Too hard

Mar 1, 2003

I tried to fix a lightbulb the other day. Now, now, no “How many Zuikers does it take to change a lightbulb” jokes, please. This particular light fixture had a glass globe, and I thought that I could twist it off. I twisted, and the entire fixture came out of the ceiling. Of course, I couldn’t get it back into the ceiling, so it hung for two days. The apartment maintenance man stopped in today, and laughed when he saw my handiwork. This man (the 10th maintenance worker in the 18 months we’ve lived here) is from Kenya. “You Americans try to make things so difficult,” he said. “When something gets too complex, stop. It’s simpler.”

Great advice. As you can tell from the timestamp on this post, I’m up late again. Now is a particularly intense time for us. Erin and I have numerous class assignments, work and freelance responsibilities, and household chores. Katherine Shaughnessy and Tom Michael arrive Wednesday, and Erin and I leave for our Spring Break trip to Costa Rica on Friday. When we return, we move to another apartment a week later. We have a summer to plan – I may spend 5 or 6 weeks with the CDC’s MMWR medical newsletter – and Erin’s job search to begin. And we’re not forgetting Anna, who is on the verge of talking and quite frustrated that she has to spend so much time indoors.

So, tomorrow, we simplify. Erin will go off for a few hours of much-needed studying, and Anna and I will take a walk to see the horses down the road.

How do you simplify your life?

Anton Zuiker ☄