Transporting Jake’s Grill
Jake and Anais are moving out of their apartment (and heading out of Illinois soon). Last week, as part of their packing-up, Jake offered us his Weber grill.
Liz and I headed over after work, and aimed to transport the thing in our car.
It’s an interesting thing, when Liz and I tackle complex tasks together. Traditionally, we don’t do so well. While we typically don’t argue all that often, arguments tend to arise when we’re trying to do complex or multi-step tasks alongside one another.
We got a lot of the large pieces separated with surprising ease.
With the heaviest parts separated, Jake and I carried the frame down the back stairs. On arriving at the car, we learned it was too big to fit… so Liz and I pretty much dismantled the thing into pieces, and got it all packed up.
On the drive home, Liz and I talked about the moments during the process where we got into disagreements. I viewed things very much as a “I’ll handle this” task, and wasn’t really open to letting Liz help. On her end, she was frustrated at being shut out, and pushed her opinion on a few things… making me feel that she was telling me I was doing something wrong.
We had a good chat about our working styles, and vowed to be better on the next project we worked together on. And tackle it more as a collaborative task.
Funny enough, I have an old photo of the grill from a few years ago. Because… of course I do.
Hopefully, we can get this guy put together and set up on our back porch. It’s a lovely gift, and I look forward to honing my grilling skills. Thank you, Jake and Anaïs!
Related:
Grillable Dessert: Blueberry Crumble
When Kate and I tackle large multi-step things… like preparing a large complex meal, or building something – we pretty much have to agree up front who is driving, as it were. We both have such different approaches to problems otherwise. But if we go in with, ok, you’re in charge on this one, what do you need me to do – then we can usually make it work.
Usually. :/
Liam (July 3, 2014 at 8:27 pm)Ha! Having that pre-task discussion seems key. LIz and I fared much better on our subsequent, joint task due in large part to us doing just that.
I think having just one driver may be a harder approach for us… as the other would end up turning into a back-seat driver.
avoision (July 5, 2014 at 6:47 am)