Job Creep article on janice142

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Date: 18 August 2015. Job Creep.

© janice142

All of us know that one project leads to another, and another, ad naseum. The problem is in knowing when to stop, along with what needs to be done regardless of convenience or pre-planning. This week I came across a problem that required a fix before proceeding with the original project. Here is what happened. For the uninitiated, this is called Job Creep.

Far too often items are added to a project that was initially a simple-to-do job.

One small organizational project turned into this:

These add-ons tend to begin with words such as "While we are at it.." or
"We might as well" or "As long as we are doing ABC, we should also..."

Job Creep occurs when during the doing of one job another Good Idea comes to the forefront. The original small project expands. Sometimes this is a necessity, such as when a problem is spotted. Other times, not so much...

I need to be certain the add-ons really need doing.

The Boatyard Blues article speaks to the all-too-common phenomenon.

Of late I've been doing a galley over-haul
to make room for the new refrigerator/freezer.

What happened is this: In removing one cabinet I had easy access to the plate that covers the fuel sending unit for my starboard tank. This is supposed to tell me how much fuel is in the tank.

I am not clear on how the thing is supposed to work. Mine never has so it is just one more thing on the list of stuff to fix, someday.

In the meantime I continue to refill the
tanks regularly and call it Good Enough.

When I told a friend about my failed sending unit he proceeded to describe how to check and fix it. Because its function is not essential, I have opted to ignore the issue for the near term. Maybe someday this will be a top priority however I rather doubt that will happen any time soon. In the meantime, I am ignoring it.

Other more pressing issues do exist that need resolution.

As you can see, the wood doesn't even cover the entire hole. At some point a previous owner had made more access. But that was not the worst of it.

Turning over the board I discovered ROT.

The first job was to make a new better fitting cover for the space.

Fortunately I had a sheet of paper that was large enough to cover the area. I made a rough sketch to use as a pattern. A fellow I hired for the woodwork project cut it out of some scrap plywood I had.

There is a one inch diameter hole in the piece to make lifting it a breeze. Handles cost money. Recessed ones cost more. This solution is Good Enough.

Side Note on the paper: The next time you get a large package with paper stuffing the edges, save a larger piece or two. I folded a couple pieces of the paper. They are approximately 2'x3'. Both sheets are stashed in with my wrapping paper.

When this project came up, it was great to have just what I
needed to make a pattern in something essentially disposable.

Plus it was free.

However the above looks icky. The raw edges would be an easy way for water to get in and damage this board. That's what happened to the original. For that reason I opted to paint it. I had some leftover from painting the hull stripe that fit the bill.

Unfortunately I was not smart enough to stir the can of paint before using it. Thus there is little of the green pigment in the first coat as shown in this following photo. I will have to add a second coat tonight in all that spare time I misplace regularly. After stirring, of course.

White paint would have been perfect. The hull-stripe color however is Good Enough.

For a Job Creep, this one wasn't so bad. The needed items were aboard. Cutting the board took my worker an extra 15 minutes to complete. All in all, not too terrible on the purse.

Life afloat is indeed good. Happy boating to you and yours...

Does any particular occurrence of Job Creep come to mind in your life?
Are you glad you took care of it at the time or would waiting have been Good Enough?

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