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…
Wow the door lock situation is frustrating – especially not being able to get into your office. I would have been freaking out!
This has been a hectic week for us as I traveled mon/tues and then we hosted friends on thur and fri night for dinner. We totally mailed it in last night and basically bought everything (Guac, chips, grilled brats, make corn on the cob which was not very good). But we know this couple very well so knew they wouldn’t judge.
Lisa, I know! I was panicking. Thank goodness it wasn’t the weekend, and after some serious jiggling, pushing, pulling, etc., I finally got it open. Yikes!
You know what? That is NOT phoning it in on dinner. That is reality, and honestly? I am impressed you had friends over at the end of such a busy week. Twice! I’m sorry the corn wasn’t good, though – such a summery meal, and corn is one of those quintessential summer foods. I hope this week is a bit calmer for you, my friend.
Yessss…. little things can make a big difference! The door handle on our pantry came loose and it was SO annoying. But when I finally decided to take it apart, it was very easy to tighten the screws and now it works like it should!
Exactly! I always think, oh, I can’t do that, but often, I can. Didn’t you take apart the plumbing under your sink at some point, too?
Now if I can just figure out how to get a loose and slightly wrong-sized lamp shade to not wobble, we’ll be good. I am honestly thinking of using poster putty. I shall report back. (It’s an even cheaper vintage Target lamp, ha!)
Ha – I did do that! It was very satisfying!
Lol, Anne, when I saw “lamp” all I could think of was Steve Carrell in Anchorman. “I love lamp.”
All those little wins are so satisfying! I’d love to see a pic of your bins, but I know you’re a private gal. But that kind of organization is so interesting to me! BINS BINS BINS!
A meeting free Friday sounds like perfection, honestly!
And… here is where I reveal the depths of my cultural ignorance.
I have never seen Anchorman. I know. I know. I’m a complete moron when it comes to movies, songs, um…really, anything except books? I haven’t seen a movie since I streamed the last HP movie (#7 part 2) shortly after it came out. However! Given your endorsement, I shall seek out the clip. 🙂
These bins are great because a) they have handles on the ends, and b) they fit perfectly on my shelves. Oh! and no lids. I had bins with lids that I could never use because the bottles/other stuff IN the bins was too tall. 🙂
Great reminders of good things.
1. Naps
2. Tea
3. Books
4. Yoga
5. Car
6. Allergy meds
7. Sunshine on my face
8. Rain: to weigh the pollen down a bit
9. Puzzles (jigsaw)
10. Trampoline
Oh, Daria. Allergy meds. Seriously. Tis the season, right? And books, absolutely. I have a drive ahead of me Saturday and already debating what audiobooks I should borrow from the library… It really is the little things in life!
LED candles. I love how they come on automatically just as it’s getting dark and they make me so happy.
Warmer weather! I spent so much time outside last weekend. SO MUCH TIME. Hannah was just laying in the sun and living her best doggy life.
Our Biology Department has a bird cam up and I am loving seeing all the birds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSbM3x3aJmI
Sandhill crane in Madison raising a gosling!! https://www.weau.com/2024/05/30/mated-pair-sandhill-cranes-raised-solitary-gosling-dubbed-lucy/
Dresses and sandals ARE BACK, BABY! (Clearly the nice weather has gone to my head. I am like a brand new person.)
LOLOL. You ARE celebrating the nice weather. I, meanwhile, wore my “summer grey” instead of my “winter grey” yesterday. Ha. My only concession to warmer weather is wearing short sleeves underneath my long-sleeved tops and sweaters. I will let you be the reveler!
BIRD CAM OMG. Thank you for sharing! I need this in my life. Can I just leave it up all day?
Also, is it just me or is spring/summer in WI like someone flipping a switch? It’s winter! (Next day) Nope! It’s full-on summer! Go get sunburned!
Today I am thankful for antibiotics! My sister came down with a sudden and very serious infection that would have killed her quickly, and yet, here she is, feeling so much better and very much alive. OK, that’s not a little win, it’s a huge one. And it’s not anything that I had anything to do with. But still!
