My father was brilliant. He could do just about anything in my eyes. I’ve already written about my first airplane ride — with him as the pilot. I also must have mentioned that he built the house in which I grew up and rebuilt the engine of the first car I drove (I can’t call it “my first car,” because it wasn’t mine), and then he rebuilt the house next door to the house in which I grew up — his parents’ old house.
I got the chance to visit for a while a few years back, and used the opportunity to do a little work around the place. I changed out the garbage disposal and dish washer (what great fun working with my brother on that), repaired and stained a plant stand, changed all of the ballasts in the workshop fluorescent lights, and stained and hung a closet door that had been in the garage since before my father died in 1998.
I learned an awful lot during that time, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. My father had built an impressive workshop with every tool i could ever dream of using, and it was great getting to know them. And I got to make a lot of trips to places like Lowe’s, Menard’s, Fleet Farm, and Home Depot. Then throw in an Ace hardware or two for some good stain. It was wonderful.
Being able to go to one of those big places to find just about anything you need for a project is something special — and unfortunately, it’s not something you can get in Korea. I’m reminded of this constantly as we try to remodel an apartment. Just picking out a bathroom is a chore because you can never find a place that has everything you’re looking for in one spot. Even among these small stores — and they’re all pretty small — with the same brand name, you’ll find a different inventory. We settled on a particular toilet for both bathrooms, and we’ve been to about ten different places with the company name, but only at one did we find what we were looking for.
Nowadays, you can order it all on-line. Unfortunately, you can’t get a good look at what you’re buying, and I just can’t do that. I need to have a look. It’s downright frustrating.
But on the bright side, I got to reassemble some closet shelving today, and that was kind of fun.
My kingdom for a Home Depot though. I would’ve rebuilt the whole thing if I could’ve gotten to a good Home Depot…
