What “gets you off”?

Almost anyone that has known me for awhile could answer this question.  It is one of the very transparent parts about me, and is usually the first item that I am asked about at the beginning of a conversation.  “So, how is _________ coming along?”

I love projects.  LOVE them.  A good project for me is one that involves learning, thinking, hands on work, and hopefully a profit at the end.  If I have a good project going, I feel quite calmer, yet excited with the adventure that I am on.  If I become bored with a project, or let too much time lapse between projects, my whole being seems to kinda get kicked off axis.  I have rebuilt a classic car, competitively raced remote control cars and karts, remodeled houses, and most recently brought a neglected sailboat back to her former glory.

A project for me is typically a multi step process.  It usually takes awhile for me to decide what it is that I want to undertake.  Once that decision is made, then the fun begins, its research time!

I love researching.  Give me a topic, and let me run.  So once I decided that a sailboat would be a wonderful project and activity to learn about, it was game on.  I first studied all the different boat styles, until I found what I thought would be the best fit for me.  The next step was hunting down the right deal.  This is one of the easiest parts since it is what I do for a living, hunting the deal.

Once the boat was procured, it was on to finding out what needed to be done on the boat and then researching every part to determine what was the best one for the application.  Of course there were hours and hours of actual work done on the boat, which I quite enjoied for the most part.  At this point, I had a great boat that I had no idea how to sail, so back to the books and learning everything I could about how to sail.  A short time later, it was mission accomplished.  Finally, we have reached the end of the project and the boat is complete.

When a project is complete and the goal that I set for myself has been met, that is when I become stir crazy again.  The hamster is just running around the cage, without a wheel to run on.  That time is now, so it is now time for me to let go of the boat and move onto the next project.

Luckily I already have a great idea for the next project and hopefully this time next year I can tell you all how wonderful that experience has been!