Friday, Feb. 8, 2002

Learning by doing

By Tony W. Cartledge
BR Editor

My handyman days are winding down - I hope - at least inside the house. Readers who have suffered through my reflections on a series of home improvements will be glad to know they are just about done.

There's a wallpaper border that is yet to arrive, and a lot of work to do in the garage, but everything else is shaping up. We've repainted or re-wallpapered every room in the house, in colors from snowdrift white to sea foam green and sunshine yellow (for Samuel). We've reworked a bathroom, replaced the carpet and put an arch in a wall between our den and a rarely used living room.

This past week we added new curtains to coordinate the newly-conjoined rooms, and I managed to install a dishwasher under the counter and a "microhood" over the stove. Miraculously, they both fit properly and work perfectly.

For the first time in 13 years, all of our kitchen appliances are the same color: now all we have left to do is pay off the equity line.

I've learned a lot while wallpapering a room with 19 corners and none of them square, while replacing broken light fixtures and installing new appliances. I even relearned one lesson I first encountered years ago: when the instructions say "TURN OFF THE POWER AT THE CIRCUIT BREAKER," they really mean it. I stuttered for two days last week.

It's always rewarding to learn new things. Who knows? If folks who work for N.C. Baptists should ever be required to affirm any creed but the Bible, the new job skills might come in handy.

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