1 Door Down

On Sunday night, Karen noticed our bedroom door screws were loose. I went and got a screwdriver and, like Tim Taylor on "Home Improvement," screwed up what should have been a simple project. I over-tightened the screws and made the hole larger than the screw. Therefore, when Karen went to close the door, one of the screws came out and all the other ones were loose. The solution was to take the door off the hinges because the screws wouldn't tighten. Now, with two kids, you need a door for privacy.

So, I went to the toolbox and found some plastic sheaths that I thought I could pound into the frame and then screw the screw into those. Well, I didn't have the correct size plastic sheath so I couldn't do anything with it.

Yesterday, I stopped at the local hardware store and asked the guy that worked there what I should do. He said that my plastic sheaths wouldn't work. The hole needs to be deeper so that it can expand. He suggested putting some epoxy in the hole and screwing the screw into that. So, thinking I had epoxy at home, I didn't buy anything there.

On the way to CR, I called Karen to tell her about that. Then, the more I thought about it, I wanted a second opinion so I called Bill. Bill and I used to be neighbors and I was the DD for the van he rode in on Saturday night for his future son-in-law's bachelor party. So I explained the situation to Bill and he suggested putting toothpicks into the hole with epoxy, letting it dry and then screwing the screw into that. He then said, "If you're going to work on that, maybe I'll come over and help you."

So, tonight, Bill is coming over to help me hang our bedroom door. Karen and Alex are getting haircuts so Bill and I will be able to hang the door easily. Bill said it was a 5 minute job but my jobs are never - ever - as simple as that. There are always complications and misconceptions about expectations and reality.

Are you like that with household projects? It seems like what starts simple never ends up that way and what I think will be complicated is effortless. The Saturday I found the blinds in the rafters of the attic and decided to hang them - that should have been more complicated than it was - yet, they went up easy. Screwing the screws in a door - that should have been simple and yet, Bill is coming over tonight to help me.