Fix-it-man

I have never been the kind of guy who fixed, well, anything. Working with my hands was not my forte. I didn't built cool stuff in shop class. Sure, I know how a hammer works, but I don't have any aptitude with it. So when our bathroom faucet started leaking, I called a plumber.

The guy came out, took a quick look at it and quoted me two prices - $250 to repair it and $460 to replace it.

Four hundred and sixty dollars to put a new faucet on my sink? He had to be kidding. I never realized plumbers were rich. They must be if they can get away with charging those ridiculous prices. I sent the plumber on his way and decided I'd read my book on home improvement and replace the damn thing myself. Shockingly enough, Sharon didn't object. Perhaps my successful foray into lighting fixtures a few months ago had given confidence in my abilities. Or maybe she had the plumber on speed dial and was waiting for the flood to hit.

Now I had never even looked at the pipes that connect a sink to a faucet to the water supply. Turns out mine had turned a greenish color. I didn't think that was necessarily a good thing, but oh well. I wasn't there to replace pipes, just a faucet. So I read the book. I got the necessary supplies. I turned off the water. (See, I do know what I'm doing!) And then I started untightening the bolts or nuts or whatever you call 'em. That was difficult, but WD40 is a wonderful tool. I had everything unattached when I realized I didn't have the right kind of faucet. Back to Lowe's. Try again. Still need something else. Back to Lowe's. The third time I returned to Lowe's, I kept my head down and tried to avoid the people who'd seen me on the previous visits. It didn't work. I received a cheery "Hi! Back again?" I mumbled and moved on. I returned home only to discover that there was still one more thing I needed. Lowe's was closed. I called Walmart. They had it! When I returned home, it was 10 pm, we had no water flowing in our house because there were open pipes in the bathroom, and the whole family was getting tired and cranky.

I got to work. Once I had everything I needed, it didn't take that long. I was almost finished when Sharon asked, "You sure the leak was because of the faucet?" I glared at her. She laughed. I slid out from under the vanity. It was time to turn the water back on and see what happened. Sharon was in the bathroom, ready with a towel. Rachel, who was supposed to be in bed but didn't want to miss all the fun faucet action, was at the top of the stairs ready to yell down to me if the bathroom flooded. I turned on the water and raced to the stairs.

It worked!

Amazing. I was sure there'd be leaks. A pipe would burst. Something. But nope. I successfully replaced the faucet in my bathroom. I am still giddy about it.

Home improvement can be fun! Well, okay it wasn't fun exactly, but I felt good when it was over. Sort of like exercise, I think.