Folks Of Interest ARE YOU GUILTY OF PUTTING THINGS OFF? OR THE RAMBLINGS OF A PROCRASTINATOR

The nice weather helps. HRP

 

It's not that I procrastinate, it's just that I was born two weeks late and spent my whole life trying to catch up.

 

A family friend comes by and needs a toy car built for school the next day. The ones powered with a rubber band. Ya. So we head to the store at 7:00 at night. Look for rubber bands that are big. Find those ones used for exercises at K-Mart. Only store we went too. Head back home and build a wooden car with a large set of wheels from another toy. Rigged it up and it goes 30 feet down the sidewalk. She goes to school the next day and it goes over 50 feet down the hallway. With a Barbie doll sitting on top of it. All the others go less than 20 feet. She was told she did it wrong. Wrong kind of rubber bands. She argued and got an A. We all work better under pressure. Well, some of us do anyway. Some people just freak out.

 

Procrastination has taught me how to do 30 minutes of work in 8 hours and 8 hours of work in 30 minutes. HRP

 

The optimist believes this to be the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist sadly agrees.

 

Ye

 

What's ye mean? HRP

 

I'll finish typing yes when I get a "round tuit". Just can't seem to find my "Round Tuit"

 

I just thought it was some hipster jargon I wasn't familiar with. HRP

 

I was going to respond sooner, but I figured I had time.

 

Hello,

When I drove my first 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery, everything worked on the vehicle. The body was pristine, the tires were mounted on stock rims and were “newish.” The motor started on the first click and ran like a top. There was almost nothing to do except put in gas and go to the surf adventures all over So Cal. The only thing I found was the necessity for adding a quart of Valvoline every week.

This went on for months and the weekly expenditure was taken care of with the amount of teens inside of the sedan delivery on the way to our high school. Door to door service paid for gas and oil. I knew that putting in a quart of oil was an indication of something not being right. But, the odd thing was, there was no smoke coming from the tail pipe, no oil leaks on my mom’s pristine concrete backyard patio surface and nothing resembling oil on the motor. It just needed a quart, which months later jumped to two and then the cost went up too much. So, I started buying a gallon fill up of our neighborhood gas station’s reclaimed oil for less than the cost of a new quart of oil.

The Flathead motor ran so smoothly and never had a hiccup on any daily drives or those long distance road trips. But, on those road trips, there were two gallon containers of reclaimed oil strapped down in the rear of the sedan delivery. It depended on where we went on the coastline and how much was necessary in order to get back home. Sometimes, it was a half gallon, other longer distances required a full gallon of oil.

Jnaki

This went on for a while and finally, my brother told me to drive the sedan delivery to the local expert mechanic at our favorite Mobil Gas Station that we knew since the elementary school days. He had no idea of what was happening after his thorough check. His answer was to take the motor apart and rebuild the whole thing. So, the next step was to drive the sedan delivery to Los Angeles to see our family friend that was the super expert in all things mechanical and automotive wares.

After spending a few days of tinkering, his conclusion was also, to take apart the motor and rebuild the complete Flathead. But, procrastination stepped up and the enjoyment took over to downplay the need for reclaimed oil. Plus, it was on a teenager’s bank account and time away from the daily driver to high school. Not the most opportune time to shut down for a week or two.

For me, the nearby access to one of the most reliable Flathead motors was paramount to our enjoyment of great surf road trips and waves. In addition to not having any spare time to take the motor apart and rebuild the whole thing. Even though two Flathead experts mentioned a total rebuild, the back of my teenage mind told me that time away would not be better than the very reliable motor starting up every time, for any occasion.

The Flathead performed flawlessly for the next years through high school and when it was time to move away for college, it was sold to another surfer from Huntington Beach. 4 years of mystery always plays a funny tune in my mind. Would the total rebuild correct the oil usage? At what cost? It was not a guarantee… so I just plodded on with my reliable form of transportation for everyday activities and local cruising with friends.

This was the only big time incident of procrastination, but to me as a teenager, it was justified, according to the times.

 

Not me! If it is on my mental list I have to take care of it or I won't sleep well. Yes I have a problem.

 

I don't procrastinate. Things take along time for one of two reasons. I get distracted because my mind will go sideways in a heartbeat. Or, I see multiple solutions to a problem, then start a session of circular reasoning to figure out the best one.

 

I didn’t write the book, but I have a few chapters started.

 

I sure wish I had this problem!

 

But wait!

 

Well......my 32 3Window build thread is in its 4th year......

 

Yes, but I prefer to call this R&D.

 

Not as much as I use to, especially on the rod. At 72 if I should suddenly die, I know my kids would never be able to figure out what I was doing or how to finish it...lol














not as much

 

I am guilt of putting things off, lately it's been buying a new project car or driver.