unsatisfying inconclusion

 Well, I've been home a week. Inappropriately Hot Foreign Wife is at work today, so I have shop time available. I've been working on our home office, which for some reason my wife insists on calling 'my' space, although I enjoy moving my laptop to the kitchen table and enjoying the sun and the access to the fridge. But regardless, I have an office space now. 

    In the shop I'm elbow-deep in a major redesign of my working space. The addition of some larger tools, a need for 220v electricity, and an uptick in my creative spark have caused chaos in what I think of as my REAL space at home. I'm currently building a giant storage cabinet- 6x8x 3 foot deep, to hold things I don't use everyday and that belong in a garage more than a shop space- lawnmower, pressure washer, assorted ladders, pole tools and the like. Along with that, I need to minimize my workbench and improve my fasteners and hand tool storage. 

   Odd thing, realizing I need LESS space in a workbench as I spend more time making things. I get far more use out of my assembly tables (3x3 and 4x4 tables on wheels) than my bench, which just gets used for heavy work and fine work.  I have two 8-foot benches, which will be reduced to just one 6-foot bench. Tool storage is still TBD. 

    Perhaps the most annoying thing is that nothing is finished. My office space, furniture  and hardware is on back order. I bought a murphy bed kit and tri-fold mattress so the office can also be a 2nd guest bedroom, and the murphy bed kit, rather than being a semi-functional bookshelf, is made to resemble a dresser or sideboard... and said hardware is backordered too. So my informal living room is also a storage space right now, with all the crap that was in the office when the office was a catch-all storage room. 

 It's all unsatisfying. And superficial stuff. 

 Behind the scenes, big drama unrelated to home maintenance. Covid, stress, infighting, death, taxes. Annoying shit, sadness, the less-wonderful aspects of life are intruding on our lives here. My wife and I have been handling it together, keeping the more negative shit at bay. I think we've been in the jacuzzi every afternoon or evening since I've gotten home. Working on my house, I've got lots of aches and pains, and working through less pleasant issues, stress headaches for both of us... which respond well to a good hour soak in 100-degree water. 

     Well, I'm half way through my time off. I will return to work next week for the February tour, which is nobody's favorite in my line of work but which comes with a salary, so that helps... and I've got a couple more days to work on my house, which is also nice.