A couple months ago I noticed there were several items in our home that needed attention: my bicycle tires were flat, my pedometer wasn’t working, lightbulbs had burned out, and our alarm clock was mysteriously set to go off at midnight, which was the most annoying item of all.
Most likely many of these things occurred when I was working. Then I was preoccupied with budgets and payroll and employee morale, so I didn’t pay much attention. But I’ve always liked fixing things, so now that I’m no longer employed I set about to see what to do. Bought an air pump and got the bicycle tires inflated. Determined what was wrong with the pedometer and recalibrated it, changed the lightbulbs, and figured out what needed to be turned off on our alarm clock. We’ve slept through until morning for the past week.
Also fixed our hose, cleaned scum from the crock pot, re-attached a molding, and figured out how to use our portable DVR. Have solved minor computer problems and re-set the TV.
“I’m going to get you a tool belt,” Earl said with awe in his voice. No offense to Earl, but he isn’t particularly handy and this sort of regular household maintenance impressed him. I assured him it was born in other parts of my life when I had no money to hire someone to fix things and even less money to replace them. So I learned to be handy.
I can paint, wallpaper, lay carpet, strip cupboards, and hang window treatments. I can oil squeaky hinges, replace faulty washers, and touch up paint on a car. I haven’t had to do these things lately, but who knows. If Earl buys me a tool belt I might go into the handy “man” business.
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