You know how you get those courtesy reminders in the mail or via email. The ones that remind you that your car is due for an oil change, you are due for a dental checkup, you virus protection is about to expire, and you only have two more weeks to protest your tax assessment. I hate to admit that, sometimes, I set these little reminders off to the side and then proceed to space them off entirely until my father asks me when I last changed the oil in the Jimmy, a tooth begins to ache, or my computer repeatedly reminds me that I only have one more day left on my virus protection subscription. At this point I am generally moved to action.
The other day I was going through old papers and discovered my yearly ‘Well Woman’ appointment reminder. It was dated August, 2007. Yikes!
Don’t get me wrong. I understand the importance of these yearly treks to the doctor. You know. The ones that involve cold, steel speculums, stirrups, and vice-like mechanisms that, if used on men, would qualify as enhanced torture devices. It’s not that I consciously put off scheduling the annual fun-filled afternoon of disrobing, wincing, and wishing I had Miss California’s bod and she had a feather so we’d both be tickled. I just kept putting if off to a more..convenient…time.
Yeah. Right. Like a pelvic exam or mammogram could ever be deemed convenient.
Once I discovered the tardiness of this unpleasant, but crucial, annual task, I grabbed my calendar and picked up the phone to make an appointment.
Just my luck. The only day I could get in was smack dab in the middle of a mini vacation I’d planned for over Memorial Day.
But the fact that I’m over two years tardy with my ‘well woman’ appointment has prompted me to make a list of tasks that need to be done on a periodic basis and which I may or may not have neglected to attend to in a timely manner.
Here’s the list so far:
- Replace batteries on smoke detectors.
- Change out furnace filter.
- Go through closets and get rid of unnecessary items.
- Wash and wax the Jimmy.
- Clean the gutters.
- Put a fresh coat of paint on the outdoors bench.
- Wash the windows.
- Tighten clothesline wires.
- Hose out garbage cans.
- Apply weed killer to my yard.
- Etc., etc.
It’s time to air our dirty laundry and get ready for spring clean up!
~Bullet Hole wishing in vain one of her ‘to-dos’ involved chocolate~
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10 comments:
You could add "buy bag of peanut butter cups" to that list. That is an essential task in my book.
I put off everything, even opening my mail. Decided to go through the stacks last night and found three bills I needed to pay. I pay the regular stuff online and this was annual type stuff. Luckily, my checks will still arrive on time.
I'm pretty good about the car upkeep, but if I had a house to maintain, I'm afraid it would fall down around me before I remembered to do anything.
What kinds of tasks do you find it easiest to ‘put off until tomorrow’?
All of them!
:)
Especially if there's a book available.
Since I own thousands of books, not even counting library books, and I like to re-read books.....
I try not to put off tasks only because most of them come back to haunt me.
Vet visits: never.
My own check-ups: I fudge as long as the prescriptions are still good.
Now, I haven't washed the car in over a year in spite of the fact that they warn you to rinse off the snow stuff here because it eats through the metal. I'm sure that will be one that gets me when it's time to trade in for a new one down the road and I have a safety recall that's almost a year old -- somehow giving up my car for at least a day is just never convenient. Oil changes I'm good at getting done, though.
Every task goes better in conjuction with the ingestion of peanut butter cups, Terrio. And before I purchased my present home, I had to pay my property taxes on my own and, invariably, I'd put it off until the last minute (understandable given we're talking taxes. End result? Scurrying to the courthouse to pay before a penalty was imposed.
Now that I commute to work, I do take better care with auto maintenance than I used to. I still don't wash the Jimmy as often as I should, however.
~Bullet Hole~
I did accomplish one task you might be interested in, Bookmobiler. I dug up that 'alien plantform' in my backyard you referenced a few weeks back.
And books are always a deterrent to my being productive. Still as an author, I'm thankful others are similarly afflicted with the love for reading.
~Bullet Hole~
Other things I put off are regular trips to the hair salon and manicurist, Becky. I generally don't go to get my hair and nails done unless I have a special occasion that demands some extra effort. With all the manual labor I do around the house, my poor nails take a beating.
~Bullet Hole~
I have an annual check-up. I make the next year's appt before I leave the Dr's office.
I am pretty good about maintainence on my car, and reasonably good about home maintainence.
One thing that you could add to your lists would be to check/replace the batteries on a carbon monoxide detector. (Or to get one if you don't already have one.) Carbon monoxide poisoning isn't pretty. I've had it twice. Once from a faulty furnace and once from a car exhaust system.
I've been putting off car maintence due to financial obligations. (I need to pay rent and/or buy groceries before getting an oil change, that type of things.)
Kathy,
What a great list of reminders.
Agg, I need to go in for a few well-patient check ups too.
Don't you hate those?
CC
yearly check-ups. Being I need a refill of birth control pills, I don't miss that appointment! And my gyn/ob also manages my other assorted disorders, so she's a must visit. In fact, I go in a couple weeks for a physical and am ready. Being I'm pizza faced, I think it's time for a hormone check again.
I get my hair cut every 5 weeks. I make my appointment before I leave. I can't keep my eyebrows under control beyond 5 weeks. I barely make it there in those weeks as it is.
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