This mirror is broken! It is reflecting poorly...

I have been slacking off in more ways than one. I have not been posting nearly as often as I am able. I have not made much headway as regards the financing of my education, I have not repainted the rails on the front porch of my townhouse, nor have I cleaned out my parents’ basement as promised.

On the other hand, I have been occupying my time with rather mundane and useless tasks that nonetheless allow me to pretend I’ve accomplished something. Examples of this include:

• Moving furniture around the house randomly and without planning much. I learned the intricacies of this most useless of tasks working for my first boss at the church. He loved to move stuff around, then put it back. More accurately – he loved telling me to move stuff around, then put it back.
• Preparing for the eventual move to school by shifting my possessions from one box to another. Corollary to this task is the reduction of my possessions by careful analysis of the contents of each and every box. In my defense, I do need to reduce my level of “stuff” by about 50% in order to fit it all in my room at school. However, if I don’t have my discounts, grants, and loans sorted out – the point will be moot.
• Busting my younger brother’s chops. My parents have pretty much exhausted themselves over the past decade in this task. So I figure I can help them out by stepping in and giving them a break. Does he listen to me any better than to them? Nope. It is irritating to watch your younger brother shoot himself in the foot. You can try to warn him, but that only works if he listens. Still, I tell Mom I berated him for his inaction, and she says, “Good job!” Ahhh… the glow of false accomplishment.
• Cleaning stuff that has no business getting cleaned. It does not make any sense to clean the underside of the trashcan lid. It is going to be skuzzy and germ ridden approximately 2.7 seconds later. But I didn’t let that stop me! Imagine – this is what I choose to do instead of locking down my financial aid! Hmmm… it occurs to me that my brother may not be the only one shooting himself in the foot.

It’s no fun when my own posts warp themselves before my very eyes and focus in on my shortcomings.