Monday, February 13, 2012

It Doesn't Take Much to Keep an Old Guy Busy

      The other day when I was having coffee with my skating group one of them asked me if, "I was keeping busy?" My reply was,"It doesn't take much to keep an old guy busy." Then I launched into my story to prove my point. 


     The other day when I was having breakfast the top part of a screw dropped out the  chair. The chair didn't collapse immediately so I continued with my breakfast. When I got up to get my toast and coffee I checked the bottom of the chair and all the screws were there. I checked the back of the chair and found where the missing screw had come from. So I finished my breakfast , read the paper and did my crossword puzzles. Fixing the chair would be the first job after lunch.


     I thought about the solution for the chair all morning. Plan A was to get my trusty vice grips and latch onto the  part of the screw poking out of the wood. When I got the chair back off I discovered the screw had broken off below the wood surface. Okay plan B...drill the screw out. Plan B wasn't successful either. The drill bit would slip off the screw into the wood. Now Home Farm Girl is my manager and director. Home Farm Girl suggested that we glue the screw together. I politely told her that I didn't think glue would work. At that time I still didn't have a plan C so the glue solution stayed on the table. We both were stuck for a plan C. After coffee Home Farm Girl came up with a super idea. She suggested that we angle drill a hole beside the old screw. Right away I could see that this was the ticket. So I carefully drilled a hole so that the screw would not come out through the leather covering. 


     Now the next bridge to cross was to find a suitable screw. Of we went to the Canadian Everything Store. We thought we needed a # 10 screw 1 3/4  in long and it had to be brass. There were lots of # 10 screws but none 1 3/4 in long. Off to store number two. Nothing there. Store number three had a sizer for screws so I checked and the screw I had was  # 8. There were lots of 1 3/4  #8 screws. 


      So we started for home. By this time it was close to 5 PM so Home Farm Girl said I don't feel like going home to make supper. Let's go to Five Guys for Fries and to A&W for a burger. Well it sounds like winner but I said, "Nothing doing." I'm not going in to just order french fries. I really hated to be so mean but I couldn't accept her suggestion. Well the solution for supper ended without a war and we went home and had hot dogs.


      So you see one little screw kept me busy all afternoon! Some days are like that when you're a do it your selfer.

21 comments:

  1. Yep, When you've got a "screw loose" it can take up a whole day! LOL Love it, sorry for the poor attempt at punning...Could not help myself.

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  2. Great pun! I'm still chuckling over it. Thanks.

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  3. LOL, Red you're amazing! I love your stories, they keep me busy on this end reading and chuckling... while I should be focusing on other things but what the heck, the work's not going anyplace!

    Cheers.

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    1. Like your last sentence"The work isn't going anyplace." Thanks fro getting a laugh out of my posts.

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  4. Time also seems to be more easily filled when you're older, don't you think? It was a very creative fix for the chair, and it took two old folks all day long to solve it! Not to mention having fun together. I enjoyed your explanation, Red. Happy Valentine's Day! :-)

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  5. Yes , time is easier to fill. We don't have many of the distractions we had before like work. I do enjoy getting out to do volunteer stuff.

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  6. I recently asked my husband, "What do people DO when they retire?"; since we are a few years away from it, It's been on my mind a lot.

    Well Red, now I know.

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    1. But You will always be busy. I found that volunteer things keep me occupied and are very fulfilling. sometimes things take longer to do because time cannot be used as efficiently as we want.

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  7. That's the way it is sometimes around here too..all day for a tiny project! Happy Valentine's Day! :)

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    1. You move much faster than I do. Happy Valentines day to you!

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  8. Well you accomplished the repair on the same day. I can't tell you now envious I am. I rarely manage that myself. I must have at least half a dozen small jobs of that sort hanging around - things my husband used to take care of with apparent ease, but which cause me no end of anxiety and hassle. So I procrastinate. I must follow your good example and get down to some of them.

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  9. Don't worry there are procrastination jobs around here too.

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  10. I love that you had a small repair and you took care of it before it became bigger--even if it took all day. I see that you often comment on my sister's blog so I though I would visit yours. I also like your quote of the day.

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  11. Thanks for visiting my blog. Now I'm really guessing who your sister would be???
    Now I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't been keeping up with my quote of the day. I have collected enough quotes for a year but haven't been posting for a while.

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  12. You, sir, are certainly the Chairman of the Board.

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  13. Love your comment! I'm still chuckling!

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  14. Love the chair saga and the hot dog ending!

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  15. All gospel truth! No embellishments.

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  16. You gave me a much needed chuckle! The hot dogs seem like a wonderful idea...

    Linda
    http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

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  17. It would probably been funnier if you were looking at us stumbling around.

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  18. I think a retired life is much better than having to work, one can pursue whatever they want to do all the time :)

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