Last winter, we had some problems with out heating system, and while they were changing the unit, our pipes in the basement froze and split. While we weren't financially liable, the disruption it caused was large and there was a fair amount of stress to reorganize our lives, while the weather was -30C (-22F).
We don't know if the unit is going to cope this winter either, but to try and improve the situation slightly, I have blocked up some of the external ventilation conduits to the basement to stop the majority of airflow. This will hopefully keep the ambient temperate a few degrees higher in the depths of winter, and I will remove the stoppers when the weather warms again. I have also used some window seal tape and aluminium-backed insulation board to cover a couple of the windows up down there also, to hopefully add some support to help.
One task down.
It feels good to finally start getting onto my unemployment tasks, because up until now, not working has been pretty busy! Other things have been done of course, but this one has been "pending" for far too long, and I am glad I have got it done before the weather has dropped too far. Today though, it is above freezing again anyway. But one thing in Finland is certain for a while longer at least - winter will be cold.
There are quite a few things on my to-do list, but I feel at times like I am just making up work for myself to stay busy. However, perhaps as long as it is useful tasks, it is better to be busy doing something, than waste the time doing nothing. This week I reckon I am going to start on "operation cupboard clean" to reorganise all of our storage spaces, and remove anything that doesn't fit, isn't worn, hasn't been used in over a year or will never be used again. There is no point storing it, and perhaps it will be possible to either donate or even sell some of it on to people who will use it.
For someone who likes to have a minimalistic surround, our place has a lot of crap stuffed into corners, and it is time to get back to my roots. I have never been a fan of little knickknacks and random things on shelves that make dusting difficult, nor of a lot of junk piled in corners and storage areas. I think it is because that is the kind of house I grew up in and my response as an adult is to move as far away from that as possible.
Be better than our parents?
And I guess, that in order to help Smallsteps reach her potential, I am going to have to be a decent role model and not set the bar very low. The benefit of this approach is of course, I have to up my game too, which means realising a little more of my own potential than I do. Potential is nothing until it is realised and becomes something, and I have wasted the majority of mine over the years, spending the time doing not much of consequence, and not even really that much I enjoyed. I feel I am definitely one of the people who has "passed the time" on not much.
While I can't go back and change history, if I change my habits going forward, I might be able to extract a little more from myself than I would have otherwise. An organised house might not seem like much, but when things are in their place, less thought and energy has to go into the normal daily, mundane tasks of life. For instance, I spent about an hour looking for something that that I "knew" where I had put it originally, thinking I would remember.
I didn't.
When things have a place, and that place is consistently used for what belongs there, so many of the random time-waster events are skipped, so time can be better spent elsewhere. Not only is it saving time, but also a lot of frustration also, which tends to have a knock-on effect on other activities, as well as moods. And I hope that I am not the only one who benefits from a clean house, nor the only one who maintains the organized approach - though I feel that last one is going to be left to me.
And now that I am home most days, looking at the clock, it is time for Smallsteps to get home and we can make some dinner together so we can eat as a family. There are some benefits to being unemployed I guess. Well, while we can still afford food that is.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
It sounds like a good course of action to me. When you get your house in order that will free you up to pursue other avenues. Being able to eat together is a big boon for family life, so yes, it is a benefit. It seems as though many folks are feeling some amount of food insecurity nowadays. I know it was tongue in cheek, but still it remains in the back of your mind.
Definitely tongue in cheek at the moment, but it is definitely there in my head. I know what it is like and those habitual thoughts of the path are never far enough away.
It is nice to eat together. We have been able to do it a few times now, and I enjoy it.
The weather in Finland is very cold. Although it is not as cold as Finland where I live, the weather is currently -1 degrees. You need to prepare for winter in the summer.
I also like minimalist life. The more things you have, the more burden it becomes. Simple life is necessary.
About the same temperature here at the moment. Though, it will get to -10 in a day or two, and then who knows by January.
More random things to get attached to for no reason also.
I am someone who like to have a minimalistic surround. I hate spare things around inside the house including steps and doorstep and I always try to reduce the numbers of them, however they somehow increase after all 😄
One day, I want to have the money and freedom to build a home from scratch. It would be so minimalistic, people won't know where anything is. :)
Whoa! I didn't realize things were so bad. I'm sorry man, that sucks. Is anyone setting up a GoFundMe or something for you? I'm happy to do it if there isn't something already. Let me know!
