26.10.09

DIY.

Kiwis are so obsessed with DIY. Almost everything can be fixed with some No. 8 fencing wire. If you believe you are handy, you never hire a professional someone else. You want to Do It Yourself.

My husband Adam is very handy. And he looks just like Brad Pitt, except he is even more handsome.

(Sorry, I really don't want to brag. But Adam just told me to write all that. He is not going to earn all the money and mow the lawns and cook dinner and fix things any more unless I blog with integrity stop mocking him on my blog.)

I'm not allowed to hire a repair person. My hubby is the repair person. And like all repair persons, my husband does things “in his own time”. At least my husband slash repair person doesn’t bill by the hour.

Exhibit A. The bathtub.
Our house did not have a bathtub. A bathtub is a priority for the child (and me). So we bought a bathtub on TradeMe. And it has been languishing on the back deck all winter.

Evidently, the back deck is the new bathroom.

Exhibit B. The washing machine.
A couple months ago, my husband fixed the washing machine, which had stopped filling up with water.

The “fix” that I had imagined did not involve the garden hose.

Exhibit C. Remember the van?
The other day, I came home, and the van was no longer in the driveway. Hoping against hope that Adam had finally sold it to the wrecker, I glanced down the road.

The van needed a change of scenery, Adam said. And some No. 8 wire petrol.

13 comments:

darsden said...

LMAO...!!!

harmzie said...

I am totally in the same boat. Maybe I'll write a guest post for you where I can gripe my face off b/c I am not allowed to do it "at home".

All griping aside, I hear my friends discussing their trials and headaches with contractors and their schedules and shoddy workmanship, and having to watch over their *every* move and I think maybe it's not the worst thing to be a DIYer.

But it certainly isn't the best! ;-)

Cheers, sister-DIY-widow. Hope you get to use that beautiful bath before you need to get a safety bar installed...

From AA to NZ said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
From AA to NZ said...

Too funny! I, of course, just wave my magic wand ......

taitery said...

I've resorted to giving my DIY husband a deadline by which he must have the job done--by my standards, not his-- or I'll hire someone who will cost him lots of money. This usually either gets him on the ball and he does a great job, or he quickly assesses that the job is beyond him and doesn't waste my time. Rarely, though, there is a job that sits forever... like our stone walkway around our deck that has remained half finished for two years now. Its quite the eyesore for the neighbors!

LuLu and Moxley's Mom said...

OMG -- you love the strike through text as much as me. But you're better at it. It's a gift. Really. And what's the point of a blog if you can't make fun of your husband? Isn't that why blogs were invented?

Aliceson said...

Wow and I thought my husband's weird DIY projects were extreme. Makes the bungee cord on my dryer look like a "real" fix. Which reminds me that it's been a while since I poked a little fun at my husband via my blog.

Suzy said...

I moved my car from inside to outside because I thought it needed a change of scenery as well.

tennysoneehemingway said...

Fortunatley for Lady Hem, I'm not handy and would rather get a professional to fix whatever's wrong. Unfortunately for me, she thinks she is and wants to DIY. Thus, nothing gets fixed around the house. Well, not in a hurry anyway.

Ann Imig said...

An outside bath is very refreshing. Especially with Brad ;)

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Anonymous said...

What? You mean you can't run a van on number 8 wire?! Shocking!

Chris Mancini said...

I'm good with electronics. Anything larger than a computer and I bring in help. I am VERY good at finding other people to fix things. That's a skill, right?

Unknown said...

(sniff) I have consulted widely and the garden hose is the coolest and most cost effective fixit known to mankind (Ok, not womankind, maybe). Seriously, it's probably that electronic and plastic stuff under the dial. Expensive bit of kit and doesn't really fix with 8 gauge. Mind you I have a better fixit recipe - Barbs. She's good at things. I like to cheer.