Hmmmph

[bookofmirrors]

waterfall_sh is The Devil.



So, being broke and being offered the opportunity to make a little cash on the side (which we won't really get, but that's fair, and the subject of another post, but one I'll probably never make, so don't worry about... it's not the point of the story), blckwngdorcl and I went over the a house owned by waterfall_sh's parents, that needs to be fixed up before it can be rented out.

So, blckwngdorcl spent the day working on electrical outlets, and I spent part of the morning wiping down walls, and then went on to paint the ceiling of one of the bathrooms.

Herein is where I start to visualize horns on the lovely head of my hostess.

I rather enjoyed the painting process.

What's wrong with this, sez you?

I'll tell you what's wrong with it.

I am not the do-it-yourself type. Trust me. I'll be the first one to tell you so.

I'm more than happy to either find someone who's an expert in whatever field it is I'm not about to either get my hands dirty with, or fuck up, and happily pay them whatever price they ask to do the task for me. If I don't have the money, I do without.

I sure as fuck don't go around looking to do it myself.

And, because this is the way that human minds tend to work, I'd pretty much convinced myself that, in addition to not being in the mood, and probably being incompetent anyway, I was pretty sure I probably didn't even like doing that stuff. Seemed a reasonable, if completely baseless, conclusion.

But I found myself enjoying it. And also enjoying the outwardly-appearing tedious tasks of painting stripes in the kitchen area.

If I had figured out how to do the pic thing, or had gotten around to having walkingbear host some pics for me, I'd insert one of the Evil One right here, next to one of waterfall_sh, with some comments about the obvious similarities. Make a nice break in the text, doncha think?

Anyway, the fact is, that the MAIN reason I don't do that sort of thing for myself, is that I'm pretty sure I'm not qualified (which may often be true), and will therefore fuck it up completely. In short, stemming from your basic, run-of-the-mill low self esteem bullshit. I've known this for a while, but still pretty much stuck with the fairly reasonable I-haven't-been-properly-trained-for-that-job explanation, followed by the baseless and-I-probably-don't-like-it-anyway conclusion.

And NOW I can't use that excuse anymore. At least when it comes to painting.

Hmmmmmph

Beelzebub, I tell you.

Comments

[missakins.livejournal.com]

um, if you want, just email me pics and I can send you the code to put them into an entry and host them...

I admit it...

[waterfall-sh.livejournal.com]

I AM the Do-It-Yourself Incarnation of the Devil, and I am GLAD that I have corrupted you in any tiny way.

I believe that you should try to do anything yourself -- it saves time, and money, and is FUN, and lets you introduce people to your house or place of work by pointing to spots on your clothes. ("This color is the LR, this is the DR....)

Now for the proselytization portion of our post:

My suggestion for people wanting to be corrupted by the Do-It-Yourself bug: start by working on mechanical things that are already broken, like the leaky faucet in the kitchen sink or the broken handle in the shower, or the toilet paper roller that won't stay mounted to the wall. That way, even if everything goes wrong, there is every chance that you'll at least not be any worse off than you were before you tried.

Painting and decorating are fairly easy for the beginner to accomplish; just pick the largest piece of furniture in the room and decorate using it's colors and style. If you hate the (whatever it is), get a slipcover for it, then follow step one.

Finally, never underestimate the power of those Lowe's free workshops and classes, or the abilities of the employees to answer your questions. If you went to the free workshop, and they taught you incorrectly, and you wasted a lot of money doing things according to their instructions, you would hardly be likely to spend any more money there, now would you?

So, in closing,

EVERYBODY GET THE HECK OUT THERE AND DO IT YOURSELF! :-) :-)

Re: I admit it...

[walkingbear.livejournal.com]

Um, honey. I have all these shirts with missing buttons.. can you.. um.. Ok, ok.. I"ll Do-It-Myself! :)