You can’t be bored already!

Big news, The Big Guy finally got his severance package from The Company! We’ve been waiting for this for months and months and now it’s finally here.

Yesterday was his last official day of work. This morning, he’s puttering around in his office like he usually does this time of the morning.

At 10:00 am he says to me “I think I’m bored already.” Well I’m busy with my coffee and the newspaper and the daily Sudoku puzzle so I just try to blow him off with “You can’t be bored on your first day!”

He makes himself another coffee. I can tell he’s not going to go away that easy so I try “I’ve got a really long list of things that need doing if you’re really looking for something to do.”

“Like what?”

“Like fixing those lights in the ceiling there.” I indicate the ceiling light fixtures in the family room that he bought real cheap a few years ago. The heat from the light bulbs has yellowed the finish on the fixtures so that the glow is now an extremely unattractive orange-ish hue.

He mutters something I can’t quite hear (I’m a bit deaf) and retreats back to his office.

A few minutes later he’s back. “What else?”

I wave my hand at the walls. “I want to paint these walls. They’re really dark and ugly.”

This triggers a short discussion on the merits of the cedar wood strips on the walls, whether or not they are dirty, decorating 1980s-style vs. now, the difficulties of removing the wood, what the wood will look like if it’s painted, etc., etc. At last he asks, “What color?” Now I can tell I’ve won this round so I let him off easy with “I was thinking maybe a sort of a beach house blue.”

Of course, painting walls is way too big a job to start on your first day without gainful employment. But the mention of dirt has gotten his brain cells working.

The Big Guy, thinking that he’s distracting me from the wall-painting idea, asks “Are the spider webs still in my bathroom?” I mentioned the spider webs the last time I cleaned his bathroom. I had my glasses on while I was cleaning (something I don’t always do, wear glasses that is) so I noticed a lot of dusty spider webs up around the corners where the walls meet the ceiling.

I tell him, yes, they’re still there but he’s not too keen on hauling out the vacuum cleaner so he comes up with another idea.

He points at one of the cold-air intake vents that cycle cool air down to the furnace when it’s running. “Those are really dirty.” He’s right, the vent grills are covered with grimmy dust and dog hair. I nod. “I vacuumed them a couple of weeks ago but they really need to be taken off and washed.”

We’re both happy. He’s got something to do that he thought of himself. I get some cleaning done without having to do it myself.