Jeff is always amazed when I bust out some Do-It-Yourself skills, like rewiring the telephone jack in his old apartment. Today, I installed a Ironing Organizer (to hang an iron & ironing board) on the door of our kitchen pantry.

Growing up, I always took my Dad’s handyman abilities for granted. He could fix anything… or at least jerryrigged it to last a little longer — much to the frequent embarrassment of my family. One time when my dad was away on a business trip, the passenger window of my mom’s minivan got stuck in the down position. My dad refused to let my mom take it to a mechanic, so we drove around for a week with plastic sheeting taped up to keep out the rain. But he sure fixed it when he got home.

My brothers and I were forced to spend many an afternoon “helping” my dad fix the washing machine or changing the oil on the lawn mower or whatever. Gary and Andrew obviously picked something up, since they both currently “work with their hands.” I gravitated instead to academia… except, I must have picked something up because I impress Jeff any time I pick up a hammer or cordless drill.