The Craftsman

Gray Tape & WD–40

It dawned on me suddenly one day. All these years I have thought my dad is a genius. He can fix anything with gray tape, WD-40, and patience. Sometimes he needs a drill, screw gun, and maybe a hammer. 

But he is a genius. He knows so much about building and repairing things. When I was a kid I thought that my dad was a genius but I also thought he wasted a lot of time on things that he could have just replaced. Years later, I understood. Dad may be a genius afterall, but his skill and expertise come from another area. Experience. 

Over the years and through many projects in places like Vestaburg and Buckley — not to mention several jobs when I was his apprentice 35 years ago — I was the student who was learning. Sometimes, we would go so fast that I wouldn’t pick up much. I think I was more a gopher than a learner! 

I remember times young in my educational career and in the middle of dad’s career, that we would take spring breaks, Christmas breaks, or whatever and do a month’s worth of work in a week or ten days. We would start at 7 a.m. and finish around midnight. But we’d get the project done. Bathrooms, ceilings, tile jobs, etc. It wasn’t until years later that we would slow down and I would actually learn a great deal. 

The various saws would scare me. The chop box, the skill saw, the table saw. Even the tape measures scared me. I didn’t know how Dad would look at the tape and say, “Cut that at five and three–eighths. It took me a minute —  and I would still be thinking, “That’s five and six–sixteenths. Why do we have to reduce it?” I was okay on the chop box, hesitant on the skill saw, and fearful of the table saw. But there comes a time when no one is around to assist and you have to fire up that table saw yourself … 

One day I was working on something and a little something–something happened, but … I knew how to fix my way out of a mistake. That’s when it dawned on me — I was becoming a genius. No, not really — I was finally benefitting from my EXPERIENCES. In fact, all these years later, I can explain some of these processes; I understand the value of a pilot hole in a 2” X 2”. Heck, I understand the value of a 2” X 2”. Carpet Carl (I heard somebody call him that one time, even though he hasn’t done carpet regularly since Reagan was president) really can fix anything with gray tape, WD–40, and patience. Man, does he have patience!

He might just be a genius, but it’s good to benefit from his experience, too.