GETTING READY TO DO, DOING, CLEANING UP AFTER YOURSELF

Having thought about time spent waiting, I think about things that I classify as a waste of my time and life. One of them is getting ready to do a project, whether it is preparing the sink and dishwasher to wash dishes, a hobby, or a project of painting or gluing. I knew I often resist doing things as I contemplate time but hadn't really thought much about why.

Today, hearing strange sounds on the side of my house, I became aware that my neighbor's grapevine had grown so beyond the junk tree she had never cut down and has now reached about 25 feet tall. My neighbor is in her late eighties and has no sons (who are willing) to do any yard work for her. Consequently her overgrowth has made my ability to get sunlight on a couple of my gardens a thing of the past.

It has been windy today so the noise was even worse than usual. The grapevines had attached themselves to the siding on my house on the second floor...not easy for me to reach. First I had to locate the problem areas, then find something that would reach far enough out of the window to pull the vines and branches close enough for me to lop them off. Lastly, I had to find a tool with which to do it. I found an old ratcheted hand pruning shear, bought at a very dear price, which a family member used and returned almost unusable. I was able to make two cuts I needed, then went to my computer to order a new pruner (with shipping, $41.25).


A bathroom sink cabinet has needed to be polyurethaned in situ. It needs to find sandpaper first, then polyurethane and paint brush; take the rug up, (wash it) so debris from sanding will fall on the floor beneath the rug which can be washed easily. Finally the actual painting (the easiest part of the job) then the clean-up.

I'm sure that any of us, given a bit of reason to do so, can come up with a weekly approximated figure of similar time wasted...like waiting for the hot water to come to the faucet, waiting for the computer to boot, waiting for things to get cooked, etc. The best way to avoid wasting time is to multi-task...something I am very good at doing. However, what do the people do who can only concentrate on finishing one complete task at a time. Wouldn't it be great if we could save the time others waste?

HAVE YOU BEEN CRAMMED?

Apparently there was some law written, when Ma Bell was alive and well, that allowed small companies to bill things connected to your phone directly onto your phone bill. Verizon is allowing the same and apparently it is legal. Understandably, if you make calls from a hospital bed or watch TV and bill it to you home phone, that bill can be added, as can collect calls made to your phone from little Podunk places. However, it seems some greedy people are pulling some interesting tricks.

For example, I noted that I was billed $14.95 plus $.75 for miscellaneous transactions a month ago. I phoned Verizon's customer service and told them I had not authorized any additional services. I talked to a very decent woman who said she would take it off my bill and block further bills...I should see it taken off my next bill.

Not surprisingly, the next bill showed nothing taken off and the same charge re-appearing. This time it was marked transaction clearing charges...naturally giving no indication what was being charged to clear. It listed: Messages from Transaction Clearing
Tax & Fees
All tax and fees are authorized by Federal, State or Local Governments. Fees are explained by selecting the icon by the term. (There was no icon by the term).

Note that there is still not an explanation about which Verizon could enlighten as to what was being billed. The service rep pointed out that I had missed a toll-free number which I could call about the charge. I called and learned that I had presumably signed up for voice mail, a free trial, that I would have to cancel within a month or pay the charge. I have never had a need for voice mail and 800 numbers and know that I could not have signed up but somehow I may have looked at an ad and in making an inquiry to understand it, I was grasped and reeled in without my knowledge. I was told I should have called before the 30 days was up and the representative had difficulty understanding that one cannot call in to cancel something they don't know they have and have never used.

Fifty minutes of wasted time later, I was given a confirmation number that I had canceled whatever it was someone thought I ordered, from a place I do not recall having ever been to, for something I have no real idea as to what the 'product' really is. However, I made clear that I would refuse to pay, that Verizon already had it listed as being contested, blah-blah, woof-woof. The company is supposed to be Eversave (read Neversave) for Walgreen's, billed through Supreme Vm Monthly Fee. If you want to avoid the cram trap, steer clear of these names.

The upshot is that there are more sneaky ads and tricks to pull an unsuspecting window shopper or internet troller than we are prepared to outwit. And that, dear readers, is how America sees that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

TIME WASTED-TIME GAINED

There are many ways to waste time and lots of books on time management to gain it. I realize that either is subjective. For me, playing simple computer games like Free Cell or Solitaire is like pushing my gear shift to neutral. As I play, I can concentrate better on the phone, especially to those on the other end who talk more than listen. I relax because winning or losing is totally irrelevant to me, though otherwise competitive. I don't have to re-invent wheels. I learn the right way to do things within my skill set or hire a pro when I think the task is beyond me.

Learning how to do things may seem a time waste to some but pays off in time saved, being better informed. Putting away things like watch, keys, credit cards, etc in the same place keeps me from wasting time hunting. (Despite that rule, a Murphy's Law lives in my house that says: As soon as I find whatever I have been hunting for, it will immediately be replaced by something else that goes missing. That law expands to: As soon as I fix something, another will break or need repair.)

Since I am a first generation American, I am not weighted down with a notion that I have to be doing something productive for others to make my time worth while. I take preventive steps, like oiling a machine to keep it working. Relaxing and stretching periodically keeps my muscles even. As a child doing my household chores I worked for a while, played the piano for a while, and then went back to work. I learned to reward myself many years before I worked on a Behavioral Unit and found my style was recommended to maintain mental and physical health. Having goals and rewards is very important to keep me on task.

For many, work and hobbies get off-balance. When work piles up, time stolen for hobbies puts on pressure...and even guilt. Imbalance sets up a chain reaction of negatives. It makes some people around you annoyed, bosses angry, loved ones feeling left out. Finding the right balance to your life requires great discipline. A good thing about senior status is that often there is not a boss (unless a spouse is considered one, which brings up yet another topic for another day) and things get done more slowly (yet another impediment). Additionally, the naive concept that working entitles one to a senior life of being able to do as one pleases, disappoints a lot of people when senior reality hits. Modern medicine has allowed lots of people to miss the bullet when in the past they would have died. That gained time, by not being employed, is great if one's mind, eyesight, mobility, coordination and all those useful things we might once have had, are still with us.

Regardless of what age we are, life is better when certain conditions are met. These are simple. If your life works for you at no significant expense to others and you maintain a preference for being alive...you just might be doing the right things.