June 20, 2009

The Mechanical Son ...


"Quick, grab the duct tape, a 9/16 wrench, and a hammer. We've got work to do."

My dad can fix anything. I mean anything. He could probably fix ANYTHING with a hammer, roll of duct tape, and a 9/16 wrench. I've watched him all my life fix this and fix that. He can fix things on houses, on cars, on motor homes, in gardens, on a grill; as Johnny Cash might have sung, "I can fix anything, man!"

I never even imagine that I have any of his ability to create or fix things. But sometimes, I decide that maybe I can pull something off. Usually, it takes way too long, but might come out looking all right.

We're loading up for Cedar Point today. It's the annual trip. A couple of years ago we stayed in the CP Cabins and the cost was ... well, too much. But we got into the park early. Last year we stayed at a CP hotel, but it was "off site," so we didn't get any perks. This year ... we're staying at Camper Village.

We bought out '93 Damon Hornet in September of '07. We didn't use it a whole lot last summer, but we took it to Harbor Days in Elk Rapids. We ran into a couple of problems as we finished up, but overall, things were okay. One troubler was the awning, so Lori and I decided it would be a great idea to set it up and figure it out last night.

We did. But the middle piece perplexed us. We decided, since it started to rain, that we would put the awning away and figure it out in Ohio. It wouldn't close.

"You have to flip the 'open/close' switch," Lori said.

I tried. Nothing.

"We'll just push it up," I said.

SNAP! CRACKLE! ZOOM! ZOOM! ZOOM! (It was like an episode of '60s Batman). My fingers, feeling a pain unlike anything else. Where were they going to land. They had to be gone. Blood, gushing everywhere. IT HURT!

Plus, the awning was broken.

IT HURT!

I talked to my dad, who didn't really know what to tell me. He wasn't here -- and it's hard to advise fixing over the phone. I made a couple of other phone calls. Talked to Steve; talked to Mark. Mark could make it over and help out, but it would be a little while. That was fine, I told him. I'm going to the hospital.

Oh, the fingers were still attached; I just thought they weren't ... A stitch, yea a stitch, and tetnus shot later ... I was able to hold the awning while mark fixed it. It could be permanent or it could be a stop-gap, but it's fixed for now and we can travel south.

So, it's appropriate to send out Father's Day wishes to all of those Dads, especially the ones who can fix anything with gray tape, a 9/16 wrench, and a hammer. Thanks for all you do!

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