That's MR Fix-it to you!

  I had a good Dad. He gave it his best shot, and even passed on a little wisdom here and there. No real complaints. Well, it would've been nice to get a word in edgewise once in awhile(he was a talker!)- and while we're at it, maybe some mechanical/repair savvy. 

 Where it seems most boys are taught how to hammer a nail or use a socket wrench, I was simply given this gem: "Son, when you get married, pretend that you don't know how to fix anything in the house. That way you'll get out of having to do it." 

I still cite that statement as the sole bit of shitty fatherly advice I was given in my life. 

And I must say, doggie-Daddy, you were true to yourself on that one. My Dad was a dreadful handyman. He didn't show me that stuff because he didn't know it himself! So there's no blame. He couldn't give me something that wasn't in him to give. 

My brother learned the handy stuff on his own and from others(he couldn't have gotten it from our Dad!), and has that basic proficiency as far as domestic repairs. Good for him. Me, I'm a chip off the old block, and carrying forward the Roundly tradition of incompetence. Not much I can do, but I change a mean light bulb. 

I remember cracking that joke to my wife, who was complaining about my lack of repair skills: "Being handy is more than just changing light bulbs" was, I believe, her line. She was not amused. 

And of course she didn't see much humor in his fatherly advice either. Not a laughing matter to her. 

I should have said ex-wife. But that may have been evident already. Anyway, this lack of handyman skills is something I've just lived with. If I have a problem, I get someone who's in the know, and pay them to fix it. 

I've long ago resigned myself to the fact that fixing things is something I have basically no affinity for or ability toward. And I'm okay with that. Well, sort of.

Oh, I'm sorry, I do have another domestic skill.(No sense selling myself short here..) Besides changing a mean light bulb I'm a pretty heavy dude with a plunger. With this simple tool, I can unclog things like toilets and bathroom/kitchen sinks, and often return my home to functionality. 

For the past couple days, I've had a bathroom sink that just stayed in a state of clog, despite much vigorous plunger action on my part. If anything, my efforts seemed to make it worse! And I was just getting ready to head to the store for some Liquid Plum'r or the equivalent, when I had an idea. Sort of like one of Columbo's last-minute hunches. 

Using the handle on my disposable razor(and then Mr Plunger's non-business end), I just dug the stuff out. This worked just a little bit at first, and then completely drained it. And yes, I disposed of the razor. The results of my successful unclogging of my upstairs bathroom sink can be viewed here: 

 This is significant because 99.9 percent of the time, I suck at this kind of thing! So any time I get a handle on fixing something, any time I get a hold on my old arch-nemesis Mechanical Ability it feels like a major coup. A battle has been won.

Just another day around the house for most, but a significant stride for Roger U Roundly. I'm thinking of submitting this to the newspaper. 

No, of course I'm not! But I'm still heartened by my ability to fix my sink without the help of even Liquid Plum'r. I'll never be a real handyman, but it's more because I just don't want to.