Mixed Metaphors

Day 2.2

In the program there is a core philosophy of keeping one's own side of the street clean.   Chop wood, carry water, basically.  Also, mind your own damn business, one might say.

Another little pithy quote they often state in the literature is that one should not "go to the hardware store for milk." 

I subscribe to this website called flylady.net.  She sends out daily email reminders of where you should be in her system.   It's fantastic.  It's based on cleaning in small spurts using a timer.   Her philosophy is that you can do anything for 5, 10 or 15 minutes.  So that's the system I use to keep chopping wood and carrying water.  Timers are the antidote to perfectionism. When the timer goes off, you're done.  No matter what.  My side of the street is pretty clean.

Milk, to me, represents basic sustenance.  The hardware store represents the cold hard metal reality of the world.  It's also like that old Aesop's Fable:  If you need a hug, don't go to a scorpion.  Go to a trusted friend.  If you happened to have taken up with a scorpion, well, still go to a trusted friend.  Scorpions are people, too. They're just not going to get you across the river as in the old story.  You'll both end up at the bottom.   Don't go to the scorpion for milk either! And whatever you do,  don't let the s.o.b. hitch a ride. 

The Scorpion and the Frog

  A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the 
scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The 
frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?" The scorpion 
says, "Because if I do, I will die too."

  The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream,
the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of 
paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown,
but has just enough time to gasp "Why?" 

  Replies the scorpion: "It's my nature..."