Freshly washed setter

Poor old Claire was wriggling upended on the carpet, writhing and cavorting around last night which I thought was very funny, only when I brushed her out this morning after walkies, I discovered those telltale little black dots in her fur: shock horrors, flea poopies! My natural approach lemon eucalyptus essential oil spray apparently only goes so far!

Off to the shower we go, first Claire, then Sherlock, and I changed all the towels on the settee for good measure, hoovered bedding, washing the kilim rug and orange floor blanket as I type...with this intense heat and sunshine, fortunately it should all dry by nightfall. 

I don't have the time to do all this, I've got grading on my plate...yikes! But fleas cannot wait, they're exponential. It's worth it so see my babies' clean contentment as they dry off, drowsy fluffy setters. Nobunaga has had a dose of Frontline, I can wash him in a couple of days...
Thinking about exponential, or a stitch in time saves nine mentality, economists talk about the hyperbolic discount rate, where stitching now is too much bother: people discount future satisfaction, choosing lazy happiness now, the future being too far away...Economists see this motivational tendency, to take the easy way out, the delight now, as particularly prevalent in the poor...

"The right wing formula- defending freedom of choice at the front end, combined with massive punishments at the back end- thus amounts in practice to little more than kicking people after they're down. The left-wing formula of education, social work, and other "talking cures" feels less coercive, but in practice tends simply to make people more aware of how badly they are screwing up. What people with highly exaggerated discount functions need is a restructuring of incentives, in order to facilitate more effective strategies of self-control."

Source:Joseph Heath (2009) Economics without Illusions. Broadway Books p.270

We all procrastinate though, in our own ways and at different times... vicariously experiencing contentment through my setter babies is such a satisfying way to motivate myself to get on with it now! do the job! and snuggle on the couch with them later.