Belts and whistles
Muse #360 - Squeaks and rattles
I have a few belts that I use. To prop up and make sure that my pants don’t fall off. Every one of my belts has some flaw or other. Some are too large… or perhaps I have grown smaller and therefore need new holes. Some of them are wearing out. So perhaps I need some new ones.
But one of the belts I really like. It looks good. It fits well. But, it squeaks. And rattles. I feel like I am a belled cat when I wear it. Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak it goes while I walk. The metal buckle has some design flaws and it makes a sound. When I use the steps it goes rattle, rattle, rattle, rattle… it goes all day long.
I have been living with this for a while. And my conservativeness (stinginess?) says “Oh, this is in good shape - I cant throw it away” and so I try to fix it. It is the fear of letting things go. The anxiety of parting with things. Another useless encoded human behavior.
I tried to tighten its buckle joints, and find out where the metallic sound comes from so I could find a way to eliminate it. And I even tried some WD-40 spray and a little bit of sprayable grease on the joints. Not too much to spoil my pants but just enough. To no avail.
The squeaks and rattles are slowly getting to my head. And it is reaching a point of no return. I am going to try one last shot to fix it or else let go of it. Just to keep my sanity.
It is the belt or me.