I’ve started in on the basement again. We’re having an open house this weekend, in an attempt to drum up some interest and, we hope, a buyer or two. That means the house has to be in tip top shape. The upstairs is fine, but there are a few things left to do in the basement.

• Replace the light fixtures
• Trim around the support I-Beam
• Trim around the basement window
• Trim around the basement storage door
• Rearrange the stuff so it looks more like a living space than a storage unit
• Move one of the desks in the upstairs office into the basement to increase the space upstairs, and make the basement more livable
• Faceplates on all the outlets
• Clean basement shower
• Basement bathroom molding
• Paint basement bathroom ceiling

Two nights ago, I worked on the light fixtures. There are only two. But they took three times as long as they should have, because it was one of those “But first…” jobs. Before I could do one thing, I first had to do something else. In order to do that, I first had to do something else again. Before I could do that… well, you get the picture.

Those two light fixtures should have taken about half an hour tops. I started at 6:30, and by the time I stopped at 9:30, I was almost done. Around the time my wife got home at 8:30, I was so sick of delays and “but firsts” that I was nothing but four letter words and steam. She offered… nearly begged, to help, but there just wasn’t anything for her to do, so I told her to relax, settle in, and enjoy her bath while I cleaned up.

I finished in no time last night after work, so I got started on some of the other tasks. In terms of visibility, and thus priority, the trim around the I-Beam and the window, and the rearranging of things is at the top of the list. After that, the rest will either be done, or it won’t.