On Being Retired

Today (Saturday) I was trying to hang a new shelf in the laundry room. It is one of those annoying projects I really don't want to do and partly for that reason it wasn't going well.

My stud finder tantalized me with errant beeps and buzzes that were unfailingly useless. I ended up hammering a small nail into the drywall in a regular path across the wall trying to find the studs, none of which seemd to be where I expected them to be.

Further, I had started with the rather grand idea of building something that would insure no socks would fall behind the washer/dryer. Of course I then had to plan on a way to access the water valves (you're supposed to turn the water off when being absent on trips - which I never remember to).

As I think about it, if I turn the valves off I'll forget to turn them back on and Hazel will come to me in alram because somethings wrong with the washer. Not really a bad thing because I'll get my toolbelt and putter around moment or two, turn the valves back on and declare it fixed. Hazel will then exclaim "my hero" and continue to worship my handyman skills.

Whats this got to do with being retired? Old habits of thought are slow to die, while feeling especially frustrated, the thought flirted through my mind that I was wasting my whole WEEKEND on that damn shelf.