a mighty step forward in my manhood

I have often said that I am not a handyman. My skill set tends to run in other directions. Need a little acoustic guitar work done in your living room? I’m your man. Got a shortage of groundballs? Let me grab my fungo. Have a few extra deer hanging around your yard? Hang on–I’ll be right over with my bow. Need a tutor for algebra? Boom goes the dynamite.

But I’ve never claimed to be a plumbing/electrical guy.

Until now.

This past weekend I strapped on the old tool belt and decided it was time to try something new. We had a dead garbage disposal, a broken pipe under the sink, and an worn out dishwasher to replace. I made my list for Lowes, got the necessary items, and came home ready to work. Cut the power–check. Tear out the old garbage disposal, wire up the new one, power on–check!

So far so good.

The plumbing for the sink was pretty straightforward. 2 for 2!

But the dishwasher was a little more complicated. For starters, the new dishwasher that came from Lowes had mold growing in it. Turns out that they test each one at the factory, and this one had a bad seal around the door. So after a return and exchange, a day later I was back at it. Connect the water supply–check. Connect the drain to the garbage disposal–check. Connect the electrical–um, problem. The line from the electrical box under the sink was too short, so I had to disconnect the old wire, run a new line. It took a little more time, but I got it done. The under-sink cabinet didn’t burst into flames when I turned the power back on, so I took that as a good sign!

It took about a day and a half to build up enough dirty dishes for a test load. Kim ran the dishwasher for the first time.

VICTORY! TRIUMPH!

I know that they were pretty small tasks by handyman standards, but I’ve got to tell you, I feel pretty good about myself!

I’m afraid that I might have opened Pandora’s Tool Box, though. Now that Kim knows that I can pull off some of these things, my Honey-Do list just got a little bigger. But I think that’s pretty cool…