A little joy this week is finally finding a sofa that my husband and I both like and that we could afford. He has been SO unhappy with our last sofa, it had bottomed out and hurt his back. We gave our old one away on Facebook ‘Buy Nothing’, which is also a win.
Whenever I am able to fix something like your lamp, it feels like SUCH a win, though I usually scold myself for it taking so long to get around to it. Congratulations on that fix! Oh, yesterday my husband thought his hair clipper (over 20 years old) had died, and I figured it out…it was the outlet, just needed to be reset. Yay! I felt very smart. I would have felt smarter if it hadn’t taken me 20+ minutes of flipping our circuits around before I figured out that it was the outlet. In my defense, it wasn’t the outlet that he used that needed to be reset, it was a sister outlet in the other bathroom that apparently is on the same wiring or grid or whatever word one should use.
Julie, that is so scary about your sister! Oh, my. I am so glad that she is okay and that the antibiotics not only worked but were even available! I hope that she heals quickly.
Finding furniture when you have to agree with someone else on what to purchase is…challenging, to say the least. I am impressed that you found something both of you like! And got rid of your other one! I have debated replacing mine, but a) money, and b) it’s just so darned comfortable. However, c) I hate the color, so… yeah. Stay tuned.
GO YOU for figuring out the outlets! I did that a few years ago and felt like a champion renter. OTOH, last year (7 years after I moved in), I finally a) noticed a light switch and b) figured out what it turns on so, yeah. Winning some, losing some over here. 😉
Solving those little things is important!
The important little things for me lately have been 1. Cancelling my Adobe subscription (which perhaps is a bigger thing, at least money-wise), 2. A lady’s comments about my traps & lats in the gym (sounds so vain, but when I dig deeper, it’s about so much more than looks – blog post coming), and 3. Getting a code snippet (the only thing that makes me feel ChatGPT is useful for something) that actually works, to solve a problem with my blog front page that I’ve been frustrated over for a long time.
Susanne, I hope you realize that you are now ripped. Just telling it like it is. Seriously. Looking forward to that post, although it will be weeks before I comment on it, I suspect. Sigh.
And yay for canceling unneeded (and costly) subscriptions, and getting ChatGPT to work for you! I am despairing about the state of education in the AI era. Sigh. Life as a professor in 2025.
It will probably be weeks before I write it too! I’ve had another episode of overwhelm (but getting over it, slowly) and writing doesn’t really happen as I wish it would. But yes, I do realise I’m ripped, haha! I even had to see it for myself in the mirror when I came home.
I read something horrible about the state of American education a while ago – in the era of both AI, algorithm-caused cognitive decline (the more correct term as I see it because it’s about much more than declining attention span) and brain rot content. How students don’t care, leave classes to scroll their phones because they can’t focus, are unable to read, etc, etc. I don’t envy teachers/professors one bit. And I’m happy to not have kids and that I’m not young today.
My students aren’t that bad – honestly, that article sounds a bit dramatic, given what I have seen – but I do have to be firm that they are not allowed to use AI in my classes. These courses require critical thinking – you cannot learn to think critically if you are using an untested algorithm that hallucinates (for the love of Pete) to generate your work!
I am not ripped and, given my challenges with pain, probably never will be. I’ll settle for flexible and strong enough to do what I need to do. I have to know my limits, though, because if I try to go past them, my body lets me know. It kind of sucks – I wish I were able to lift more but it is just not in the cards…
Isn’t it amazing how one small change can make a world of difference? I’ve had a loose knob on a cabinet door in my kitchen for months and I really need to get out a screwdriver and FIX IT. I know it will make me feel good to have it done!
I recently blocked off every Friday from 1pm-5pm so people CANNOT schedule Friday afternoon meetings with me. That should be banned!
Go get the screwdriver, Stephany! You can do it! 🙂 Those damn knobs were driving me bonkers – sometimes, I’d completely forget and fling one on the floor. Super glue to the rescue.
These are school-wide meetings. My preferences do not matter. But whyyyy? I mean, who came up with that as a torture device? And also? The ones that are from 1-3 or whenever often are the long ones that involve lots of decisions and busy agendas. Even Friday MORNING would be better. Grumble, grumble…