To take the Walt Kelly quote "We have met the enemy and he is us" out of context a little isn't hard to do. It was penned in different times but holds relevance through the ages. Oftentimes the worst thing you can do is nothing. Other times the something you do is worse. It is an absolute truth that you can be your own worst enemy if you blindly stumble in without doing the research. I believe it to be a fact in the Internet age with the amount of information literally at our fingertips that any project can be accomplished by anyone. If you don't make use of this valuable asset you are working against yourself from the outset and could well wind up paying someone like me to tidy up your mess. This needn't be the case.
Planning can save you time, money, effort and frustration. What is not to love about that? You can pick a project, research materials, locate them, purchase the tools to work with them and have it all in front of you at the beginning of the task instead of a bunch of running back and forth because you have the wrong blade or forgot the primer. Larger projects like a deck can actually be planned at the big bonanza warehouse superstore. What will happen is they will get on a computer that will render a 3D rendition of your project and give you a list of a bunch of stuff you don't need but the computer is programmed to try to sell you. This is OK as long as the store's return policy allows for the return of the stuff you find you don't actually use.
An afternoon spent planning the weekend before the actual project can mean the difference in a success or a boondoggle that you wish you never undertook. Use all the tools at your disposal and if you happen to be reading this then you have a good one at your fingertips. You can read the back of a can of paint for application instructions but you can find a video online for application demonstrations. This is a case where doing your homework means you really ought to do your homework before you start the homework.
Planning can save you time, money, effort and frustration. What is not to love about that? You can pick a project, research materials, locate them, purchase the tools to work with them and have it all in front of you at the beginning of the task instead of a bunch of running back and forth because you have the wrong blade or forgot the primer. Larger projects like a deck can actually be planned at the big bonanza warehouse superstore. What will happen is they will get on a computer that will render a 3D rendition of your project and give you a list of a bunch of stuff you don't need but the computer is programmed to try to sell you. This is OK as long as the store's return policy allows for the return of the stuff you find you don't actually use.
An afternoon spent planning the weekend before the actual project can mean the difference in a success or a boondoggle that you wish you never undertook. Use all the tools at your disposal and if you happen to be reading this then you have a good one at your fingertips. You can read the back of a can of paint for application instructions but you can find a video online for application demonstrations. This is a case where doing your homework means you really ought to do your homework before you start the homework.
No comments:
Post a Comment