Outsourcing: What I Would Like To Outsource
Posted on June 15, 2007 by LJ Earnest
Categories: Productivity
There are a few tasks that I find take up more time than I would like, but are necessary to the functioning of the home. I would love to outsource these, but until now, have never seriously considered it. This post will explore three of those items and the possible ways to accomplish outsourcing them.
Computer Backups and Maintenance
The Problem
I routinely backup our home computers: each to the other’s hard drive, both to an external hard drive, and then burn to CD. Once a month the monthly archives are burned and shipped off-site for storage. the backup process itself is automated and scheduled; however the burning is not.
Possible Solutions
The way to outsource this would be to automate the burning of the files to CD, or to have them sent off site automatically. Since my backup program does not do this, I would either have to switch software or write something to do it. I’m not likely to switch software, being very happy with my current software. How the question becomes do I back this up to a paid site, our web service or write it to CD? Those are the questions I will have to think about.
Weeding My Vegetable Patch
The Problem
I am a terrible gardener. Yet I like to try. I am probably the only person who has tried to grow zucchini and failed. My seeds don’t start properly, and usually everything dies on transplant. But what does survive, I then spend the next few months pulling the weekds from around the plant.
Possible Solutions
I could give up gardening (my partner’s choice), plant ground cover, or use landscape fabric to prevent weeds. I think the last is the way to go for next year. This year, unfortunately, I will be weeding. But when all plants are done, I will mix in the compost, cover the patch with newspaper and then with landscape fabric. In the spring I should have a nice weedless piece of ground to plant veggies in.
Cleaning Litter Boxes
The Problem
I love my cats. I hate cleaning litter boxes. We have two boxes, and while they are a type that really simplifies cleaning, it still requires monitoring and daily action.
Possible Solutions
I could either train the cats to use the toilets or replace the boxes with automatic ones. I doubt I could train the cats to use the toilets, so I think the automatic boxes are the way to go. The problem with these is that the closet where we keep the litter boxes has no outlets, and these boxes need electricity. So the solutions would have to include running the new outlets.
Conclusion
We have now taken a look at the things I outsource, wouldn’t outsource, and wish I could outsource. What is on your lists?
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Comments (2)
I know a couple who have trained their cat to use the toilet. Their apartment never smells of ‘litterbox’. It took some patience and two separate “tries” to get her potty trained, but they were 100% successful. They used a store-bought cat training kit to do it. All they have to do now for upkeep is flush the toilet when they notice it has been used, as Asrael hasn’t gotten the concept of flushing (and they hope she never does because they’re afraid she might flush the toilet constantly to make the water go “swirly”, and cost them a lot on their water bill!), and leave the lid open so she can get to it easily. If they forget to leave the lid open, she is sure to tell them about it (vocally, of course).
If the toilet lid is left open, the dog will drink from it. If the toilet contained waste matter…well, you get the picture. I’m not sure how to get around that. But then (not to be disgusting, but it’s a fact of life), if I left the litterboxes out where the dog could get to it, she’d snack anyway.
I would really like to get away from litterboxes altogether, so I might have to look into this.