Life and Bin Covers

The other day I was in the storage room at work with one of the kids I supervise, putting away some items after an activity. The storage area is very small, so many things are pushed up against walls and stuck in corners, including a long rectangular bin we use to hold balls, volleyball nets and other sporting equipment.

On this particular afternoon one of the boys was putting a couple balls into the bin. After putting them in he closed the cover of the bin, except it went almost all the way but wouldn’t really close. He tried again – same thing. Then he proceeded to use more strength to try and shove the cover into place, but it wouldn’t fit. I attempted to help him, but of course, he refused my assistance. After about five minutes of this, with him breathing heavy and getting frustrated, and the cover of the plastic bin getting more battered, he finally gave up. When he did, I didn’t say anything, but merely shifted the bin slightly away from the cupboard which it had been shoved against. Without either of our efforts, the cover for the bin fell smoothly into place.

Making solid investments

The other day I parked my car at the bank and was walking away when I noticed a rust spot on one of the doors. It was a small spot but knowing how rust spreads I decided to inquire at the bodywork shop next door about what could be done. As I walked around the car with one of the guys from the shop I noticed for the first time a consistent layer of rust underneath the side of the car, an area that had been nicely concealed by layers of snow for the past six months. When the guy gave me an estimate of how much it would cost to fix it I was shocked. I imagine that I would have been plenty upset had I paid many thousands for my car. But since I hadn’t invested very much into it I wasn’t too distraught.