I was just being dramatic! I/we are fine for a long time still - I just have to whip my wife to work harder ;)
Oh, hahaha! Good, good! The offer is always there if the need ever arises.
Please don't take offence, but you sound really like a type A personality I know really well :)
I don't think you are making up tasks just to stay busy, this is more like a therapeutic process to deal with the stress of career transition.
I normally get called something starting with "C", so this might be an upgrade ;D
It is partly therapeutic of course, but I think that it is more than just the process. When things are in their places, daily life feels better. I think it is like driving a freshly washed and vacuumed car.
Have you ever wondered why it isn't just inbuilt into us all?
Ah yes, I remember your furnace breaking down. Living out of a hotel for a while there. Not fun at all. My wife is pretty minimal herself, so we don't have a ton of clutter around our house. I have definitely found that the more you keep up on cleaning the easier it is. It only takes us about an hour to clean each weekend since we do it so frequently. I know if we didn't it would be a half day thing.
We "clean" regularly, but there is a difference between it being clean, and being organized. My wife is one of those people who cleans with an "out of sight, good enough" approach - even if where it is hidden is nowhere near where it should be kept!
Ah, okay. My wife would probably say the same about me!
I have read several of your posts and I have realized that you are a disciplined person perfectionist you like things well done and also you are someone who saves and talks a lot about your family and I do not think you have problems with things around the house as for being unemployed is not bad news everything has its positive side you can take advantage of all these days left in the year to enjoy and do all those things that we usually postpone because the new year may surprise you with a full time job.
I am not a perfectionist, nor disciplined - I am lazy. But, I am trying to be proactively lazy - do more now, so I can do less later :) Well, do other things!
Yesterday plumbers finally came and fixed the pipes. So we have water again and today I was able to heat up the house. For a while we were heating up with electricity so it is nice to finally live in a warm house again.
Good thing that last month was not very cold. so it was not too bad.
Do you normally heat with wood?
I start with a bit of wood and after that burn wood briquettes.
I hate when unexpected expenses just pops up something you never budgeted for and it might take a while before it will get fix
Unexpected expenses and unexpected events - we should expect them.
Guess life being unpredictable is true
Unfortunately, I understand various points of your post very well, as I am also unemployed, fixing up the house and keeping busy is very important, the risk of withdrawing or being overcome by despondency is great in certain situations and being without work is very depressing, one feels helpless and frustrated to the research. I hope you find work soon and in the meantime get your whole house back!
😀🤣 You don't appear like someone who is suffering from any form of food insecurity. Maybe this is just a dramatic composition.
Keeping one's house in order nice but could be stressful a times.
I've been feeling the same way, like I'm always looking for ways to be productive, especially now that school is on break. It's true that when things are organized, life just feels a lot less stressful. I also grew up with a lot of clutter, so now I try to keep my space simple and neat too. It really helps with focus and mood.
Things like this can hurt, especially those who don't have much spare money. Unexpected expenses can be annoying especially in economy like ours.
Keeping one's house in order is just the right thing to do. And I'm not talking as if I do that often but I'm working towards that
If it's not yours check first, my father in law pissed me off massively one time as he did that to "help" while we were on holiday and got rid of a whole pile of stuff that was very occasional wear for me (most of it smart casual to semi-formal and I
actively avoiddon't really go to a lot of functions that would require dressing upif I can help itand a pair of nice sandals which I was never going to wear again but that my daughter had wanted and was waiting to grow into because "I've never seen you in them" (some of which I did actually wear frequently, just by stupid dumb luck not when the outlaws visited or when we went to visit them). And more recently I've been looking for some stuff I had because an occasion has come up where I needed it or my daughter (who now fits all my clothes) wanted to borrow something that she was only ever going to wear once (or maybe again if another situation ever came up) that I knew I had and it's gone.I'd like to think that's obvious but just putting it out there because apparently it wasn't obvious to my father in law
I think it's just your personality/preferences/both. I also grew up in a house with a LOT of knick knacks though unlike my usually somewhat untidy house, my house-proud parents keep their place very neat and organised and tastefully decorated. Did I mention a LOT of knick knacks? x_x Anyway I hate minimalism XD
How's the tidying and sorting and all that going? :)