A Poor Retired plumbers Take on Restriction Boredom

Hi there’re fraternity.

I’m not sure what the restrictions are with our friends across the pond, but ours are split into tiers, depending on the infection rate in the graphical areas. We have approx. four tiers, going from lowest to highest for the most infected areas.

The area in which I live i.e. Angus has just dropped from tier 3 to tier 2, which means I might have to invite relatives over for Christmas, something that was not allowed in tier 3. Bit of a bummer, but there is a slight chance we may get back into tier 3. One can only hope.

So what’s this letter about, it’s about boredom, at present we are not allowed to travel anywhere, that means to another high tier area, out of Scotland, holidays and so on. Essential travel only.

So my wife is stuck in the house with yours truly. My conversation is very limited and consists of comments such as, do you know what Desert Rat Tom is up to. Limited response.

Now, my mate is in the same predicament as myself and informs me he has been around the house half a dozen times. He has DIY’d the hell out of it. He even got a slotted screwdriver and started to realign the heads of the screws on his door hinges.
He is a train driver and been sent home in March and can’t get back to work due to industry COVID regulations.

In desperation he ordered a pizza oven online and decided to make the best pizza ever. It’s taken him a few months to perfect the process, but recently sent me photos of his attempts. Unfortunately, due to restrictions he can’t give them away and his house now looks like the witches’ house in Hansel and Gretel, except pizzas instead of sweets, and he now weighs in at 23 stone, as does his wife and son.

So what about me, well went down the same path as my friend, apart from the 12 inchers for breakfast lunch and supper. And decided on getting organized in the workshop.

Now at this point you may be chasing about my post looking for lots of photos of my various projects and progress, but alas no, no one wants to see a realigned screw head.

As I stood there in my part of the house and looked around I realized I am actually quite organized. After every project I always get my good wife out here to get my tools cleaned and stored and she is particularly good at getting rid of sawdust. So, what to do.

So here it is, a series of boxes which are functional, not pretty, but more importantly they keep me busy,

Box one is for all my cat, and coax cable fittings and tools.
Box two is for all my Allen keys and driver bits

Now box three is a bit embarrassing. I enjoy a newspaper cartoon strip call Garfield and he lives with the most boring owner in the world called Jon who likes nothing better than to organize his sock drawer, well I think I am turning into him as my third box is for organizing my cable ties, i.e. length, thickness and color coordination. It doesn’t get better or worse than this depending on your perspective on life.

As you will notice box three is not complete, I am busy cutting and fitting the internal divisions, only another thirteen to go, getting quite excited. I have inserted some of the cable ties into the unfinished box just to give you an insight, not to the wonderful craftsmanship on display, nor the amazing collection of ties I have, but to demonstrate my current frame of mind and my ability to create a plethora of oversized containers that keeps one relatively sane in these troubled times.

After reading this please do not laugh your socks off unless you have a properly organized compartmental sock drawer


So, lads and lasses will I survive, with mind and body intact, only time and tier will tell.

Colin
Somewhat restricted in Scotland