I know, the answer is "Yes".

25 years or so ago during an upstairs remodel, I took the window out of the wall of the half bath and replaced it with an opening skylight.

Not the best idea I've ever had, it's leaked off and on the whole time.

So, out with the roof window (the crew that re-shingled the North slope of the roof did that for me) and back in with the wall window.

So far, and I'm not done yet, it has taken two full days to uncover and open up the original rough opening, frame it to the new size and install a new, smaller single hung window. And one of those days, I had a helper all day! Still need to paint the drywall and trim on the inside and re-install the oak chair rail on top of the wainscotting. Bet that'll kill most of another day.

I don't remember a little project like that taking so damn long.

OTOH, lebendy-seven trips up and down the damn stairs is good exercise I guess. Seeing as NOTHING is plumb or square in this 100+ year old house, every single piece has to be cut, dry fitted, trimmed, fitted again, shave another whisker off, shim it up level, nail it and move to the next piece.

Ibuprofen for supper, methinks.

I do not see this as a cognitive problem. EVERY project takes longer than we think it should. Of course if we do it every day it is faster.

On the plus side, you didn't have to leave the job site every time you needed to take a leak.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
On the plus side, you didn't have to leave the job site every time you needed to take a leak.

This is true. Saved me some time right there!

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
I know, the answer is "Yes".

I may or may not have had that thought when reading the thread title.

If you’re like me, you spend some time standing in the middle of the garage, trying to remember what you went out there for.

quote:

Originally posted by Muddflap:
If you’re like me, you spend some time standing in the middle of the garage, trying to remember what you went out there for.

That and getting halfway from the upstairs bathroom to the garage and forgetting the damn measurement.

And if I'm upstairs, my pencil and tape are in the garage and vice versa. Get smart, have one pencil and one tape upstairs, another pencil and another tape in the garage. That works for about two trips, then they're BOTH on one end or the other, whichever is the least convenient.

You probably think it's taking too long because, with your high level of experience, you feel you should be able to do it much faster.

Used to get several things done by working all day.
Now, I work all day to get something done.

It's normal. If you get it any where near done, as in watertight, over a two day weekend, I'd say you knocked it out of the park.

I put a hot water tank in my barn, plumbed a washer, plumbed and installed a new sink, added a water filter, and added hot water to the wash rack. It took me 10 weekends last winter. I was thinking it was going to take me 2 weekends, maybe three for nice finished work...

I think I've had one "fifteen minute job" that actually got done in 15 minutes in the last 10 years.

It was done except for paint.

Then I changed my mind about how I was gonna trim the window, pulled the pine off and will replace it with oak to match the rest of the trim in the bathroom.

Still flip-flopping about how to finish the ceiling where the skylight window well was. The rest of the ceiling is natural beaded fir, with 20+ years of aging.

New beaded fir would stick out like a sore ass. I think I have some older stuff in the garage that might be a halfway decent match. Hope so.

Option B is to patch it with new stuff and then paint the whole ceiling white. REALLY don't want to do that, but might not have any choice.

quote:

then they're BOTH on one end or the other, whichever is the least convenient.

Ah yes, the great tool migration. At least yours haven't gone into hibernation. At the moment, I'm looking for a screwdriver set and small socket set. I know I used the screwdrivers in my daugher's room when I painted it a month ago. I took the wall plates off and thd curtain rods down. I put the curtain rods back up and most of the wall plates except the one next to the door where I had to touch up the trim. Switch plate and screw drivers are gone. No clue where they are.

Mrs. Murphy purchased a floor to ceiling hard wood, amish, cupboard for her 15 y.o. kitchen. ($1,200 )

They just delivered it , did not install.

It took her four weeks to find someone to do the install. Three people flaked on her.

One person ,3 hours, quote , :$400.00

He did such a poor job. the neighbor called his brother to undo and do it right.

took two fellas 4.5 hours

the ceiling had two planes ( not flat)
the wall had two planes ( not flat)
the floor had two planes ( neither flat nor level )

much scribing to a lot of trim

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:

the ceiling had two planes ( not flat)
the wall had two planes ( not flat)
the floor had two planes ( neither flat nor level )

much scribing to a lot of trim

Yup, that's the Joy of Old Houses.

Navy buddy of mine has a house even worse than mine. He builds to a standard he calls "eye sweet". Stand back and look at it - if it looks okay, it IS okay. Don't believe he even owns a square or a level.

the thing looks excellant ,
turns out the guy is a 40 year master carpenter.

the quad cities has four dozen mansion's built between 1890 and 1930,
he has worked in more than half of them.

Right now for me, the part that gets me pissed is starting a sentence and am at a loss for the word I want to use. It comes to me shortly, but very aggravating.

quote:

Originally posted by rtquig:
Right now for me, the part that gets me pissed is starting a sentence and am at a loss for the word I want to use. It comes to me shortly, but very aggravating.

Yup. Daily.

This thread is very reassuring in that I know I'm not alone. I really hate it when I tell myself that I need to go do something and literally seconds later my mind is a blank. It may come to me some time later or worse not at all. Very very frustrating.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
Get smart, have one pencil and one tape upstairs, another pencil and another tape in the garage. That works for about two trips, then they're BOTH on one end or the other, whichever is the least convenient.

Once upon a time, I was wandering a gun show. There on a table was a whole bunch of what appeared to be good quality scissors. So I asked the vendor how much 10 of them would cost. He recognized a sucker when he saw one and gave me a good price. I bought them and took them home to my wife. She still has some of them, probably all in the same drawer....

Then to disprove Paul's theory... again, once upon a time Marlboro had a thing called the Adventure team. I don't smoke, but I did walk my dog. And I cleaned up every Marlboro or Marlboro light pack I saw with the miles still on it. Changed the meaning of a 50 mile hike - it just means I found 10 packs. We walked where dirt bags tossed their empty packs out.

One of the items in their catalog was a nice Stetson hat. I had lots of miles so I decided on a hat. Wife got out her ancient/fossilized measuring tape from her sewing box. Measured my numb skull. I dutifully transcribed the measurement to the order form and waited like a kid for his serial favor. Like the kid in Christmas Story. One sad day there it was, on the porch. I ripped open the box and grabbed the hat. It went over my head and down over my ears. Not just too big, but way too big. Seems like her cloth tape measure had grown over the years. Her measurement was off by a couple of inches. It went to my gun show partner who had a big head. Fit him perfectly. Still don't know how that worked out, but John got a nice hat out of the deal. Rule to live by: Don't trust old rulers or scales, test them against a standard, both of them.

Hey Paul, you're 69 now? Bad news, buddy. It gets worse. Like the square of your age.