The pain of home repair
The hidden cost of home repair – physiotherapy.
Somewhere in the piles of stuff available at the local box store, there must be a guide to good posture. Otherwise, we’ve got lots of soft tissue injury that isn’t catching the attention of the medical world. Here’s the thing. Any time I “install” something around the house, I learn that it’s actually done while lying on the floor in pretzel form, while aiming a flashlight using available body parts.
No job takes five minutes. This afternoon, I replaced a baseboard heating unit. About as simple as it gets, electrically. You swap one cable and turn up the thermostat to test. Except for the deal that the cable is actually JUST the right length, so you have to undo the original part and reattach the new piece while in close contact with the floor. Dust bunny hunting zone.
How about changing out the light fixture while you’re in such a constructive mood. Here, hang this chandelier/huge fan, while standing on your tippy-toes. Extend your arm while supporting the weight of the world light fixture, and hold it just so, while you fasten things together with the other five fingers. Got the drill? No, no I didn’t mean a power tool used to perforate body parts!
And on we go. The aches and pains will follow on a later train. Seriously, as I get older, I understand the gleam in the eye of a neighbour when he hears about someone who does repairs. He no longer wants to spend Saturday tempting the gods. Life is too short.
