Makin' a list and checkin' it twice

You ever start a task and something distracts you and you don't get the job done?  I've been intending on planting some red onions and other things keep occupying my time.  I've always been a list-maker.  At work I have 3 dry erase white boards on the walls that I have all the things that I have to get done listed.  At home I have numerous lists of things that I must get done around the house and on the farm.  It seems that every time I get one thing scratched off, I end up adding two or three new items to the list.


Check lists

Tricia is trying to drag me into the age of technology by teaching me that there is a notepad on my cell phone upon which I can make my lists electronic.  I did this, but I'm more of a pen and paper type guy.  Don't mistake this for being organized.  It is more of a memory aid and a way to keep focused.  For some bizarre reason, I feel some sense of accomplishment when I'm able to cross off a completed item.  Weird, I know.  This probably speaks to some sort of abnormal condition of the mind, a psychosis I think it's called.

I have a 50 minute commute to and from my 'real job' each day and this time of year it gets dark quickly, so I guess the lists help me make efficient use of the daylight that is left when I get home.  One positive aspect about the commute is that it gives me a lot of time to think and to listen to the radio.  I switch back and forth between country music and Christian talk radio - which leads me back to tasks and getting things done.  Sometimes not completing tasks can have disastrous results.   Other times... well... I heard an interesting story on the radio the other day I thought I'd share:

Most everyone has heard of Otis Redding.  Otis Redding and Steve Cropper co-wrote the song, "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" in the summer of 1967. 

"Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay," was recorded on November 22, 1967 and is such a familiar song, you're probably singing it it your head right now.  "I left my home in Georgia...  Headed for the Frisco Bay..."  The song has ocean waves in the background, but more importantly, has Redding whistling before the fade.  You know that whistle, don't you?  (I hear you whistling it now.) 

The interesting thing is that the reason there is whistling in the song is that they didn't have the song finished yet.  Otis Redding was going on tour, so he whistled as a placeholder and intended to go back in the studio after his tour and add the completed verse in place of his whistling.  Just a few days after the November 22 recording sessions, though, on December 10th, the charter plane which he was flying in crashed into a lake outside Madison, Wisconsin, killing Otis Redding and six other passengers - a sad day for a talented young musician, his band and the pilot.

"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" was released in January 1968, shortly after Redding's death, and quickly rose to number one on the R&B charts and the pop charts as well.  "Dock of the Bay" was immensely successful all over the world and was Redding's greatest song.  It sold over four million copies, was (and still is) on the radio all the time, and won two Grammys. 

What is so interesting about it is that the song was not finished!  The whistling in the song was not supposed to be there!  It was 'filler' and was going to be replaced as soon as he had time - as soon as he got around to it.  That day never came.  You know what?  Despite the tragedy of Mr. Redding's untimely death, Dock of the Bay, an un-finished song, became his greatest success.  What a story!  I began to think about that as I drove home on my commute, rushing to complete tasks on my list and get things done before the sun went down.  Perhaps the lesson to learn from Otis Redding and "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" is to work hard and do your best, but if you get hung up, ad lib - put in a 'place-holder', move on and don't fret about it.  Sometimes the job is good (or great) just the way it is.

Maybe today, I'll just whistle...


Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow! - Mark Twain