Last night I went to the store.
then I went again.
And then, believe it or not. I went yet again.
Three trips in one night.
Can we say cuhhhh-raaaazy?
I stopped on my way home to pick up some items to send to school with my son for a teacher appreciation luncheon. It's a taco themed lunch. YUM!
While there I grabbed a few things I needed for our pantry and dinner.
Home I went, made dinner, ate, and then settled in to help son with Science project.
Epic fail.
Trip #2 to the store.
Back home, work on project, homework, etc. Make dessert for the luncheon. And at almost 10 pm it hits me - I forgot the taco shells.
BLEEP!
So after finishing the dessert and watching Bates Motel, I go BACK to the store!
WOW.
So why all of the back and forth? It's not a simple case of poor planning - I had a list for the first grocery stop, I just didn't slow down or pay attention - or something!
The second trip to the store was due to a project fail which was really based on lack of research or planning.
So the morale of the story for me is - SLOW DOWN, PLAN AHEAD, and PAY ATTENTION.
These are great points to remember for metalsmithing too.
1. SLOW DOWN
Take time to complete each step properly before moving forward. It's difficult (and sometimes impossible) to go back and fix.
2. PLAN AHEAD
Know what you need, have it all on hand, think through the order of steps. Layout, measure, and proceed.
3. PAY ATTENTION
Really pay attention to each step. Inspect your marks, attachments, layout etc from various angles so that you know if something is 'off'. See how one operation affects another and take notes. Pay attention to where your flame is pointed so you don't burn through a hose (i've seen that happen), or where the whole length of your sawblade is moving so you don't cut through an opposite part of your work....
If I had done #1 above, I wouldn't have been running out to the store at 11pm. If my son and I had done step #2 we would have been better equipped for a successful project the first time around. And step #3 - well, I would have had the taco shells the first trip if I was really paying attention - and yea, I may not have mentioned the glue on the table and floor leftover from the science project but that probably wouldn't have been an issue either. . . . . . .
An evening of errors was first posted by Janice Fowler on A Metalsmith's Journey
