Yawning as I stumbled through the house, I wandered out to the kitchen to start breakfast and read the morning paper.
As I entered the dining area, I bumped into our small bookshelf. Sometime after I went to bed, it had moved sideways from its place in the carpeted area until it was hanging over the vinyl flooring in the dining area directly in my path from the kitchen. It rested heavily on the cutting board – and the carpeted mat from the car.
M sleep-fogged brain took a while to register the fact that after I went to bed, Mr. Fix-It had come with his magic glue. He had re-applied the rubber pad to the car mat. The bookshelf, heavy with encyclopedia and reference books, was only an innocent bystander compelled to hold the repair in place until it set.
A short while later, our resident repairman pronounced the reconditioned mat ready to return to the car. “But before we put this book case back in place,” he declared, “its backboard needs to be r-glued and re-nailed.”
Encyclopedias from A to Z hit the floor. Roget’s Thesaurus landed beside them, as well as a couple medical reference books. The over-sized dictionary formed a solid foundation for an assortment of how-to books on repairs, building and keeping house.
Before we left that morning, the empty bookshelf laid face down, weighted down with reference books holding down the freshly glued and nailed backside of the shelved wooden skeleton.
No question, with a handyman around the house, we save money in repairs and replacements. We have also discovered new uses for common household items.
Take for instance the modest chandeliers hanging in the dining room. I thought they were there to hold the five globes and light bulbs that light the room. Our in-resident repairman found the metal arches to the lights quite convenient for hanging out small pieces of wood to dry after he had varnished both sides. A bit of string, a paper clip or two and presto magico a new drying rack.
Recently, another project was abruptly moved to the garage. I returned from shopping to a house devoid of living room and dining area. In their place were piles of limber and our piano bench standing guard over yet another gluing job. The family table and chairs filled the living room to free the dining room floor – which was covered with carefully laid out pieces of wood. My husband left to run and errand before my shock wore off.
When he came back, piles of lumber were parallel parked in the garage in the same position they had held in the people part of our house.
I’m magic, too! I found another use for the place we keep our cars.