Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda | Ecency

It's important to know your limits. While mental limits might be a little more flexible, physical limits are something that I don't tend to mess around with too much. At least not as much as I used to. I've been beating this drum for quite a while now, but I am getting old. It becomes more apparent to me each morning when I wake up and each day when I go to bed. @tarazkp wrote a post the other day where he was talking about constant aches and pains. He wondered if it's just something you have to deal with on a daily basis as you get older, and I definitely feel that.

No, I really feel that.

There's an "old" country song by Toby Keith (rest in peace) that is probably based on an even older saying that says:

"I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was".

I feel that too. There are certain things I know I could probably do, but should I? That's the question that either means living a comfortable life or living in pain for the next week or two.

I've got this bed of rocks in front of my house that used to look something like the photo above. Actually, before that it was a full flower bed, but I suck at keeping things alive, so we decided to change it over to rocks a year or two after we bought the house. I don't remember too much about doing that, but I know I did it all myself and I know that it took a lot out of me.

That was ten years ago

Now that area looks more like this. We also have an area near the house with rocks where some of them have been shifted and the coverage isn't that great. The plan is to move the rocks from this area to the other area (about ten feet away), and then fill this with soil and grass seed. Seems pretty simple right?

I started working on it last night, and I realized that it was either going to take me all summer to do it, or it was going to put me in the hospital trying. Clearly I let it go much longer than I should have. Part of me feels like I should have just let it continue to grow and maybe you would have never know the difference...

So @mrsbozz and I started talking about hiring it out to get it taken care of. My biggest concern is that there is a lawn sprinkler system somewhere underneath all of that, so you can't just go digging in there with a shovel at random. In addition to that, we want the rocks moved, but not the grass. Which also means you can't just go in there with a shovel, take a scoop, and move it from one place to another.

Which means while it is technically grunt work, it is going to take a little bit of precision and care to get it done the way I want. I reached out to my good friend @a4xjeeper the other day and asked him if he had any leads on cheap unskilled laborers who are reliable and details oriented.

He replied pointing out that "detail oriented sounds like skilled, not unskilled"

Which sadly today is probably true. I spent about an hour outside in the 80 degree heat yesterday working on a small section of the area. That's what prompted me to reach out to my friend. It's not really something I have the desire to do, which is pretty clear given how long I put it off. In addition to that, although I could do it, I am not sure I should. My back is still hurting from sitting on the ground scooping up rocks and carrying them in a five gallon bucket to the other area.

I made two trips, realized I had barely made a dent in the pile and said screw it.

It bugs me though, because I am not the sort of person who hires stuff out. There are certain things I know are above my paygrade or skill set, but I also grew up in a house where you fixed stuff yourself if you could, and if you couldn't you at least tried before you gave up.

I'm likely going to reach out to his nephew later this week to see if he is interested in making some extra money moving the rocks. I figure a young healthy individual can probably get it done in a couple of hours. I also got thinking that I might be able to make it a bit easier by trying to remove the grass ahead of time. Then all he has to do is worry about the rocks.

I've also determined looking back at the two photos above I need to do some work on that bed closer to the house too. That I think I can manage myself.

If I can find the time. Coulda, shoulda, woulda...