Remember the words from the Kenny Rogers song, The Gambler:
“You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em,
know when to fold ‘em,
know when to walk away,
know when to run.”
That was my theme song this week. No, I wasn’t playing cards – I had a little trouble with my soap dish – knowing whether to “hold it” or “walk away”.
This is the soap dish:
It’s in the main bathroom and matches all the stuff in there. We bought it about 5 years ago when we remodeled the bathroom. It’s metal. It’s rusting. And it’s leaving rust spots on the window ledge where I keep it.
I could have thrown it away and bought a new one. But I wanted to save it. It matched the shower curtain and it was expensive. So in keeping with my philosophy of solving problems rather than living with them, I figured out two possible solutions:
1. Attach felt pads to the bottom of the soap dish (the pads used under furniture legs so they don’t scratch the floor – I have some on hand); or
2. Cut out a piece of felt and glue it to the bottom of the soap dish.
I told my husband my ideas and he said:
“Why don’t you just buy a new one?”
“I don’t want to buy a new one. I want to fix this one. It matches and I like it.”
He said: “Well, those ideas won’t work very well. If you have to fix it, it would be better to use the little rubber feet you put on the inside of cabinet doors.”
“Fine. I’ll just get a new one.”
I went to Wal-mart a few days later and looked at soap dishes. I found one that matched perfectly for $2. If I’d known I could find a good match that cheap, I probably would have done it sooner.
You know, I really turned this soap dish thing into a bigger deal than it needed to be. Some things are worth fixing and some things just aren’t.
What are you holding that you should be folding?
Anything metal will do that…rust… if you put clear nail varnish on the base it would prevent it…it is very good on talc tins too.
It definitely rusted! I guess I wasn’t thinking about metal rusting when we bought the dish. Or maybe I assumed it had a special coating on it so it wouldn’t rust. At any rate, nail polish is a great idea. I hadn’t thought of that although I did consider scraping off the rust and putting a clear coat of varnish. But again, a lot of trouble. I should have put the nail polish on the bottom when we first got it but who knew.
Good point! I hang on to stuff a lot longer than I should. I always think it will be so expensive to replace something or that I can find a good replacement that I don’t bother looking….and then there is the sentimental reasons I keep stuff. A lot of times the person that gave me the broken down item I’m saving doesn’t even remember giving it to me and here I’ve been wagging it around for 20+ years afraid I’d hurt someone’s feelings if I got rid of it. One of these days I’m going to conquer my sentimental side!
Oh, that sentimental side is deadly! You definitely end up with a lot of stuff you don’t need or want. Can you take a picture of the stuff you don’t need and then get rid of the actual item? I used to have a bunch of stuff made by a family member. It was sitting in the garage collecting dust and deteriorating. Then a friend was moving into his own place and desperately needed furniture. I gave it all to him. He was delighted and I was glad someone was actually using the furniture. I felt guilty about getting rid of it but guilty about letting it sit in the garage. Stuff is meant to be used or enjoyed, and if it isn’t, it should be passed on to someone else.
Oh, sorry. That sounded like a sermon. Not meant to be. I know that sentimental nature is a tough nut to crack. I actually wish I was a little more sentimental. I’m not much at all.
First… I”m going to have the Kenny Rogers song in my head all day. Thank you.
Second… I’m spending the week unpacking and decluttering. So the song will actually help. I have a ton of stuff that just needs to be folded.
You’re welcome. And if it’s any consolation, I have the song stuck in my head, too.
See, I knew what I was doing. I got that song stuck in your head so it could be your mantra as you unpacked and decluttered. You’ll be much more ruthless than you would have been otherwise. You can thank me later.
I heard a joke this week about marriage being like a game of cards: it starts with two hearts and a diamond and ends with a club and a spade.
Funny.