My sister observed a phenomenon on facebook related to the high speed videos of baking wonder. The video promises to be “5 minutes to make cake pops” or some other such thing and the first step is to bake a cake. Now, it takes a bit longer to bake, cool, and crumble a cake – but the video skips over all those steps and just jumps right to the fun part.
So it was with Uncle Kracker from Australia and his 10th video in a series for knuckleheads.
The mailbox at my house has just been sitting on the porch since I moved in and I’ve been meaning to put this on a post and secure it.
So, I headed to the internet and Uncle Kracker – no relation to the “singer”, I’m guessing – and headed to Lowe’s for supplies. This weekend, I got all the gear ready and did my measuring.
And then it was time for step one – dig a hole.
As I set shovel to dirt I started second-guessing the placement, my ability to complete the project, and basically everything. I’m a geek – I had about as much confidence in setting concrete for a post hole as a duck would have landing the space shuttle. Yeah, the duck might be very clever and know a bit more about flying than say, a gopher, but still – not the duck’s element.
But, I had all the materials and the weather was good. And a holiday weekend seems made for home improvement projects if you aren’t on a lake or something.
So, I dug a hole – and it took me a lot longer than 5 minutes.
I got the post cut, added gravel – then got the water ready and the quick-crete.
The back of the bag promised a swift and painful death if you got it on your skin and a slow and painful death if you go it in your lungs, so I put on a mask and rubber gloves before I opened the bag. I got the concrete added and poured in the water. Then dirt around the braced post and clean-up.
The next day, I took the braces down and the pole was sturdy. Somewhat to my surprise, admittedly.
I put the mailbox in place on the brace and realized it was pretty well rusted. Seemed a shame to put an old mail box on a new post and so I went back to Lowe’s to buy a new mailbox. It’s very shiny.
As I tightened up the last of nuts and bolts to secure the mailbox, I smiled. That quiet sense of accomplishment did me some good. For a just a moment, all the recent stress dropped away and I enjoyed the sense of doing something right.
I cleaned up my tools and the work area and then went about my day.
Clearly, I need to trust myself a bit more. With the right planning and a little guidance, I can get all kinds of things done. And being a homeowner – while a little daunting at times – is pretty cool too.
Tomorrow, back to work and to the web. I’ll build mighty websites and solve fiendishly complicated computer problems. And – with any luck – I’ll have mail in the new mailbox when I get home.