Projects Those goddamned "30 minute jobs" that aren't

Fucken right!!
I can’t afford myself and that’s why my stuff ain’t done. Pisses me right off I’ll tell ya.

 

I spend 5 minutes thinking about doing the job

 

Been looking for my circular saw for 2 weeks.

 

My wife doesn't believe me when I say it'll be a fast project. She groups them by "half day" and "all day".

 

"Ok....where.....where...where's that washer I JUST had?"

"9/16 socket....hmmm.....where....where'd it go?"

Yep 30 min.

 

I think what worse is working for a guy that thinks everything is a 15 minute job even if it's a 3 hour job.

 

My favorite experience is getting a job done in 30 mins, then looking around on the garage floor or work bench , only to notice a part that should have gone on first before the other 9 parts did.

 

I figure the average 5 minute job like this: 6 or 7 minutes to figure out which tools I'll need, 12 to 14 minutes to find those tools, 7 to 10 minutes to move crap to get to said project, another 12 to 15 minutes to do the job, back to 6 to 8 minutes to put the crap back in place and then 5 minutes to throw the tools up some place to find for next project.

Then and THIS is the best part, 6 minutes to stand back and admire my handy work only to realize I forgot to install the Damn needed snap ring! Sooo... Ok where did I lay those tools again ?

 

I tend to find my missing tools at my son's house across town.

 

I questioned the little creep and he swore he returned it. Lol!

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Went to move a light switch in my kitchen, was on hinge side of door. Could not change door swing as it would have hit table. switch fed off light, had to open ceiling to put in longer wire. Found the ceiling was doubled up, some prior person had put a second one under the original, tore both out. Found the wiring in the ceiling was still knob and tube. Rewired circuit, put in 6 pot lights as long as it was open,
mover the switch. Replaced ceiling. When I turned the new lights on it really showed how bad the avocado green countertop looked. Tore countertop out, installed new counters and sink/faucet. Damn the cabinets now looked bad, refaced them, new hinges and handles.
Looked at the floor and decided to move to the other side.

 

My wife has my time frames memorized. When she asks when I’ll be done with something.

5 mins= up too but not longer than 30mins

30 mins= from 1-2 hours

My favorite is “almost done”= it could be anywhere from 5-7 hours! Might as well through throw the day out the window.


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Watch your fucking language bro,kids around.

 

Then you can't forget the three hour clean up that you need to do after tearing your shop all to hell finding everything you needed to do the fifteen minute job that you spent most of the day doing.

 

When I was younger I didn't mind helping out friends on their cars after an eight hour day at my real job, What they would usually say was it will only take a couple of minutes....If that was true why didn't they do it themselves ? Older and wiser now, I only tinker on my own shit after work now.

 

if your at the 5 min mark= maybe seek a NASA job!

 

If it takes you longer than 5 minutes to do anything you're doin' it wrong, the guy on the assembly line never had that much time!

 

When I was young all jobs were 5 minutes. Now that I am old 10 years later and I still haven't finished the projects I started!

Denny

 

I am glad I am not the only one it happens to,the older I get the longer it takes to to everything.

 

Didn't know that there was such a thing as a 5 minute job. Like others said already, it ends up fixing or detailing something else while I'm at it.

Definitely been there! Too many times to count. Just happened 2 days ago.

 

Didn't know that there was such a thing as a 5 minute job. Like others said already, it ends up fixing or detailing something else while I'm at it.

 

I finally solved that problem, just started buying him his own. Birthdays, Christmas, etc.

 

Just because they get used to it doesn't mean they like it.

 

I understand, managed tool and die for 8 years, very talented, very tempermental group. Also had repair welders, how many times can you tell someone its not OK to set your co workers pant leg on fire while hes concentrating on a tig weld. Started walking that guy out the door.

 

I shocked myself the other day by actually finishing a small project in the amount of time it should have taken. 40 years ago that was the norm and now it takes longer to find what I need for the project than to do it some times.
Outside of knees that tend to get tired long before the rest of me I have adult A D D and have a hard time staying on task and not getting distracted. Pretty much like the dog in the comics "OH Squirrel" and off I go doing something totally unrelated to the task I was doing. Stuff gets done, just not what I was supposed to be doing.

 

I swear that the time I think a job will take is accurate, at least it would have been right 50 years ago, now it is anyone's guess how long it will take!

 

Your story reminds of my ( old, money pit ) charming house in the country I purchased 39 years ago, sold 9 years ago. We decided to update kitchen some first, new flooring, realized cabinets looked bad, new doors/drawers, hardware, reface framing, countertop. sink, plumbing, add some custom cabinetry, lighting, you get the picture, complete redmodel, Wow, turned out great, BUT now rest of downstairs looked awful, Ok room by room, redo entire downstairs, Wow ! looks great, go upstairs to bedrooms, same Shit, looked terrible, So..... 4/5+ years and approx 60/70K ??? + K later, did majority ourselves, jobed out some, house was nice, including, rewiring, new plumbing, heating system, well, septic, relandscaped, etc. I did suggest to all of my kids, Don't buy an old house. All of my kids purchased/built new homes, probably because after living in the mess and listening to me bitching, the stress level involved, decided they didn't want the fun of a partial/total remodel. Girls married guys that were not DIY type, Sons interested in only minor DIY. Funny none of them are in the car Hobby, they all drive new stuff, So thinking my pleasant demeanor working on my cars/racers probably influenced that also. LOL

 

The 5 minut Jobs mulitply when one has several cars...... I take the 32 Roadster to the Shop since the light stopped working, quick fix.... Leave it there because it's late for supper and the kid need to go to beed... Take the other car to go home... Shit there is a puddle of liquid on the floor, quick fix, right? Finaly comming home manny houer later... Kid fell a sleep on the rumbleseat, too late to eat. Wife has gone to bed......Dinner crumbled to black something in the oven.

Little note on the table: Dinner in the oven. Enjoy. Please bring kid to school and make sure it had a good healthy breakfast, no Problem for you, takes only 5 minutes!
Your dear Wife.

 

Good, fast, and cheap, you can have two, but not all three. If it’s good and cheap, it won’t be fast. If it’s fast and cheap, it won’t be good!


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Ok , so here it is Sunday afternoon been working at the shop all day ,came home decided to change the oil my daily driver 56 PU....Pulled the drain plug and it felt a little funny coming out....you guessed it the SOB is stripped need to drive it to work tomorrow so the wife is on her way to Oriellys for a cheesy oversize drain plug. So much for that 30 minute job. Oh well , think I'll put the 406 out of the 37 in it as its getting kinda tired anyhow