I’ve written before that creativity doesn’t run to a schedule. I had a really good reminder of that recently.
I’ve just moved house, and my friend Geoff Jones has been awesomely kind at steering me through a series of practical challenges.
The other morning we were trying to figure out the logistics of getting a washing machine into a fairly cramped space in a downstairs utility room that doubles as a loo. After about 30 mins of measuring I slightly reluctantly decided on a model that would fit, just, into the space.
We were all set to head off to the shops to find one but we couldn’t move. I had one of those 8am to noon slots booked for a visit from Virgin Media to fix the TV. So we sat there, Geoff patiently and me not, waiting and waiting. Needless to say he didn’t arrive until 2 minutes after noon.
Somewhere in that two hour delay to “the execution of our strategy”, I wondered aloud, very casually… I don’t suppose it could fit under the stairs, where the old freezer is, could it? The long and the short of it was that Geoff reckoned it could.
Anyhow, it was too late to do anything now as Geoff has some kind of life beyond being my guardian angel.
I went into the centre of Cambridge to do some shopping, and serendipitously bumped into Geoff again outside John Lewis, and he eagerly suggested we go and look inside and talk washing machines, tumble dryers etc etc. I’ve practice enough improv to be able to say yes to such offers.
Geoff’s stupendously well-informed about all things practical and I learnt more in five minutes with him that I had in hours of online research.
Anyway, armed with all this new information about things like noise levels and I was ready to go ahead. A quick call to the Heart Foundation got the freezer off to someone who wants it and Geoff has installed the machine in its new home. The cramped utility room is now set to be a much more spacious downstairs loo.
And all thanks to what seemed at the time like a tiresome hindrance… Must remember that next time I’m impatiently waiting for something to happen.
