Flop Turn River

Some days are destined to be crap.  No matter what you try to do, you end up doing nothing.  If you’d known this was going to be a throwaway day, you’d plan for it.  You’d enjoy your lack of productivity instead of increasing your frustration.  If you were Charlie and me, you’d watch poker on TV and you wouldn’t feel guilty.

Charlie told everyone he was taking the day off to tile the bathroom.  Knowing he didn’t have to get up early, he stayed up much later.  9:00 a.m, the time I start feeling guilty for not working, came and went without him.  Not a good, sensible, productive start to the day.

With me, it’s 50/50 whether I’m going to get anything done during the course of any day.  When the things you do aren’t tangible, you can do a lot of nothing before anyone notices.  You can pass for working when you look busy and you’re working for yourself. 

Charlie wakes up and starts watching poker on TV.  If I keep working, he’d look unproductive so I start watching, too.  Is poker this interesting if you’re not avoiding anything productive? 

People are so worried about losing money.  What about all that lost time?  Tournaments can last four days which you’ll never get back.  You can watch poker on TV all morning without a chance of winning a nickel.  I know, because that’s exactly what we did.

“I like watching poker because the best liar wins,” Charlie says.  “Usually when you lie, you lose.  It’s definitely different than work.”

Charlie played poker only once, and that was with people from work at a retreat.  “I had to keep looking at the cheat sheet to figure out what kind of hand I had,” he said.  “I ended up winning a lot of money.  I haven’t played since.  I’m gambling on this house for now.”

The only reason we stopped watching poker is because we were cut off.  We weren’t strong enough to stop on our own.  When the tournament ended, we got up as fast as we could.  We could have justified watching anything at that point, even the History channel.

Charlie went upstairs and got to work.  He wanted to make sure the plumbing worked well enough before he sealed it in behind the new tile.  I knew how well it worked by the sounds coming from the bathroom.  Swearing isn’t a good sign. 

“You know what a diverter is?” he said.  “You twist it one way for a shower and the other for a bath.  On ours, twist it one way and you get a shower and a bath.  Twist it the other way and you get nothing.  I’m off to Home Depot.”

He came back, worked for a little bit until he got frustrated again.  He bought and tried two different diverters.  Both gave you a shower and a bath at the same time.  He decided the diverter might not be the problem.

He got a flashlight and looked into the inside guts of the control tree.  “There’s thirty years of goop in here.  No wonder it doesn’t work.  I probably should have looked at it first.  That’s why I’m not a plumber.” 

When you give up, you call a professional.  He called Kevin, our trusty sub and friend who did so much work this fall, we have hope we’ll finish this house.

Charlie showed Kevin the aged goop inside the control tree.  “You know, I think you need a new tree,” he said.  “I’ll come over and help you do it.”

“I’ve got a better idea,” Charlie said.  “Why don’t you do it when I’m in Florida next week?”

“Okay.”

That was the end of that day.  Charlie wouldn’t have been any more productive if he’d stayed the couch.   Even your day is sometimes a gamble.

A little help? [] 7:54:23 PM