There once was a college girl who thought she knew a better way than toothpaste to fill in deep gauges made in the wall by the silly boys removing the couch from her basement townhouse. She discovered Caulk in her dad's garage. It said it filled holes. Sounded like a good idea....
Enter Brother who spent graduation day removing caulk and plastering/spackling wall.
Brother tells Girl's finacee about caulk. Begin Ban on Girl doing home improvements.
Exit Financee who had become Husband, renamed "Ex." Girl left to do home improvements on her own.
Girl grows up. Becomes lawyer. Learns about caulk during a case. Girls learns difference between acrylic, latex and silicone caulk. Learns about curing caulk and timing and removing old caulk. Watches videos. Does research.
One night taking bath in children's room, girl notices caulking job. Thinks to self, "Self, whoever did this caulking job obviously used acrylic. Note the shrinking and cracking. This calls for a new caulk job by The Girl Next Door with her newfound caulking knowledge."
BossMan (of Bob Vila caliber) warns, "Laying down a bead is harder than it looks."
Girl goes to Home Depot. Finds all the tools. Triumphantly goes home.....
And spends 2 hours laying down the perfect bead. Uses an entire (small) tube of caulk trying to get perfect bead. Makes the biggest mess anyone has ever seen. Fills the garbage can with mis-hits. White stuff everywhere. But Girl Next Door knows that once done well, this silicone stuff will last forever.
Yes an accomplishment. But now that I have proven I can do it if I have to, a cute boy with a tool belt would be hired in an instant....
3 comments:
There is a fine line between knowing how to do something, then doing it and knowing when to call a professional. Knowing how it should be done and final appearance are important to making sure the professional does a comptetent job.
Think of it this way: If you like to (insert task here) then by all means go ahead and perform said task. Otherwise, leave it for the professionals.
One other way to look at it is this: Presuming the finances are there, how many other things could you have accomplished (paying or otherwise) if you contracted the job to another? (I do many of the things around our house because I want to do them, but some are done by professionals.)
Forgot to add: Nice job cuz!
Way to go Cuz - You Rock. You know...it seems "prior to being the Girl Next Door", somebody forgot something. You are a FAISON chick (and a Roy Chick too of course!). We can do absolutely anything - doesn't matter what it is! Why? Um...because we are experts - in it all! (Well...if we aren't experts - we sure as heck know how to research it to BECOME experts!) Just tell us we "can't" - and we will! Then in the future, we will hire it out - cuz we have BTDT.
Welcome back Girl Next Door - I knew you were hiding in there all along!
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