I’ve had a lot of Big Things on my plate this semester, and sometimes (or maybe most of the time) I’ve felt completely overwhelmed. But a series of little things that made life better in the last few weeks made me smile. The list, in no particular order…
- Locks. I had so much difficulty a few weeks ago opening my research office door, I thought I was losing my mind. Then one of my students messaged me that she was having difficulty. (Thank goodness, I wasn’t losing it!) Facilities came and said they fixed it. I tried again the next day – nope. No better. They came back again and this time, whatever they did made it so much easier to open. Then the same thing happened to my office door. I could not get in one day, which is Not Good when your computer, keys, wallet, and generally everything that makes life tick along is behind the locked door you can’t open. Yet again, Facilities came and, this time, worked their magic the first time ’round. Working locks. Such a small thing, yet so helpful.
- Lamp. I am the Queen of Cheap Lamps. I think the one on my end table is from Target about 20 years ago. I’m sure it was <$10. Regardless, the… well, heck, what is it called? The spindle? Body? The vertical, um, thing that connects the base and the bulb/shade. Whatever it’s called, it was spinning, which means that every time I turned the lamp on or off, it spun just slightly and was slowly driving me mad. I took the cloth off the bottom of the base, located the nut that holds the base in place, and tightened it. Voila. Stable, non rotating lamp. Another small thing.
- Knobs. The knobs for one of my drawers have pulled out forever. Daily. Multiple times a day. I finally took some super glue and glued the darn things in. Ta da. No more loose knobs. I also did not glue my fingers together – another not-so-small win.
- Bins. I bought bins online through Ikea. They fit perfectly on my bathroom shelves, and I am planning to buy more. Bonus – it’s not Target, but rather, a company I’m happy to support.
- No meeting Friday. I had a rare thing a few weeks ago – a meeting-free Friday. It was absolute bliss. (Our faculty/governance meetings are usually on Friday afternoons, yes, it’s dumb, but I am not in charge…) And, of course, with the end of contract next week, no regularly scheduled meetings until August. (The irregularly scheduled ones will take up plenty of time, thanks…)
It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen. ~John Wooden
Any little wins in your lives recently, friends? I think we can all use them these days…