Saturday 9th March - Love and Temperament

We've been married for long enough now to get used to each other.

I try and view our natures as "complementary", rather than as "opposites".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boutet_1708_color_circles.jpg

So, in trying out certain kinds of ideas, such as home improvements, rearrangements of furniture, new colour schemes, my approach tends to be "let's give it a go!" I tend to plunge in, and do an experimental dry wet run. I reckon to try it all out using cheap approximations of what I am aiming for in order to get a feel for how it works. A quick trip to the shops, chuck everything that's in the way into the empty bath to clear a space, push, shove, pull, rip, cut, stick and hey presto. Then leave the debris everywhere because I'm plumb tuckered out. Let's go out for fish and chips tonight.

Once I've done it, I'll then know how it should have been done, and will be in a good position to go for the final solution. Makes perfect sense to me. I need to touch and feel and see the change in order to know what it is I really wanted.

The major, major, and insuperable flaw in this approach is, that having created the bodged together, string-and-sealing-wax solution, rickety-tickety oozy-woozy version, I will lose interest, and just let everything stop there. Somehow, I won't have significantly improved the situation. Let's be truthful. Everything is a thousand times worse than if I had left things well alone.

So what's his approach? It takes time. It involves asking and considering answers to lots of questions. It involves patience and research and investigation and measuring, lots and lots of measuring. There's all that visiting different shops WITHOUT buying anything. Pieces of paper. Plans. MORE measurements.

Then, in a weekend, or a day, or even a few hours of intense activity, the solution is implemented, in one go, everything is tidied away, and IT WORKS and is pretty near perfect.

After 35 years, I'm beginning to go with his methods. The waiting around, and the delays drive me insane with impatience, but I'm learning. His way is much better.

Usually.....