Sunday, January 20, 2008

Diying for the Fans - Big Shout out to Baz


Dad has never been much of a handyman, maybe he reckons you don't have to be if you can afford to pay for someone to fix something. Always struck me as odd though, being that he grew up on a farm in western NSW.
Granddad taught him to fight and drink and ride horses and maybe that was enough. It has certainly seen him through. Not so much the horses...or the drinking.
Anyway there were projects, usually gardening, that Dad embarked upon and his sons were duly dragged out of the house to help on Saturday afternoons, away from books or old western matinées in which Indians were still the bad guys.
With Dad there is only one way to do anything, his way (didn't see that coming did you), so our helping usually only took a minute. I'm sure he resolved to control himself, but he could only stand to watch us hacking wildly with a splitter, circling the wrong way with the mower or not putting our back into the mattock for a few seconds before hustling in to 'just show' us how to do it properly.
His just showing usually ended with him finishing the task with Ben and I relegated to support crew, standing bored and idle and wondering if he'd notice if we slipped away back to the cool of the house.
So I didn't leave home with a swag of tips that would make any of the nutters from The Block sick with envy. Or just sick if there were any justice.
Since owning a (massive debt on a small) home I've attempted to remedy this, undertaking tasks around the house, purchasing tools as and when required and slowly building up to the 'finding arse with one hand' category.
Electrickery, however, remains an enigma. Enter my long-suffering brother-in-law Baz. While not technically an electrician I can confidently state, without any hyperbole, that; there is nothing this man cannot do!
He spent over half the day here today; swearing, muttering to himself, overcoming all obstacles and installing three fans for us. I took on the important and familiar role of holding the ladder and passing things.

Thanks Barry, from a grateful nation.

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