on in my downstairs half bath at my previous home, which took several hours (wrapping up at about 1 a.m.) but turned out looking pretty darned good, especially paired with a backsplash project I did in that same bathroom a few weeks later.
But then there was another bathroom project, with this one being in mom's hall bathroom, which I tried to tackle late Monday night, thinking it might take me 15 minutes tops.
It didn't. I worked on it from around 11:45 p.m. to nearly 3 a.m., and dang if I didn't make the bathroom sink clog problem even worse. It went from a slow drain to a no-drain situation, no matter what trick I tried. And man, did I make a mess out of it, too. I was thankful at the end of it all that at least the shower was functional because I pretty much had to change out of everything. Mom, who had been trying to sleep and who has long been familiar with my goofy nocturnal habits, was not amused. :(
I know everyone gets clogs in their plumbing from time to time, but it seems like every other year or so, we're dealing with a clog situation in the sinks, tubs, or showers that takes quite a bit of elbow grease to solve, no matter how careful we are with the products used in these parts of the house. Plus, we live in an older home (approaching the 50-year mark), and let's just say that the plumbing done in this house by the original owners left a lot to be desired and has needed some work done over the years.
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In any event, I called a plumbing company first thing Tuesday morning, and they were able to get someone to the house by 10:30. The guy was super friendly and knowledgeable, and did a good job with what needed to be done in the hall bathroom, and with the slow-drain issue we had in the kitchen. He also cleaned everything up to the point that it didn't even look like a repair technician had been here.
But between those two things, plus a corroding pipe that went into the wall in the kitchen that needed to be replaced, it cost me a pretty penny - and that's even with the senior discount he applied on mom's behalf. This time, it was me who was not amused, having pulled out some of my many gray hairs in frustration over the cost of what I thought should be relatively simple procedures, but which actually ended up requiring some heavy-ish equipment and muscle to tackle.
Am I glad it's done? Yes. Did my hair survive all the hair-pulling? Thankfully, yes. But do I wish I had had some time to get a couple of more estimates? Yes. Will I ever take on another project of that magnitude late at night again? Probably, because apparently, when it comes to home repairs and the desire to be Miss Fix It, I am a glutton for punishment.
