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Comment by edw519 | Hacker News Reader

Maintenance is boring.

Just a few things I don't think are boring:

  - sinking my teeth into some fresh sweet melon
  - a late afternoon jog in the woods
  - hanging out with friends and family
  - an ice cold beer at the football game
  - an all-you-can-eat salad bar
  - curling up with SO (even if it is a chick flick)
  - a hot shower, freshly brushed teeth, and a warm bathrobe
  - a happy dance after a new program runs the first time

If you think of the things you need to do to live well as "maintenance", they would seem boring, and you won't want to do them.

But if you think of them as "living", you'll embrace them and never give the concept of "maintenance" a second thought.

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What about these thing, can they be counted as 'living'? Would many people count these as living at all???

  - Periodic management of bank account and making sure you have enough to do 
    whatever it is (survive, travel, have fun, etc)

  - Periodic visits to the dentist or doctor for checkups

  - If distance is an issue, periodically calling your mother.  
    Not all hackers live in their parents' basement. ;)  This one is a weak example.

  - Mowing the lawn, doing laundry, wash dishes, refill toilet paper, etc...

In addition, there are always trade offs. How about all-you-can-eat mashed potatoes and gravy vs. all-you-can-eat salad? Or slouching on a couch vs. jogging in the woods?

Just wanted to play devil's advocate and point out that it takes a certain mindset and definitely a conscious effort to live well.

"... What about these thing, can they be counted as 'living'? ... it takes a certain mindset and definitely a conscious effort to live well."

If you have live a sheltered life, yes. The mindset comes from realising the "living" bit and the circumstances you live for most is (often) taken for granted.

I was more pointing out that there are maintenance tasks that lean less towards something that would seem to be fun (for most people), such as keeping track of finances. These boring but necessary things are a part of life are simple things to do, but in the spirit with the article, the people who live well don't ignore these boring but necessary tasks.

Beautiful and true, and so easy to overlook.

Maintenance is just development without innovation; even new projects are boring when they lack innovation. Turning something that already exists into something that is 10 times better can be just a rewarding as building something from scratch.

So I'm not the only one doing the happy dance? Sweet! I'm not calling it crazy dance anymore.

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