Normally my life is undemanding. That is, there is certainly little required of me; and generally I require as little of myself (other than what is to be expected of moral behaviour generally). There was a time when from the moment of my awakening I contemplated the list of matters urgently or necessarily requiring my attention. But those days of imperative or what I whimsically call my days of “service to the rich” have thankfully concluded – and beneficially all considered if I may add. Today however I was overtaken by the necessity of detail – most of which was admittedly of no pressing importance. My spectacles needed to be tightened; and my sunglasses (the ones I keep in the car – the Maui Jim’s) needed to be cleaned. As it turned out more than one pair of my glasses required adjustment; and naturally they all had to be cleaned afterwards. Those obligations alone would have been sufficient occupation. The further prerequisite was the location of the optical screwdriver which I customarily leave in the front compartment of the shaving kit I use when traveling. The shaving kit is in turn left in my favourite Briggs & Riley bag. The bag is stored at one end of my clothes closet, at the bottom of whatever other portables I customarily bring back from Florida after our winter sojourn. This meant I had the laborious task of emptying that part of my clothes closet then withdrawing the screwdriver and afterwards reassembling the lot! Whew! So much for trifling detail!
In anticipation of that particular domestic undertaking I had as is my custom driven to Stittsville to have the car washed after returning from my decidedly fresh bicycle ride during what was at times a snow squall. While driving the car I contemplated the commercial transaction of purchasing another optical screwdriver. I knew for example that the several nearby drug stores would likely carry them. I had seen an optician’s shop adjoining a chain grocery store in Bells Corners. There was even the good possibility that the local hardware store would have such an item.
What weighed against all this was two-fold. First, I already had one; and though it would as I have indicated require some not inconsiderable effort to get at it, I didn’t really need to cultivate the Western vulgarity of having a useless number of everything. Second, for years I have complimented myself for having bought the one I have. It works ideally whenever required – a succinct characteristic which I trust you’ll agree describes perfection! The risk one takes when buying things at pharmacies and hardware stores is that the quality is not always assured. And when it comes to petty items such as optical screwdrivers it is more likely than not that if you’ve got a good one already, it was an accident and you should hang onto it! Armed with this incontrovertible logic, I decided I could bear the deprivation of another optical screwdriver.
As you can see the commitment to securing the temples of one’s spectacles is an onerous performance which is greatly underestimated! Add to all this that I discovered upon returning home and removing my top-siders there was a tiny grain of gravel in the bottom of one shoe. When I sought to remove it I then saw a thread had become dislodged from a main part of the shoe. The temptation was great to yank the thread from the shoe! But having been trained many years ago by an uncommonly domestic chap from Australia (whom by the way I met only by coincidence when calling upon a friend of mine early one morning) that one must “never pull, always snip“, I directed myself immediately to the bathroom drawers in search of a pair or scissors. I skilfully removed the thread from its annoying projection and returned to the job at hand – fixing the glasses.
By comparison to that huge complication, the preparation of dinner this evening was a breeze! Sure, it’s just a repeat of what I’ve had practically every night for the past year or more; but in defence it’s fresh and raw! That’s enough detail for the moment!