I learned that when you replace the burned out headlight for the car that you don't remove the plastic covering from the front of the headlight, which would be the easiest way to unscrew the lightbulb and put a new one in. On the contrary, you have to open the hood and do it from the back. It certainly is more manly to do it that way. A girl now, she would have designed it the other way around. It was easy enough once I figured out the correct entry point.
I found that when you decide the gutters simply have to have gutter screens on, because he decided they didn't need them and tore them all off one day, that you will have to get on the ladder and do it yourself unless you want to pay someone a fortune to do a pretty simple job. The hard part was working up the courage to get up on the ladder with my corded, not cordless, electric drill and prepare to screw in the gutter guard screens. 30 minutes later and still on the first screw, I learned that the job goes much quicker if the drill is not on reverse. It also helped when my knees weren't shaking as much. Chalk it up to experience.
I learned that all the previous moaning and groaning and procrastination about putting salt in the water softener is no big deal at all. It gets poured into a giant cylinder. Based on previous person's effort, I would have thought it went in a cup at a time. I almost called the water softener people before I attempted it because I thought they would need to instruct me. I decided instead to ask my Mom first, who claimed she had done it before, and when we pulled off the lid, I was amazed by the simplicity of the project. Yes, I too could add salt to the water softener.
When the bathroom sink started leaking, I was fairly concerned. This was most likely going to require the services of a professional plumber. Since it had been misbehaving for some time, I decided to lean on the old ex to see if he would repair a job I had asked him to do long ago. As with most projects, he came in and stopped the damage and that is also where the work stopped. A month later, still without a sink and imposing on my kids' bathroom, I was tired of the bedtime battles over who got to brush their teeth first. I decided to take matters into my own hands and go buy a new bathroom vanity. I picked it out at Ikea, loaded it into my car, carried it in the house, unpacked it and opened the manual. Immediately, I was more than a little intimated by the 26 page instruction book and I almost stopped at page 1 when I saw this cautionary drawing.
I'll keep looking for that piece for the drill, but in the meantime, I would like to note that it hasn't even been a year and look at all the things this girl has done. Maybe I don't need a man in my life after all. I don't know, they are pretty nice to have around I guess. Just don't tell them I know how to do all this stuff. And if they think it's sexy to watch a girl shovel, they can apply elsewhere.