Saturday, November 8, 2008

Honey Don't

Wednesday afternoon, I threw a load of scrubs into the dryer and ran upstairs to finish charting. When I did this, I realized the load prior was still wet. I didn't really give that a thought, thinking someone had just forgotten to turn the dryer on. Well, since clean scrubs were a priority, I pulled the damp stuff out, put the scrubs in and went up to finish pre-work phone calls and charting. At 3, I went to grab my scrubs. Wet. See, you already knew where I was going with this.

In the evening, my husband sent slave-boy to Mr. Larger Than Life's house to dry the 2 loads of wet clothes. When I got home, my husband and I discussed the virtues of repair -vs- dumping much more money than repair costs into the economy. Then, my honey disappeared. I could hear some clanging noises coming from the basement and thought, uh-oh, here we go again. My beloved fancies himself a handyman. After 21 years of me reinforcing this well entrenched thought is just a figment of his imagination, I think he'd get it. He just isn't inclined to be Mr. Fix It. He has other talents but home improvement, no matter how many episodes of This Old House he watches, isn't one of them.

When we first bought this house, it needed so much updating and repair. One night, I called him from work and could hear heavy breathing and hammering. Without discussion, he'd dismantled the brick from an entire wall in the family room. He had no clue what he'd do after that, but in the long run, it cost 1 arm and 2 legs and took several handy men to fix. Another time, he tried to repair the washer. When I saw what he'd done, the front was off the washing machine and the thing was toast. Since it had already expired, this was no major loss. Having watched so many HGTV and do it yourself home improvement shows, he got it in his head once that he could remodel the basement. He bought a video and watched it. Then he went to Home Depot and loaded up on 2 X 4s, nails and hammers. After an endless night of pounding, I had to do an intervention. The basement ultimately required a professional. This morning, up early, I called the appliance doctor and scheduled a repair.

When I went down to see the results of my honey's tinkering last night, I had to laugh. He'd pulled the front of the dryer apart and had just left it like that. I know he didn't know where to go from there, but again, at least he made an effort. I can't fault him for trying, but he just is not Mr. Tinker. However, he is my handy man in so many other ways. He has unwavering loyalty and the best sense of humor of any man I know. This song is for him:

10 comments:

Jane said...

That sounds soooo familiar

flydragon said...

Ah, a lot of men are Bob Vila wannabees. I guess that's not too bad unless it comes to the point where the whole house is being dismantled. Then there's a problem:)

Winifred said...

Mmmmm I know the problem. After nearly forty years now my husband just says "buy a new one".

Really enjoyed the song.

Anonymous said...

I can't tell you how often this happens at my house. My husband insists he can do everything, which frequently ends up costing us so much more money (not to mention the internal stress I feel). I draw the line with anything to do with our furnace or most electrical projects and of course those involving getting on roof. I love the song, too perfect!
XXXXXX

Betty F said...

A GREAT tribute to your wonderful husband!! My husband starts projects and kind of finishes them... :)

Anonymous said...

I am absolutely stunned at this post...do you not remember the house on Harding Street I was living and RENOVATING when we began dating. I re-plastered that whole house and gutted the bathrooms and replaced all of the windows!!!!

As far as the Dryer goes, I told you that it came apart when I moved it!!I did not attempt to repair it...

I believe a public retraction of your comments are in order..oh, by the way, my painting skills are second to none.

Can I sue my own wife for libel? I will be consulting legal counsel for an opinion..Oh, such lies!!!!

Rudee said...

Not lies. Truth.

Anonymous said...

And I suppose you don't think I can cook either!

Brenda said...

Ahh....I can tell you two miss each other. You guys are funny!

Rudee said...

Honey, you are a very good re-heater.