Holiday Home Improvements

I try to save some vacation each year in order to take a couple weeks at the end of the year. Way, way, back before kids I didn't used to have as much vacation time and what I did have I used to burn up taking days off here and there to play golf. I figured the holidays were a slack time at work anyway so why waste vacation days on them.

With kids our schedules are way too hectic and there are many more demands on our money, so I broke the golf addiction. I miss it some, but it's just such a black hole of time and money. We bought Derek some clubs a couple years ago, but I've been hesitant to start that train rolling again. With Helen and the kids off for the holidays it's nice to just block off the time and enjoy the holidays with everyone else.

In addition to some relaxation, we usually try to use the time off to do some home improvements which for me usually means screwing something else up in the process necessitating even more time and\or money.

Here are some of my handymanisms:

1. I'm impatient: If I've devoted the energy to focus on something then I want to solve the problem as quick as possible and get it behind me. I don't like real life clutter and I don't like mental clutter. I want the physical problem addressed and I want to jettison any mental baggage associated with it.
2. Out of sight out of mind: If I can't see the problem then it usually doesn't bother me. If I can fix something cosmetically then that's usually enough for me. Of course, that rule doesn't always apply, but if I can do a quick fix that won't bother me when I look at it then I figure the worst thing that can happen if it doesn't work is that I have to redo it better the next time. If I don't have much time invested in the first fix then no big loss. Usually it works out for me, but not always. There's nothing more irritating then spending a lot of time and energy trying to do something the right way and then have it fail anyway. I try only to expend as much time\money\energy as I have to. It's always a value proposition for me. Helen's bathroom vanity is always a mess because she thinks she needs to get out all the cleaning stuff to deep clean it and that's a pretty big effort so it gets done very infrequently. My vanity looks great because I have no problem regularly taking off my underwear before I shower and wiping my vanity and mirror down. Why waste a clean rag? I figure my underwear is going in the laundry anyway - very efficient and it keeps my vanity looking good. It might be a little uncouth, but there are so many bugs and germs that you can't really get away from them so you might as well build up your immunities.
3. I want it done right (unless it's too much of a pain for me): If someone else like Helen or a contractor is doing the work then I want it done perfectly. When I do the work and can't get it to look right after what I deem a fair amount of effort then I can come to grips with good enough.
4. I'm skeptical: I have to understand why. Usually this means I have to try something myself. When our toilet was clogged I tried drain cleaner on it even though, as Helen pointed out, it says not to right on the bottle. I told her that sure it says not to, but it doesn't say why. I figure somebody did something stupid to cause a lawsuit that required the company to cover it's butt, but if it was really important they would have said why. I tried to think of the worst thing that could happen and couldn't think of anything so I tried it - it didn't fix the problem, but it didn't seem to hurt anything (that I know of).
5. I like to fix things with the tools and materials on hand: I have a minimal amount of tools - hammer, screw drivers, pliers, ratchet set, and my big daddy electric drill. I have some other tools, but you get the idea. I don't want a bunch of tools around that I rarely\never use. I can usually figure out how to make due. I certainly have not abided by the handyman rule of using the right tool for the job. If I can figure out something to avoid the time, money, and energy of another trip to the store then I will. Helen and I still laugh about the time when we first moved into the house and Helen's mother looked out our window to see me using the pruners she had loaned us to cut some wire. Helen's mother screamed out, "NO!". Helen thought I was dying or something. I feel bad in that I should not have used the tool in a way that the owner did not condone of, but I was just treating the tool the same way I would have treated it if it was my own.