There I was today, sitting minding my own business innocently typing away at the computer researching which kind of tree or shrub I should plant next to my garage.  As an avid gardener, I had the basics of soil type and sun exposure figured out, and knew which zone to pick from to ensure the thing wouldn’t die in Calgary’s strange climate.  I thought a boxwood would be nice.  Sounds simple, right?

To start, there were about thirty nurseries to pick from in my area.  Which was best? And how could I tell it from the ones that paid to have their ads appear first?  And pictures.  I needed pictures!  After checking reviews, I settled on a site, dug through alphabetical lists of common plant names vs Latin ones before zeroing in on boxwoods, excited that I was closing in on the finish line… until I saw there were no less than ten different types of boxwoods!  By then it was almost lunch time, I was suffering a pulverizing headache and ready for a cocktail.  Why couldn’t there be a system for plant purchasing like Kayak is to travel?

I mentioned in an earlier blog that I recently painted my house.  Good thing I had that caper planned since last fall, leaving me plenty of time to choose from myriad colour palettes (not pilates as spell check wanted to say) finding exactly the right paint type and hue to compliment the new deck covering.  The winner also had to be visually compatible with the available siding for the garage.  I quickly realized I was a Siding Ignoramus.  I had been totally unaware that siding came in such a variety of colours, costs, shapes, sizes and textures.  And then there was the matter of choosing stone accents that would blend in with all of the above.  About five minutes before spring, I gave up figuring how to coordinate who was going to install what and when.  I thank my lucky stars for an honest contractor.

This all got me to thinking about how difficult it must be for young people trying to choose a career these days.  How on earth do they do it?  It was tough enough all those years ago when I was starting out.  To be honest, I kind of skipped over the research part of pinpointing where I would spend many thousands of future working hours.  While taking General Studies, I hoped that some kind of inspiration would strike.  It did – sort of –  in the form of a statement made over the telephone.  My friend, Jennifer, announced that she was enrolling in the nursing program.  “If you don’t need math, I’m in.”  Thus it was settled.  (Don’t try this at home, kids).

Why can’t most reasonable decisions be as easy as whether to add the lime to the gin BEFORE the tonic or after?