Daily Miscellany 2008-11-28

November 28th, 2008

Waiting for my parents to arrive so my Dad can pronounce judgment on the water heater. Preparing for day of clanking pipes and swearing. #
Parents gone, Dad could not fix. Called Sears repair serv. will come tomorrow. Laclede’s repair service is more than phone sex ($1.54/min.) #
I just keep sitting here and suddenly thinking “Man, I need a shower. I am going to go grab one right quick.” and then I realize. #
I am such a moron. I just realized that tomorrow isn’t the last day of Nov. I have an extra writing day. While that’s good, I now feel dumb. #
Leaving for @todderickv ‘s place, to get my shower on. Keep thinking I’d better grab a quick shower before I go. Duh. #
Home from @todderickv’s, nice and shiny clean. Have an unexpected few spare hours before everyone’s meeting up. Nap or writing? #

Filed under: Microblogging | Comments (3)

3 Responses to “Daily Miscellany 2008-11-28”

Dim Reaper on November 29, 2008 3:17 am
Just reading the first line of this post – the one about your dad coming to try and fix the heating. I realised that I often do the same thing. I am 37 years old, but I still get my dad to come look at my car, or ask his advice when things break (unless it’s something electronic then I keep him well away).

So the worrying thing is, how did this situation arise? Is our generation somehow deficient when it comes to practical repairs?

Then again, my dad is a jack-of-all-trades (and master of none to be honest) – last night I was telling him how I’m planning to get an electrician in to replace the big brass light fittings in my hallway with normal light fittings (the brass ones look nice, but take about a dozen 12v bulbs). Whilst I’ve got an electrician I might as well get some mights put in my living room (there aren’t any strangely enough). What was my dad’s reply? You don’t need an electrician, that’s easy, I’ll do it.

I pointed out that he also said that about the mortice lock for my door, and four month’s later I’m £25 down and still no lock fitted. So apparently he’s going to “get it finished” after Christmas.
SuperBadGirl on November 29, 2008 3:55 pm
Yeah, my dad is the first line of defense when I have a household repair issue, just like my Mom is when I have an issue with a stain that won’t come out, or some panic with the dogs or some question about the way something works.

I don’t know that that means we’re technically challenged, but I think it’s partially influenced by the fact that we don’t have families of our own. By the time my Mom was my age she had a seven year old and a nine year old. There wasn’t a lot of household crap she’d not had to deal with by then. Even though I am thirty-seven too, I have a nice little self-centered existence where things just don’t go catastrophically wrong the way they do when you have kids.

I also don’t hang out with other people who have kids, so we don’t swap knowledge in that way. My friends are mostly single, and if not single they’re childless, so we don’t talk about that kind of thing.

I think if we had different lifestyles you’d have been forced by now to learn a lot more about how household things work, and you’d have a network of other similar-age dads who tinker around in their garages to call upon, instead of just your own dad.
Dim Reaper on November 30, 2008 7:18 am
I’d not thought of that, but you make a very good case. In which case I think I’ll remain technically challenged and have a quiet life where I can do what I want. Lucky for me I’ve got a lady who feels exactly the same.