Listmaker, Listmaker, Make Me a List!
Not much to say today. I was going through some old computer files and found this list that I made for an aquaintance who is a compulsive "list maker". No matter what the circumstance, he can make a list for it. He has lists of his lists. If he actually accomplishes something on the list, then he has to make a NEW list! The phrase that comes to mind is, "Always saddling up and never taking a ride." I have seen several of the lists and quite often they contain items that most people probably wouldn't write down. A sample list would be something like... "1. Wear coat, 2. Buy more pet snakes, 3. Eat lunch, 4. Research root canals, 5. Wash sausage maker".
List To Start the Day
1. Wake up.
2. Open eyes.
3. Sit up in bed.
4. Make sure of whereabouts (verify that you are not in duck blind).
5. If in duck blind, refer to Duck Hunting List.
6. If in bed, check time of day (for statistical purposes only).
7. Put feet out of bed toward floor.
8. Make sure gravity is still functioning.
9. If no gravity, go back to sleep.
10. If gravity is functioning, get completely out of bed.
11. Walk to bathroom.
12. Find toilet.
13. Answer nature’s call.
14. Make sure items 12 and 13 were completed in proper order.
15. Attempt to remember which day of the week it is.
16. Decide shower or bath.
17. If bath is chosen, substitute the word “BATH” for “SHOWER” in this list.
18. Turn on shower.
19. Adjust water temperature.
20. Get in shower and wet entire body.
21. Apply soap to entire body.
22. Rinse entire body.
23. Apply shampoo to hair on head.
24. Rinse hair on head.
25. Get out of shower.
26. If “BATH” was chosen, tune fishing baits in used bath water prior to draining.
27. Use towel to dry entire body as well as hair on head.
28. Refer to Daily Grooming list.
29. Dress for anticipated activities of the day (remember interior and exterior weather conditions may differ).
30. Proceed to kitchen/food preparation area.
31. Refer to Acceptable Breakfast Foods List.
32. Prepare and consume acceptable breakfast food.
33. Attempt to recollect where vehicle was parked.
34. Verify vehicle location.
35. Determine appropriate ingress method for vehicle.
36. Proceed to the correct entry area of vehicle. (Left front door in USA, Right front door in Europe, Tailgate in Mississippi.)
37. If applicable, start engine.
38. Refer to Driving List.
39. Arrive at desired location.
40. Refer to Parking List.
41. Go inside building.
42. Refer to appropriate list for appropriate “inside building” activity.


Your nephew has always been a listmaker, too. As a matter of fact, I have one saved from when he was a teenager planning one of his many camping trips out on the farm. It was a combination campout/coyote hunt. Of course he never even saw a coyote. Apparently these lists were compiled in order of importance, not necessity. I will share this list, written exactly as he wrote it...spelling and all. My comments are in parentheses.
Camping Trip
*fry fish & food (don't know what the star is for)
french fries/fish batter/salt & pepper
cooking oil/cooking pan "deep"
charcol/wood
lighterfluid
Knife, fork, & dip spoon
paper towels/paper plates
water/soap
ketchup
sleeping bag/tent/pillows/broom (I can attest that he does not know what a broom is for. Maybe he used it to hold up the tent.)
off spray
fishing tackle
guns (yikes! that's scary)
3-wheeler/bike
fun goods - etc... (hmmm)
boat/paddle
coalman lantern & fluid
(And then hastily added at the bottom in another color of ink...)
tolett paper
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That sounds like a well organized adventure. Fun goods? Yeah, I'll bet that wasn't the old "Hats Off" game was it? Besides, Jim would have never let him take the Hats Off game. I remember one cold Friday years ago when Ronnie S. and I decided on the spur of the moment to go camping. We took a tent, two sleeping bags a can of pork & beans and three slices of bacon. Not only did we nearly starve, but late in the night the temperature dropped to the teens and we ended up putting one sleeping bag inside the other and both of us getting in the same bag. THANK GOD nobody wandered up on us! Teenage life was tough enough in our little hick town without the negative connotations such a sight would surely have elicited. TBF
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