Typical, isn’t it? I take a week’s annual leave and
because I have no holiday plans I take it when it’s convenient for the company,
not for me. Time to relax, I thought, kick back and chill and release that old
pressure valve. How naïve can you get? A couple of long-overdue follow up
visits to the doctor. Car in for a service and bad, clutch-related, news and of
course the never-ending list of ‘when you get a minute...’ jobs around the
house. By the time you factor in the frequent and extensive showers throughout
the week, all of a sudden it’s back to work and little achieved.
The biggest project was the making of a new back door.
Simple enough, you would think. But, as always, for every job you do you
eventually need to use every tool you possess and not being the proud owner of
a workshop, everything had to be done outside. Sawing and planning and sanding
and gluing and filling and more sanding and painting and on and on it dragged
as, every couple of hours, everything had to be rescued from the lowering
skies. In all it was really a couple of days work but what with everything
getting in the way an entire week slipped through my fingers which, since you
asked, are down to the bone.
Anyway, as I watched my time slip away and my list of
chores barely reduce I was grateful to receive help from an unexpected source.
A knock on the front door had me downing tools and investigating the
interruption. It was a neighbour’s son – none too bright, but pleasant enough,
asking if he could earn some holiday money by helping out. I’ve always been
supportive of the self-starter so I invited him in and ran down a list of
outstanding works. He pointed to one high up on the prioritised schedule:
‘paint porch’. I nodded in approval and set about equipping him with the tools.
A few minutes later he was kitted out with shave-hook,
scrapers, wire wool, sandpaper and a big pot of primer and brushes. If you have
any questions, I told him, don’t hesitate to ask and with that last minute
advice I left him to it. He carried the gear round to the front while I
returned to my door project. For a couple of blessed hours the rain held off
and I managed to crack on with completing the construction phase and beginning
the preparation for painting. I completely forgot about the neighbour’s son
until he reappeared at the back gate with a big grin on his face; mission
accomplished.
A gratuitous picture of tool belts.
He was quite a sight. Spattered from head to foot in
blots of white paint and the odd patch of blood where he had been overly
enthusiastic with the scraper he was nevertheless pleased with himself. It’s
good to see a youngster happy to engage in a bit of manual work and touching to
see how pleased he seemed. I grabbed my wallet and we set off to inspect the
job. Walking around the side of the house the lad turned to me and said “Just
one point of detail” he offered. “Yes?” I queried. He looked at me as if I were
a bit simple... “It’s not a porch, you know. It’s a Mercedes.”
Nice tool belt shot...
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