10 Things I Did to Procrastinate on Tax Day

Taxes are due today. I procrastinated. Today. Here are the 5 things I did to procrastinate in the last 24 +/- hours:

1. Replace Disposal Unit: The other week Amazon had a one-day amazing deal on garbage disposals, so I finally ordered one to replace the current one that was dead. It arrived last week, but I put it off. Last night I installed it, and since it required unscrewing the drain pipes, I cleaned out the pipes leading into the wall. The disposal is an E-Z Mount system, and it really was easy, but it required pulling out the old disposal that was mounted the traditional method, and I had to scrape off the dried portions of plumber's putty. The E-Z Mount comes with a very thin rubber gasket and I wasn't sure if it'd work with my cast-iron/ceramic sink, but it worked just fine. The ended up brushing out (old toothbrush) the sides of the cast-iron pipe wall connection too, which was extremely nasty -- probably why my drainage had slowed down over the years. Time: 2 1/2 hours.
2. Cleaned Out Under Sink: I figured that since I was replacing the disposal unit I might as well clean the underside area. I consolidated stuff and cut out a liner for the floor -- something I'd been meaning to do for years but just never got around to it. Reorganizing, I discovered that bottle of dishwasher rinsing agent I'd gotten years ago from Costco, and thought that I'd run out when in reality it was hiding way in the back of the cabinet. I also found a box of SOS steel wool soap pads with 7 pads left, which has gotten me excited about the idea of scrubbing down my stainless steel pots and pans. Time: 1/2 hour.
3. Laundry: Two loads, whites and lights separated from colors and manmade materials. Why not? Time: 2 concurrent hours with disposal replacement.
4. NASA 360° Video: United Launch Alliance (ULA) had a rocket launch Tuesday morning from NASA's Cape Canaveral, video-streamed in 360°. I grabbed my Google Cardboard and my phone and watched the final 2 minutes in immersive 360°, but I started streaming the countdown from 30 minutes earlier. Time: 3/4 hour.
5. Pokemon Go: Walked late last night, playing Pokemon Go to collect monsters while the Easter event was still running (through 1pm Pacific, April 20). I hit level 27 on Sunday night, and I've set a goal to hit level 28 before the Easter event ends. I'm probably going to fall a little short of that, but that's okay, considering how much I've milked it. Time: 1 1/2 hours.
6. Political News: When in doubt, browse the internet for political news. This morning is mostly light reading: Donald had to be prodded by Melania to put his hand on his chest during the National Anthem at the WH Easter Egg event yesterday; Donald continues his warpath insisting that he's done all these great things in his time in office, despite any meaningful work to help out the voters who supported him; people are greatly concerned with the instability of Donald and North Korea, scratching their heads on why his administration talked up the move to send a carrier group to Korea, only to have the media discover that in fact, they sailed in the opposite direction towards the Philippines. Oh, and tracked Jon Ossoff results for the first hour. Time: 1 1/2 hours.
7. Tech News: When political news is light, read tech news. Sadly, tech news is mostly light reading this morning, too: Google rolled out a major update to Google Earth; Facebook had a bunch of announcements at their F8 conference but because I don't do FB I simply ignored it all. Time: 1/2 hour.
8. Talked on the Phone: To be fair, I didn't call anyone, they called me. Come to think of it, I almost never call anyone. Time: 2 1/2 hours.
9. Watched the News: I watched the local, national and PBS News Hour. PBS News Hour streams live at 3:00 pm in the west -- this is what I watch -- so I get to see the flaws that most west coast folks don't get to see. Time: 2 hours.
10. Baked Muffins: Yep, I made muffins from scratch. Blueberry. I've never actually followed any recipe for muffins, instead, just sort of making it up as I go along. I have three variations: Blueberry, cranberry, and candied fruit -- yes the candied fruit you normally put into fruitcake. It doesn't actually take very long, though, and the procrastination crosses over into other stuff while baking. Time: 1/2 hour.

Alas, I ran out of things that were more interesting to do than my taxes. I finished early, too. I was done just over 1 hour ago so I took a short nap before I finished this post. What's the world coming to, when I get my taxes done before 10 pm on Tax Day?