Perils of Proactivity...

In trying to improve my life, I have resolved to become less of a procrastinator. (See the realism there? I didn't say QUIT being a procrastinator...First rule of the FINISH book: don't let perfectionism keep you from going forward.)

Anyway, I'm trying to be proactive about problems, projects, goals...So I thought it would be a good example of my new resolve if I dealt with my washing machine's recent quirks.

Yes -- the dear old Maytag, 22 years old, and they don't make them like that anymore, the repairman says -- has lately been exhibiting some quirky behavior. I've been finding sopping wet laundry after the spin cycle with some normal size loads, or the thing has been shimmying it's way to one side or the other with no visible signs of an imbalanced load, and now and then, it shrieks, or squeals.

I decided that this time I would not wait for my appliance to be unusable before I checked into the health of its mechanical parts. I made a call to Lee, the best repairman ever, and felt quite smug and satisfied that I would not have any down time because the issue would be dealt with before a complete system failure occurred.

Except that when Lee got here, dear Maytag exhibited no signs or symptoms, and in fact, ran remarkably smoothly for an old machine, apparently. We went over all the symptoms and tried to recreate them, and Lee checked all the components that might cause them, but the old gal was running like a top, working like a charm.

So my proactivity cost me the better part of $100...and it is not lost on me that this is also an apt example of how my resolutions usually play out. I step boldly forth, and slip on a banana peel I didn't see sitting there...

Now, I am in that place where my resolve is most severely tested! I mean, why keep on this track when the reward is absent? Today my washer is the same as it was yesterday; in between, I just spent a bunch of money finding that out. (Note: I don't think the charge was unfair...Lee has saved my appliances more than once, and his expertise is deserving of the value.)

It was a pretty poor application of the resolution to be proactive...There is Peril in being Proactive. I recommend that you wait until your washer dies before calling the repairman. It may be fine to go to the doctor and pay $100 to find out you are not dying -- but it's doesn't play out that way when it's a washing machine.

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