If it’s not one thing it’s another. The cottage battery problem seems to have come down to snow on the panels. The batteries seem to have been recharged and are now reinstalled. It’s Ishtar’s day so let’s turn on the water… aaaand a Pex to copper joint has popped, causing a two hour attempt to put it back together with attendant swearing and throwing of tape around.
Today I’m off to buy a new connection, press fit stuff is lovely until it isn’t.
But other than that the place seems in good shape, until I look a bit more closely. Dishes and garbage and things not put away because “later” I am trying not to see. Doors that stick, or have been leaning against a wall for three years waiting to be installed, are a little harder to ignore, but I try.
There are lots of things that you really should not look too closely at, if you want to keep moving forward. Nothing stays in working order forever. Your organization is like that, it works for years, ticking along just nicely, and then somebody retires or someone ticks somebody else off and the whole applecart tips over. It happens, I’m watching at least four kendo federations going through that sort of thing right now.
All I can say is just keep moving along, do your thing, try to see as little as you can or you’ll “vote with your feet” and sell the cabin, er, quit your organization.
The thing is, two years ago the cabin wasn’t in saleable condition, it is getting awfully close to that now. It looks great and so others would be happy to take over. Who wants to buy a cabin that needs bags of work? You want to go and visit and sleep in and take it easy. How many times have I heard people complain that they go to the cabin and Dad makes them work.
Um, going to the cabin and sleeping in until 2pm is your friend’s dad’s cabin, not yours.
Same with organizations, there are damned few people who want to do the hard lifting to build things up, but once they are there the kid’s friends come out of the woodwork to take advantage of what you’ve built. The “leaders” those natural whiz-bang administration types show up to tell you just how much you are doing wrong, and now they will take over thankyouverymuch because you’re doing it wrong.
Oh, you think I’m talking about your organization? No, I’m talking about every organization I’ve ever been in, every apartment where I refinished hardwood floors, repainted walls and installed lights. Every house I ever rented and fixed plumbing, every house and cabin I’ve owned. There are those who work to build it so that they (and their kids friends) can enjoy it later, and there are those who come along later to enjoy it and tell you how much you screwed it up.
I seem to be one of the ones who build which means I’m an idiot. If I own it I have to fix it. I’m not ever sleeping in, or sitting around for long before I see something that has to be done. I try, lord knows I try, it usually involves something like writing a book to avoid working in the shop during winter where my hands get really sloppy from the cold.
There’s no way I’m going to get my money, time and work back out of this cottage. I’ve spent 20 years building it and countless tens of thousands of dollars on it. What I’ll get back is “market value” and I’ll pay tax on that. The guy who buys it will be getting it for free.
Good thing I like working with my hands. If he isn’t good with his hands it’s going to fall apart. If you can’t build it, you can’t fix it. This I know.
Juuust keep moving.
Kim Taylor
Mar 31, 2018
http://sdksupplies.com/
Guelph Spring Seminar registration is open:
http://seidokai.ca/iai.seminar.html
Registration for the spring jodo grading is open. Go to the CKF website http://kendo-canada.com/ to sign up.
Seito Bugei Juku 