Tools are Cool

It is amazing to me how many skills are accumulated in life through sheer necessity. There you are trying to get out the backdoor and the handle is falling off. So you run and get a screwdriver and figure out what the problem is, you "fix-it"- end of task. Or how about when the brake lights on the car go out and you need a new fuse or when your kid's handlebars are wobbly.

I learned to fix things at an early age. I am fortunate enough to have a Mom who had a toolbox, before it was Cool to have Tools. Now, I'm not talk'in those pretty pink handled delicate tools-I mean the "real deal". She has a neat little toolbox in the closet and she uses it.

Since I grew up on a farm I learned early on that the best times to break things was during the winter. If you got in a little bind during harvest-forget it- you need to figure it out yourself or wait until it rains. Then the real handy guys were out of the fields. Farm life is like that in general- somebody in the family can figure it out.

I like the self-reliance and determination that I aquired growing up as a farm kid. Oh, I do call and hire repair people-but only when I have to, but in general I will give most anything a try.

I recently fixed a toilet that had been bothering me for 16 years----

I didn't say I was fast, just persistent.