A Day Off

   I woke up late this morning. It was so late the other half was already up and dressed. That rarely happens; she's not a morning person. That gave me pause. I knew I'd been doing a lot lately but didn't realize just how tired I was until this morning. I decided then and there to take the day off.
   There were magazines to be read, lots of loafing to do, and a book to finish, all good things to do on a crummy April day. Looking out at the leaden sky started me thinking--always a dangerous thing. Last April was much warmer and drier. What was the difference this year? Then it hit me. I had promised myself to do a project this winter. Now, four weeks into the Spring that isn't, I had not given a thought to that winter project. My unkept promise had kept the winter going. I was the reason for the lousy weather.
   Back in September I moved my table saw, bench grinder, and drill press out of my small basement workshop and into the garage. That room was way too small for any job of size and the effluvia from those power tools was choking in such a small space. I put the saw and grinder on a movable table which I roll to the open garage door when I use it and all the dust goes outside.
   That left a lot of space in the basement shop. Unfortunately, that space was in the form of an empty workbench. Like any horizontal surface on the planet, it began to collect stuff and the space became less usable than it had been with the tools on it. (Disclosure:  All that stuff on the bench was what I'd moved out of the garage to make room for the power tools.) My promise was to organize all that stuff which was mostly hardware of every size and description. Screws, nuts, bolts, clamps, drill bits, and countless other small items littered every corner of that room as did sawdust collected from years of projects. Also on the bench was the compartmented container I was going to organize all the small parts in.
   So, this evening after the wife came come from work and made me a nice pasta dinner (yep, she has sisters and they're available), I got a burst of energy and went downstairs to keep my promise. I never got to the organization project but, after two hours, I now have a clean space in which to do it. Stuff was ruthlessly thrown out or recycled and all those small parts are in containers from which they'll be assorted into containers with their kin.
   Spring should start any day now.