"Projeck"
Sat., February 19, 03:42 PM
“Projeck” – that’s what Husband used to call every big job. It used to burn me up, because what he was essentially doing was making mountains of molehills. The “projeck” would take hours – with lots of breaks, of course – and then he would be too tired to do anything else.
Any suggestion that maybe he could break the job into smaller parts and not try to do it all in one day would get me “Don’t tell me what to do!” Of course, he doesn’t do “projecks” any more; it takes more energy than he has just to put away the dishes in the drainer.
Since I had been able to get out all by myself twice this past week (yay!), I decided not to go shopping with U.D. this morning, but to undertake a “projeck” of my own. A little vacuuming, a little scrubbing, and I would change the shower curtain liner.
The Cheesebox suffers from chronic mildew and mold. I can’t even blame that on previous residents, because we are the only family to inhabit it. The darned house came with built-in mold, mildew and spiders. Having struggled with plastic shower curtains that stained easily, I have been using a fabric curtain backed by inexpensive plastic liners. When the mildew grows, or when Cat rips up another liner, it’s usually easy enough to replace it.
It was easy, that is, until the past year, when I just didn't have the energy. I asked U.D. to change the liner last winter (Cat is her responsibility, after all), but she couldn’t quite do it. Rather than replace the old one, she added the new one. That was too heavy for the rings, and I just used scissors to remove the offending liner.
The mildew is building up again, and I figured I could do it by myself this time. Step one: take away the current liner and the piece of the previous one that was left. I’m working over my head, even with the step stool, but I can do it. It occurred to me that it wouldn’t be quite so high if I put the stool inside the tub. Yeah, that was a little better.
The rings were open, the fabric curtain was still up; all I had to do was add the new liner and close the rings. I was still working over my head, but I was also working by feel, inasmuch as I couldn’t focus on the rings. This was going slowly; I kept stopping and leaning on the grab bar. And then Husband decided he needed the bathroom.
Well, maybe I should just rest while he did his thing; I’d have at least ten minutes. And I curled up in the corner of my couch…and my nose began to bleed. Some days…
Well, I sort of rested till he announced that he was out, and I went back to my curtain. Suddenly I got a better feel for it, and the job was done. Once more I carefully climbed down and carried the stool back to the kitchen. And took my shower. Then I sprayed Lysol all over the plastic to discourage Cat. P-I-A.
This is how you manage a “projeck”: you do it in small blocks. Try to teach someone. On the other hand, Husband has decided he will try out the new liner. Be grateful for small favors.
