Now you need to understand that I am not the handy type.
I was raised to think/believe that I didn’t need to know how to do car repairs, car maintenance (other than simple things like putting on tire chains, adding oil, adding anti-freeze, or changing flat tires), home repairs, home maintenance, or even assembly of things such as bicycles or computer desks.
I was well over 30 years old when I learned how to pump my own gasoline (Oregon is not a self-serve state when it comes to gasoline) and I’ve still only changed my oil once in any of the numerous cars I’ve owned over the years (Jiffy Lube and Quick Lube and their ilk are handy!).
My mother and grandparents were of the opinion that there would always be somebody around (preferably a man) who could change oil, fix things, assemble stuff, use tools, and otherwise be handy, so it would be a total waste of time to teach me how to do these things.
Between working full time and often being divorced/separated from my mother, my father wasn’t around much to teach me these things if he’d wanted to, although he did give me a lot of tools.
What amazes me is that they didn’t teach me how to do either ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ things. What was the thought process, that I would marry very well and have somebody to do all these things for me? Or was I expected to be richer than God so I could pay for everything to be done? Or was there any thought process at all?
Anyway, my doorknob on my back door starting sticking about 2 1/2 months ago. It was taking 10-15 turns in either direction to get it open, and while I made jokes about if the place catches on fire I will definitely go out the front door, I was getting very tired of fighting with that doorknob 2-3 times a day (at a minimum) when I went to get firewood off the back porch or out of the carport.
Yesterday morning I asked the park manager if I could borrow a screwdriver when he got a chance (that man is hella busy ALL the time), so of course last night while looking for a spatula I found all my own tools (screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, etc, etc).
So this afternoon I unscrewed the screws holding the doorknob to the door, took the doorknob with me, and went off to Ace Hardware to get a replacement doorknob. In less than 8 minutes–and without reading the instructions!!–I had the new doorknob in place but the new screws were being difficult.
I decided to wait until tomorrow morning to finish the job as I need more light to see what I am doing. When I finish installing the doorknob I will start patting myself on the back so hard I will probably break my arm ROFLMAO!!
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