My vacation

“No one needs a vacation more than the person who just had one.” - Unknown

Well, my 11-day vacation is about to expire, so, as is the case with every vacation I will now complain about having to return to work, contemplate changing careers because I'm in a bad mood, and assess whether I did what I said I was going to do over vacation.

On Day 2 or 3 of my vacations, I usually make a list - on paper or in my head - of what I'd like to accomplish during my time off. I guess it seems like the productive thing to do. This vacation was no different, except my wife also gave me a list of things she wanted me to do. This was fine, I thought, as many of these overlapped.

My list looked something like this.

1. Clean out/reorganize the basement (This has been on my list since we moved into this house 4 1/2 years ago)

2. Get new eyeglasses (I have not renewed my prescription nor seen my optometrist in about 4 years)

3. Seal basement window so mice can't get in (This also has been on my list for a while, and, out of pure laziness, I haven't done it)

4. Return bottles that take up half the garage

5. Read

6. Write (Not for this blog)

7. Correct papers

8. Exercise more than once


Usually, I don't accomplish much on my list. I tend to get sidetracked and distracted and I'm a master of avoiding things that aren't pleasurable.

While I did amply procrastinate, I did do a lot on my list. I will address them here.

I will skip number one, for now.

I got new glasses. Instead of going to my regular optometrist, who is in Bristol - too far away - I went to Sam's Club. (see earlier post about my thoughts about this place) I got an appointment in two days, the optometrist was good enough, and I figure I saved at least $100 to $200. I don't like supporting WalMart (which owns Sam's Club), but I got an appointment quickly, and they had the best frames I could find.

I did not seal the basement window. Rather, I set up 7 mouse traps - four in the basement, three in the attic. I thought this would help control our rodent problem. Except the mice are smart enough to eat the peanut butter I spread without disengaging the metal bar that's supposed to kill them. So now I have to get better traps. I can't say I didn't at least try on this one.

I did return a garageful of bottles - to a redemption center in Manchester. I usually go to Stop and Shop, where it takes two hours from start to finish. But I learned that this place, affiliated with the state, also takes bottles and cans in bulk. When I arrived there - the place is a pit - I was happy to see there were no machines I could jam. The only problem is that you have to organize the beer by brand. This took awhile, even though I drink mostly Sam Adams. ( I even separated Coors Light, which my BROTHER IN LAW drinks.) In the end, I got $21, enough to buy only one case of beer. I am starting to think it is not worth redeeming bottles, but instead to recycle them. Plus, traveling with almost 500 bottles in my car made me feel like a serious alcoholic.

I read a little. I just started a book Complications, by Atul Gawande, a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a Harvard Medical School professor. His book is about the realities of being a surgeon. He talks of medicine as an imprecise science, full of a lot of guesswork. The book reads well. It should; he's also a contributor to the New Yorker.

I need to correct more papers tonight. I have 10 left, and I figure I need about 45 minutes to an hour.

I ran on the treadmill twice, so that qualifies as meeting that exercise goal, barely.

As for cleaning the basement, you would guess correctly if you said I didn't clean it. (Hey, I wanted to have something on my list for my next vacation!)

For some insights about my tendency to procrastinate, read this column in the Boston Globe from a few years ago:

http://www.boston.com/jobs/globe/view_cube/archive/091805.shtml
(Need to scroll down on the webpage to see.)