Value the Work

I grew up with a father who could do anything he put his mind to. Fix a car? Yup. Build a house? Yup. Fly an airplane? Yup. Ride a unicycle? Well, yeah. But never as good as some of his kids.

My father (and mother) built the house in which I grew up. I still remember the unfinished living room and upstairs bathroom from my younger years (I guess we lived in the basement for part of that time — I seem to remember catching a glimpse of Bobby Kennedy’s funeral on a black and white TV in the corner, but maybe others in my family remember more clearly. I was only 5 at the time). My father and I also worked on the car that was parked in our back yard for so long with the engine stripped down and in the trunk (apparently waiting for me to get my driver’s license so he had the motivation to finish it). He had to clean the pusher valves (or whatever they were called) that lubricated the rocker arms and…whatever car stuff he knew how to do. I didn’t. I watched. I helped. I even “repaired” the rusted rear brake lines once…a whole other story that I’m sure we can all look back on and laugh about now. I mean, I didn’t get far before losing the brakes again, but that’s the beauty of a manual transmission (three on the tree!) — if you’re creative in your downshifting, you don’t really need the brakes much anyway, right?

I helped my dad roof the garage he built in the backyard. I even remember going with him to buy the trusses for that roof. The store was not entirely convinced that the trailer my dad had built could handle them all, but he assured them it could…and it did.

The first time I ever flew was in a Cessna 150 with my father on Thanksgiving Day 1980. Just the two of us. That’s pretty cool in itself.

I’ve often been fascinated by the mechanical and building things. I’ve never been able to do it really, but if I’d had the opportunity, I’m sure I would have been alright. I had so much fun visiting my mother a few years back and doing projects around the house — putting in a new garbage disposal and a dishwasher (with the help of my brother), stripping and staining a plant stand that was water damaged, staining and hanging a folding closet door, replacing all of the fluorescent light ballasts that were failing in the garage (again, with the help of my brother). Oh what might have been if I’d been able to settle down somewhere near a Home Depot.

This all comes to mind because I listen to Mike Rowe’s podcast, The Way I Heard It, and his guest on a recent show was Nick Schiffer, who builds houses (among other things). Nick had a lot to say about building with quality, and it was all right up my alley. There’s so much to hear that I can only really recommend you listen, and enjoy the value of the good work that he advocates. I can vouch for it in many ways from personal experience.