On Chores

When you're a kid, you of course hated doing chores even if you got money out of it.

Nowadays as an adult you do chores because it needs to get done. You don't want to live in a pigsty, now do you?

With me on the other hand it's more about being productive or just not being bored. Sure, I have video games, Blu-ray/DVDs, video games, books, the time I spend online, going to karate and off course napping. But those can only last for so and you can only find the time to do so much stuff like this whether you need to or not.

That's why I am writing this piece.

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It used to be where if you were told by your parents to clean your room, it felt more like a punishment. As an adult on the other hand, it feels more like that a dirty room is an inconvenience to get around, it smells funny or that it gets to a point where you would have to bring in a specialist to make it look/smell better. You don't want mold and dirt all over the place, do you?

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I know many of you hate shoveling snow during the winter and I don't blame you.

It's cold out, the snow can be heavy sometimes and you're sweating inside your coat.

If I had a snowblower it would be easier, but I can't find the room for one in my shed for the time being, so I am stuck with using shovels that at least are easy on my back.

At least salting the ice is pretty easy.

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Spring to Autumn is actually my favorite time of the year to be doing chores. It's gets me up off my butt and doing something other than trolling the internet or playing video games. Because that's when I can do work outside on my property.

I love planting vegetables outside and then later having to water them.

I also don't hate mowing the lawn. It is simpler to do than the big lawn I had when I lived in Arden Hills and much smaller than the lawn I had to mow when I was living on Fremont Ave.

There are some trees in front of my house. One set looks like they need some serious work done on its color while the other is still green for the time being. Either way, I trim around them when I am not watering both the trees, along with the bushes, the lawn and my vegetables, provided it did not rain that day.

Speaking of rain, I have a rain barrel which as you know collects rainwater. When it's full and I have time to do outside chores, I empty the rain barrel, one bucket at a time into my compost, until it reaches the bottom (or close to it), which I then drag the barrel (which is more clumsy than heavy) and dump the rest of the contents into the compost.

Before you say anything, no, I do not do this kind of work outside when it's hot enough to cook a meal on the pavement.

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Last and not least: dishes and laundry.

If I could count how many times a week I have to do the dishes, I'd say three times a week and that's if my mom doesn't find time to do them. It does often feel like I do them every day and that's not counting the tubs I have the dirty dishes in to clean them.

I usually soak them for about an hour in hot water before rinsing them, which I then use a separate tub to rinse them and then leave them in a separate container to dry out.

Recently I have had a problem with the indoor plumbing, so I often just dump the leftover water outside rather than let

When it comes to laundry that's mostly a weekend thing.

I do usually three loads: my white karate uniform, socks & underwear, and shirts & pants/shorts.

I have been told I can save money on the energy bill by doing this after 9pm, so I do them just then.

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Not really trying to give advice here, just wanting to share my thoughts on doing stuff around the house that needs to get done.