Home Repairs
this is a simple and short topic to blog about...
Home repairs are not for the hobbyist, unless the hobby of that individual is home repair. Home Repair takes a great deal of time, always more time than anticipated; which gives a certain amount of sympathy to the contractor who is never meeting their deadline. Currently this deck project that my father and I have been working on is taking time away from every other outside interest that I have. Less time with my wife, less time with my children, and less time on the bike....sure there is a reward to swinging a hammer and standing back and looking at something that was built with my own hands and yes, I am having a good time bonding with my dad (although a full day yesterday was leaving us a tad frustrated towards the end of the day) but, I am ready to finish this project and get back to my regular life. I do not foresee myself as being a weekend gardener....sure, I will plant a tomato and some basil, water it in the evening, but do not expect to see me in some Japanese farmer pants and some clogs weeding out back, CAUSE THAT GEAR IS BEING USED FOR THE DANCE FLOOR! Well, this gear would be used on the dance floor, but I am too tired and too busy for anything after work and then my deck to do anything but put my feet up and sip a glass of wine. The deck project is actually the backyard project...once the deck is finished there are flower boxes to build, benches to fabricate, weeds to pull, flowers to plant, and so on and so on and so on.....

I will continue to do some home projects from time to time in the future, but I will also consider farming out some work from time to time. This deck project is significantly larger than I had anticipated. My father's assistance is beyond assistance. When dancing only one person can lead, and he is clearly a better dancer than me, thus he is leading in this dance. I have had to hold my breath as he has stepped on my toes once or twice. But the big picture...my father uses far less duck tape than I do when doing such projects and this multilevel deck is far closer to square and level with his handyman skills than with my "lets knock it out" approach to home repair.

this is all so exciting....

I will have to go ride my bike after work today...
yesterday was bikeless
and that is shameful
but I felt that resting my body and getting some sleep was a better option
to my dismay....Grant did not let me sleep
but that is a blog for above

side note:
a friend of mine who was a documentary film producer many years was working on fixing up her Mount Pleasant house. during the process she found great joy in the whole experience, she also gathered a wealth of information, as well as piecing together a beautiful house. Once her house was finished, well, these things are never finished....at some point in the process this women decided she could do this as a business. After all she already had all the plumbers, drywallers, painters, etc. lined up and on the speed dial, so she created Girl Friday. Girl Friday was some movie from the 50's that I had never seen, but I took it to be a play off the character Friday from Robinson Crusoe. In any case...she had a baby... the baby took more time than a home business would allow for so she is no longer Girl Friday. but then, my wife emails me a link to (and this is where the world gets small) a person who has started the same style of business, Toolbox DC. Oddly enough, this woman who started this business is married to a man who is very good friends with the husband of Girl Friday. Ontop of that we all are friends with a Graphic Designer whose design firm is called Toolbox and to top that off...my brother dated this toolbox chic when he was in college.