Law of Multiplication Regarding Job Completion

I learned (or re-learned) a valuable lesson over the past two days about estimating the time it takes to do a simple project.  Just a five-minute deal?  Maybe--but usually not!

The clothes hook on my closet door pulled out about six weeks ago.  No problem, think I, as I go round up some of those little anchor posts and put it back in.  Sorry--wrong number!  It lasted about two weeks.  By then the holes had enlarged so I couldn't re-use them.  Next up, a larger hook that would have holes in different places and still cover the other holes.  After a bit of a search (Bed Bath and Beyond was useless), I found just the thing at Home Depot, and the construction of the mounting plate was such that it would spread the stress of hanging up bathrobes better.

Now for the installation, and here's where the five-minute job turned into two days.  A quick read of the directions pointed out that it would be nice to use my drill and cordless screwdriver.  Both were supposedly hidden away on a top shelf in a closet (this is a small house--you use the space you have!).  Finding the drill was easy, but the screwdriver was hidden.  It required a step stool and a complete reorganization of that shelf to see that said screwdriver was nowhere to be found there!  Rats!

Down into the toolbox we go, searching for hammer and manual screwdrivers, which were right where they should be--as was the cordless screwdriver, which shouldn't have been.  Now we're back in business--NOT!  The screwdriver hadn't been used in ages and required charging overnight, so the project is back on hold.

This morning the screwdriver was ready and the drill had the right bit inserted.  Ready to work.  Except the cord on the drill was too short to reach the nearest outlet and the closest extension cord was too flimsy to trust.  Out to the shed for the rolled-up 100 foot heavy-duty cord.  A word to the wise.  If you have one of these long cords, it pays to have both ends accessible so you don't have to unroll 100 feet when all you need is 10 or 15 feet.  It isn't quite as neat a roll job, but it works better.

Five minutes has morphed into much longer, but finally the job is done and the tools stowed neatly where I hope I can remember I've put them next time I need them.  The satisfaction comes in knowing I was able to, as one little grandniece tends to put it, "do it self!"  Next time I'll take the time requirement for a job and multiply it by three or four.  It might come closer to reality.