That’s His Nature

I spent about four hours over at Brendan’s place tonight doing a one hour job. It is always a chore to do the finishing touches to a project and when you don’t really know the correct way to do the job, minutes turn into hours.

I am a “good enough” kind of workman. I consider the project and the people who will see it, and decide just how good it needs to be. Of course it needs to be well built and look good, but if the measurements are a 16^th or a 32^nd out, who is going to notice it.

Brendan thinks he is a “good enough” kind of guy, but he is in reality he is an “it’s good enough when I tell you it’s good enough” kind of guy. He will let a 16^th or a 32^nd go if there is no way to fix it or it’s impossible to do it over again. Of the two of us, Brendan’s work is far superior to mine, but I have a lot more leisure time than he does.

Brendan is a lot like my dad in the way he works. I think that if dad were around today, they would love to work together and they would find me something to do that would keep me out of their way. I wish I knew dad better than I do, because I have the feeling that Brendan is channelling dad’s spirit.

Our job tonight involved cabinet handles and they have to be perfect. If they are out one of those 16^th s, it is obvious, especially when the handle is beside the TV and you are looking at it constantly. I think that we eventually got the handles right. Well, I am pretty sure they were good enough, but I imagine Brendan is still tweaking the doors back and forth.

That’s his nature.

The Scorpion and the Frog

A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the

scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The

frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?" The scorpion

says, "Because if I do, I will die too."

The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream,

the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of

paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown,

but has just enough time to gasp "Why?"

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