k_rmSelf_vs_xpSelf

Roti/involution .. In this context, I need to be aware of daily Roti, but without zsms/self-hate/self-whipp.

The xpSelf did enjoy the hours experimenting, fine-tuning, often for 15H (forgot passage of time, meals, not feeling tired). Fortifying a damaged ikea railroad, installing door closers, legacy lock, key hook,,,, reminds me of Andy Grove repairing bicycles for his kids … kinda recreation/hobby. To a lesser extent, I also found it fruitful to spend time on the cordless drill, learning about new glue.

However the rmSelf has a harsh view. Some of the repeated adjustments in storeroom, door magnet,,, in hindsight felt exactly 内卷 (involution), as described in diminishing return. If we are foolhardy and ignore rmSelf, tcost and ROTI, the rmSelf is bound to experienced pain, self-hate… Recall past experience with book ownership and classifying ,,,

Q: since mid Sep, the xpSelf and the rmSelf have agreed to stop pull-up, swim/swingPlayground, yoga, recreational read`, blogg, postponed dental, and reduced movies and cycling with boy.. not to mention a month of half-day leaves. What’s the real reason?
A: not Quark, not LIR-arbitrage, but DIYHI (and move). This single energy sink is a gigantic blackhole. I estimated it would absorb 3-6 months of my spare time starting from early Sep. (Hopefully, after late Oct it would cool off and allow other energy sinks to coexist.) The tcost includes shopping/returning, construction of furniture, clean-up,,, Gradually I’m chipping away at the mountain of DIYHI workload, like a python digesting a rabbit. After we received Taobao shipp, after Victor Li came over on 17 Nov to set up cockpit4 power point, take down some down lights,,,, there was another small mountain of DIYHI workload. I think the idea is to spread out the workload (or flatten the curve). Specific techniques:

• don’t open a package. Leave it unopened for weeks. If too much of an eye sore, then keep it out of sight [bring to office or keep it under bed]
• leave a furniture piece half-constructed but in a safe state, and /warehouse/ the other parts in a logical container
• budget 10x the “normal” tcost (and flatten it) for simple things like …
• make it a priority to maintain the “normality energy sinks”

— premature and repeated experiments .. When I repeat/rework an experiment 5 times, the tcost multiplies, driving down Roti, though xpSelf may be /oblivious/.

Each of the time-consuming DIY projects had a steep learning curve + some non-trivial traction. As Martin Thompson said, good results requires time. My xpSelf had a good experience, but rmSelf would remember the high tcost and low Roti.

However, the Roti assessment would be very different if I were to live in the U.S. because the cost saving would be 10 times more substantial.

— Q: In which specific items do I see “overspending” or involution in hindsight? (roughly ranked by tcost)

• A: storeroom was a real rabbit to digest
• .. A: level up the last pair of ikea railroad when they were already strong and steady albeit misaligned
• .. A: taobao silver trays… repeated small experiments add up to hours
• .. How about $30 Hyllis wall-fastener? Not overspent. I need it to be exactly right so the rack sticks to the corner
• A: door closers .. (winUp) research, shopping… A real rabbit to digest but I overspent.
• .. A: magnets on main door? (winUp) very high tcost. No real urgency. LGpp…. If not working, then I would need the same fixatures as #1173 and I didn’t like it.
• A: cockpit improvement
• .. A: legacy ikea desk .. raise and hold-together
• A: return-exchange (about 10 times) is huge tcost
• A: legacy lock .. 4 sessions 10H
• A: L-shape to level boy’s bookshelves … (winUp )ineffective and time-consuming, only compared to T-brackets, which is a stroke of genius.
• A: book EMC
• A: extendable shelves + T-bracket shopping
• A: downlight .. many hours of thinking, shopping
• A: pull-up bar leveling
• A: improving the round coffee table
• A: wedge under furniture… low tcost but poor ROTI.. the furniture is often subject to move
• —
• How about curtain rail adjustment?
• How about organizing hardware tools? Kinda winUp problem
• How about wall plug for sagging bookcases? Kinda winUp problem. For now, we can leave light weights on the unsupported shelves, or prop them up from below with books
• How about TDK wall fan? Need to be secure and avoid blocking furniture
• How about the Omar shelf + extension leg + wall plug? I badly needed external storage
• How about the Omar rain cover? I think I was slow-n-efficient. The cutting took about 10m, because I need a straight cover, not a triangular or oval cover. A botched cutting could ruin entire $1.90 sheet.
• How about bigBedBacking? (winUp) A real pain, so roti was reasonable.
• How about power point decisions? I was careful but not OTH. We ended up with the power points replaced unnecessarily beside the living room A/C. That’s a tolerable decision as someday I may set up a cockpit there.
• How about empty containers? They were growing into a non-trivial problem, I moved them from Omar to top of wardrobe…

How about Online shopp?  For small items, I probably need to practice “buy-without fear, discard without guilt”

• A: first T-bracket and extensible shelf were slow, given the low cost. Subsequent purchases were much faster and no oth.
• A: one-arm door closer was too slow, given the low cost.
• boy’s handwriting practice tool? Let’s buy without fear

Q: (an important counterweight question) are there some areas where an earlier version of victan could indulge in?

• A: light bulb optimization .. I didn’t feel the urge as in #1173
• A: wiring mess at tv console and cockpits. I didn’t feel compelled to install power points in cockpit4
• A: what furniture to discard or keep… I spend very little time so far
• A: cleaning window, floor etc
• A: position of power points … reasonable tcost
• A: base of display bookcase .. repair wear-n-tear .. reasonable tcost, without putting on fake wood skin
• A: I left many “spare capacity” EMC resources in prime locations