{"id":111,"date":"2015-11-12T20:43:35","date_gmt":"2015-11-12T20:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.outofthebilge.com\/?p=111"},"modified":"2015-11-12T20:46:19","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T20:46:19","slug":"costs-and-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.outofthebilge.com\/?p=111","title":{"rendered":"On Wee Beasties, Plows, and Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mouse\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I had a gentleman come down to the boat recently\u00a0to give me some quotes for doing some work. There is so much that needs doing.<\/p>\n

People seemingly familiar with boats, will scoff and tell you “Duh! It’s a BOAT!!!” as though you’re na\u00efve or foolish at being overwhelmed with the laundry list of “needs doing”. (Though those who have been there will sympathize.)<\/p>\n

I didn’t go into this boat thing na\u00efvely or ignorantly. I knew there’d be regular maintenance (just like on a land-based home) and I knew that maintenance would be costly (because hello boat and hello life). I had a plan. \u00a0A best laid scheme, even.<\/p>\n

But Mousie, thou art no thy lane,<\/strong>
\n(But little Mouse, you are not alone,)<\/em>
\nIn proving foresight may be vain:<\/strong>
\n(In proving foresight may be vain:)<\/em>
\nThe best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men<\/strong>
\n(The best laid schemes of mice and men)<\/em>
\nGang aft agley,<\/strong>
\n(Go often askew,)<\/em>
\nAn’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,<\/strong>
\n(And leave us nothing but grief and pain,)<\/em>
\nFor promis’d joy!<\/strong>
\n(For promised joy!)
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

~Robert Burns<\/p>\n

Things gang aft agley an’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain
\n<\/em>Yes.<\/p>\n

What I didn’t count on was for those plans to be essentially laid to waste.
\nRepeatedly.
\nRepeatedly.
\nThe plows that can dig up a little home so unexpectedly, yet so thoroughly.
\nThey even dig up the contingency schemes.<\/p>\n

I am discouraged a bit. And having to recalibrate paths and plans is disheartening to me. I find that I am severing dreams and hopes again. Temporary situations become long-term accomodations, sometimes permanent, and it’s important to acknowledge that those things\u00a0ARE<\/em>\u00a0actually<\/em> the way they are, and that it isn’t not counting one’s blessings or needing advice or needing to work harder, but rather, once again, a steeling of the will to continue forth in the absence of the hope one has held and to create a life where one actually is.<\/p>\n

All of the choices seem to loom with terrible consequences and I ache at having to concede.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had a gentleman come down to the boat recently\u00a0to give me some quotes for doing some work. There is so much that needs doing. People seemingly familiar with boats, will scoff and tell you “Duh! It’s a BOAT!!!” as though you’re na\u00efve or foolish at being overwhelmed with the laundry list of “needs doing”. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-practical-matters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.outofthebilge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.outofthebilge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.outofthebilge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.outofthebilge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.outofthebilge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=111"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.outofthebilge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117,"href":"http:\/\/www.outofthebilge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions\/117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.outofthebilge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.outofthebilge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.outofthebilge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}