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Jennifer D. Wade Journal

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Plan D

Or, When Smart People Do Stupid Things.

It's Sunday, a day of rest.  And, I guess my brain decided to rest today because it certainly wasn't doing much thinking - at least not any that made any sense.

For example, earlier in the day I wondered if the Phillies problems were somehow my fault.  Because, it seemed like every time I watched a game or listened to one on the radio, the Phillies would lose.  Twice I had the radio on when the Phillies had a late-inning lead, and twice I heard the announcers describe the action as ace reliever Tom Gordon promptly gave up the tying/winning runs.

Yesterday, however, I did not have a chance to catch the game.  What happened?  Cole Hamels pitched a complete game and struck out 15 batters.  The Phillies turned a triple play, and Chase Utley finally started to hit.  And, oh yeah, the Phillies won.  So, you can see why I thought I might be the source of their problems.

Today, I listened to the game off and on, and the Phillies still managed to win.  So, I guess I'm off the hook for their early-season problems.  But, the faulty thinking, that's all me.

On this day of rest, I decided that a good project might be to rinse out my trash cans and waste baskets.  I took the largest one outside and rinsed it off with the hose.  I inherited the hose and a few plastic nozzles from the previous homeowner.  Like a lot of other stuff in the house, the hose and nozzles are probably 20 years old - or more.  One of my initial "home improvement" projects was to buy a reel for the old hose so it wouldn't be lying in the driveway in a tangled mess. 

Anyway, I'm out there rinsing out the trashcan with the old hose and the crappy nozzle.  And, I think, "Hey.  I still have some money left on a gift card.  I'll go to a home improvement store and buy a new hose and a new nozzle.  Then, I'll put them on the reel, and get rid of the old hose and the old nozzles."  That was Plan A, and it was a good plan.  I thought.

Until I got back from the store, that is.  I unhooked the old hose from the reel, and piled it in the driveway.  Then, I hooked up the new hose and started to wind it onto the reel.  Then, I had a problem.  The new hose is 150 feet long (because, hey, you never know, right?).  But, as I discovered when I actually bothered to look at the label on the reel, the reel is only big enough to hold a 100 foot hose.  Yes, I know, maybe I should have looked at the label BEFORE I bought the new hose. 

I'll remember that for next time.  But, anyway, now I had a problem.  My first thought was to simply coil the rest of the hose and let it set it on top of the reel.  That was Plan B.  I turned on the spigot to see if the hose worked.  It did, but there seemed to be a leak, probably from the point where the hose was hooked to the reel.  I quickly decided that, for aesthetic and practical reasons,  I didn't like Plan B.  So I came up with Plan C. 

Plan C called for returning the 150' hose and exchanging it for a shorter hose which would fit on the reel.  But, would the store accept a hose that had already been used and would probably be returned in somewhat of a tangled mess?  Confidence was not high, so I came up with Plan D.

Plan D was go to the store and buy a reel big enough for a 150' hose.  Of course, if I did that, I'd have two perfectly good reels.  And, there's really nothing wrong with the old hose except that it's old and grungy.  My real issue was with the old nozzles.  So, I'd buy another new nozzle, too.  And, that's what I did.  I bought a new reel for the new hose and a new nozzle for the old hose.  Then, I came home and put the hoses on the appropriate reels and the nozzles on the appropriate hoses.

So, now I have two hoses, two reels, two nozzles and one outside spigot.

What I wish I had was some common sense.  Then I'd have had Plan Pre-A:  buy a new nozzle.

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