leafblowers - among other mind-boggling concepts

I think it is one of those "there are two kinds of people" categories.

There are those that dunk bickies, and those that don't. (My mother always told me that The Queen never dunked her biscuits - that just made me feel very sorry for HRH.)

There are those that can roll their tongues and those that can't. (I am a roller).

There are those that have seen The Titanic, and those who haven't. (One of the few - it is now a badge of honour.)

And then, there are those who approve of the use of leaf blowers.

I am afraid I am not one of those.

No, darn it, I am felicitous that I disapprove. I think that they are a waste of fossil fuels, natural minerals and manufacturing labour, they create environmental disharmony and a superior attitude for those who DARE to DISTURB peace on earth.

And why is it that there is a fairly inverse proportionality of psychic energy between emotional wellbeing and the number and decibel level of leafblowers in direct proximity? It forms one of those "chicken and egg" conundrums, doesn't it?

A very good veranda friend and I were discussing the abuse of leafblowers one afternoon, and we came to the conclusion that Queensland Health should be advised of this phenomena so that they could cut down on a lot of useless data collecting and focus instead on the future intentional use of leafblowers in a neighbourhood so they could do a pre-emptive psychiatric shoring up or something.

As you can see, there had been the interference of a leafblower or two in the above conversation to cause such an outcome.

Anyhow - I had great intentions of having a much better day than yesterday in terms of productivity.

I can't really blame the leafblower - there had already been the waiting for the pharmacist to open hit the day had taken. And I suppose I could add the two pots I failed to do in the morning wash up, therefore seeding another massive wash up in my future. Then, there is the unexpected bill appearing in my mailbox this morning. (I really must check inside that brick mansion more often). And the sudden appearance of the lawnmower man - blocking my driveway - this morning.

But all that could have been overcome, I am sure. My mind was in the right place, I was psyching myself up, I even had my coffee plan built in to my pre-paper to-do list.

Hey - I had already made pikelets, almost finished the washing up (see above), fixed the lunchbox (and made my own - woo hoo), mentally written and discarded several dozen blogs (darn - there were some beauties too), waved off the child, set up a session with a friend, done emergency shopping and had the to-do list open and ready for attack. So it wasn't all lost, and I had only been up since 4.30

I am not saying I blame the leafblower - however, I do feel that it is not total coincidence that a screaming assault on my senses and sensitivies at approximately 8.49am this morning (for about 26 seconds - I did have presense of mind to fly to the window and beg the lawnmower man to cease and desist) and the drop in efficiency and performance levels towards the productive outcomes of the day both occurred.

I did actually get a list created, by the way. Of the 26 possible boxes to tick for "today", I have ticked 12 - and of the 16 additional written on things, 4 have been done.

Okay, so a lot of better people than me out there would scoff - but I have BIG THINGS on my to do list.

See, where it says "Unpacking", it means unload those 2 suitcases that have travelled 1900 kilometres in the last 3 weeks of January, through 4 houses, several crises and changed plans, eventualities for things of earth, water and culture and a 7 year old girl's and frazzled mother's life.

And where it says "Folding", it means fold your whole wardrobe, including
- the half that got lived in an out of during the above and had required washing so during moments of sanity were laundered and tumbled and tossed into a pile in the living room and lived out of for the past 3 days;
- the half that remained in the suitcases that have been lived out of for the past 5 days; and
- the half that were discarded during the packing process 3 weeks ago and never quite got put back...

Where it says Living Room - well, let me just say that maybe my starting line is a bit behind that of the average scoffer, who doesn't have to deal with me (you may understand that is a big handicap) or my 7 year old, who regards this room to be a craft workshop where her maid is a little tardy...

So of those 12 little ticks, you can see that 4 little ticks are really projects unto themselves. (come on, I did put all that folding away - that counts) (okay - how much should you dock for the hanging?)

I have a wonderful to do list template - I made it myself (rather than face some task one other day in my life - procrastination is a habit I have formed into a lifestyle) - and the first thing on the list is "Write List" - so that one item is already ticked by the time you print it!!!

I also have phone calls as check boxes. Forgot to write on appliance guy. But 60% of those that made it to the original list were called.

Oh - and then my honey got home from work early. So that was another phone call - and another tick. A big tick (with a smiley face and heart on it :D)

There - blog written - another tick - I may even have waded to the other end of today's tasks by tomorrow - but I am pretty happy with today's outcomes.

Except for the leafblower. Anyone else got leafblower issues? Or maybe some to-do list tricks? I think I may need to seek help - on both!!!

Anyhow - I had better go and sweep the driveway now - me and my big mouth!