There really is no such thing as a simple household project.
Today, after 21 years of living in my house, I decided we needed a new mail box. The old one was very rusty and the door no longer shut right. We are on a rural route, and as soon as we installed this one after moving here, someone came by playing mailbox baseball and dented in the side. Shortly after that, the entire bank of mail boxes was covered in a drive by spray painting. Yet it still served its purpose until today.
At first, I was going to get one online, finding irony in having our new mail box delivered through the mail. I looked on line and the shipping was as much as the box itself, and I did not find humor in paying double, so I headed down to the farm and home store. They have everything. Finding a mail box and one made in America was quite easy. But, they were out of the exact numbers I needed for it. I went to the Dollar General down the street and I bought a pack of numbers. But, they were black numbers, even though the package made it look like they were black on a white back ground. So, that wouldn't work for a black mail box.
I decide to save time and gas and go to the dreaded Walmart. I find numbers with a reflective background. I buy them because they were made in America, instead of the other package of smaller numbers made in Taiwan. I get home and go to stick them on, and they are too big. Turns out the not made in America ones would fit the made in America mail box better. I decide I will just wait until I go out tomorrow to visit my mom and where they have more stores.
But then my husband informs me that he has already removed the old box and now he has lost his crow bar in the process. I start looking around for the crow bar, because that is something I am skilled at after years of household projects with him. I couldn't find it. In the meanwhile, I get an idea. I can use the black numbers if I put on a strip of contact paper and put them over that. While I was reaching for the contact paper, I got a splinter down my finger nail. Despite the pain, I put a piece of the contact paper on the mail box door and affix the black numbers. Looks pretty good. Husband goes down to put it on the bank of mail boxes we share with the neighbors. He finds his crow bar sitting right next to one of the other boxes.
So it is up. And now the mail won't even run until Tuesday!
There is no such thing as a simple household project.
I bet even here on DU there are a million stories of how "let's just fix this" turned into a major ordeal!
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When you strip wallpaper you discover that the wall underneath needs patching. When you remove carpeting you find that the floor needs refinishing. You change some pictures around and you have to get something to patch the nail holes with, and when you put up different pictures they don't cover all of the patched nail holes so you have to buy more paint to cover the patches and you hope it matches the existing paint because if it doesn't you'll have to repaint the whole wall, which means you also have to get tape, dropcloths and brushes. No matter what the project, it always happens that you discover that you don't have the right materials or tools and you have to go to the hardware store. Again.
This comes from my brother, certainly not me, as I can barely fix anything. I do try, though, and on occasion am successful.
My brother says the way one looks at any handyman project is key. He says to look at it like a "process," not a job. Approach it with the idea that you are going to put time in on a project, not do a job. That way one is less annoyed if there's a failure to complete the project.
I adopted his attitude and it works for me. Of course, there is sometimes a price to pay for that, like projects can stretch on longer than what some people might be able to tolerate.
My brother is Mr. Laidback. Nothing bothers him. If he discovers a hitch in the project, he just walks away from it and does something else. While he is doing something else, a good idea might come to him.
I enjoyed your story, logosoco. It really does communicate the nature of household projects. Now, however, frustrating it might have been, you have a new mailbox to enjoy.
Cher
We just went through that on an aging toilet. A local plumber told us that it would cost $121 for the part!
A friend took on the research for us and discovered we could get by with an $8.50 part! And my plumber put it on for a very modest cost. All in all, I probably only spent $60 on the whole affair.
And guess where the friend found out how to do it? Youtube!!
BTW, I went through that paint thing earlier this year. We just hired some guys to sand it down and cover the whole house with one coat. They missed a few spots, though, so I have to go out and finish up.
Cher
p.s. a friend whose home is impeccably maintained told me to spend 30" a day on home maintenance and I would be OK. It sounds like good advice, but I haven't been able to do it yet. I'm going to try, though.
The seemingly simplest tasks/fixes almost ALWAYS blossom into something more complicated and more expensive.
It's just a given.
so yes, I agree nothing is ever simple!
Before July 4th, a certain project in our house was started. I objected. I KNEW this would not be something quick or easy and was also something better left for an actual carpenter. But no. My wonderful I CAN DO ANYTHING husband decided he really wanted to do this himself. Otherwise, he said, months would go by and we would end up not doing anything.
That was June 25th. I have stuff displaced from one room to another. I have a ladder, tools, sanders, caulk, etc in a room that we use every day. Not to mention DUST from said project.
Patience. Patience. I love him but he has no time.
Will this project see Halloween and Thanksgiving, too?
