Opposites Attract

I made a list of things I wanted to be done in the next few days. Every item on the list is to complete a project. The list is long and I won't even show it to He Who seems to be incapable of finishing anything .... other than mowing.

We purchased a Mr. Heater recently and I had to move things to find a spot to hang it on the wall. It came with optional feet, but I knew that Oscar would want to mark it. He likes for any nose to know what belongs to him. Being the alpha, you know. I didn't relish the thought of cleaning it daily .... or the fact that heated up Oscar smell would be a bit much.

We read the directions and noted that there needed to be 8" on either side and directly in front of the heat source. We managed a spot the met the requirements. There was a skinny floor cabinet on the wall with the monitor for the security cabinets mounted above it. I took care of the cabinet and the contents and He Who is in charge of all things electrical removed the monitor and all the different feeds from the cameras. He laid the components willy-nilly throughout the living area.

I grabbed a box and had him put all the gadgets with wires in it. I gave him a look when he placed the monitor on MY chair and he picked it up and took it to the extra bedroom. The control box, that is about the size of a DVD player was left on the table, covered in dust. The table upon which we partake of food. I cleaned it off and stuck it in a cabinet in the hall.

This all happened a couple of weeks ago. The heater is a dream. It uses very little propane and the spot I chose was close enough to hook up to the same line the central unit uses. We don't like to use the central unit because it heats the entire building. We only want to heat the living quarters. The old unit sucks up the propane like crazy.

He Who loves to build a fire was going to mount it on an outside wall so that he could drill a hole through the wall to the outside, where he intended to put a small propane tank. The spot he chose would have pretty much eliminated the small dining table and chairs. I like my plan better. Just so you know, he still builds a fire every day. Still gets the temperature too high every evening.

Today, with the weather being mild, I mentioned moving the Wi-Fi modem and hooking it up to the antennae he bough 18 months ago. He planned to move the modem inside to make it a lot easier to re-boot it when necessary. So, with my suggestion (along with my reasoning), fresh in his mind, he decided to re-mount the monitor and controller for the security system. This particular chore requires no reason to be outside. It is supposed to be colder tomorrow and he could have done it then .......

Okay, I am just happy he is tackling any of the chores on my secret list. When he removed the big bracket that held the monitor I was painting the broom closet and re-arranging all my cleaning supplies. There was a big toggle bolt that went through the wall and I distinctly remember handing the back part of the assembly to him, since it was on my side of the wall he was working on. Today he asked me where I put the toggle thingies. "In your hand." I said. He says he can't find them.

I have played this game before and knew that he was getting ready to go buy more. I insisted that he stop for a minute and think about where he might have put them. He found something else that he said "would work" and located a stud in the wall. Then we had the "where did you put" all the rest of the components conversation. I located all of the items. "I need a power source to plug all of these in." He looks at me as if I might just have that in my pocket as I am washing the dishes.

Once again, I stop what I am doing to run down all the surge protectors we own (and it is a lot of them). None of them met his requirements. The four things he has to plug in are long, so that one would cover the space of two outlets. He showed me the problem and said he needed one with the outlets that are "sideways". He is on a shopping spree as I write this. I did not argue, or point out that he had made it work before without a shopping trip. Instead I just handed him a list of things I needed from the grocery and the drug store and sent him on his way.

See, I told you he does not shop like I do. I make a list and try to anticipate what I need and get it all in one trip. He would rather get one item a trip and run back and forth. I guess opposites do attract.