Learning From Your Father

I spent yesterday at the new place moving boxes of sundries and putting up a venetian blind to prevent people on the street from casing our storage room from the sidewalk. Moving the boxes went over quickly, but I learned a few things about hardware while installing the blinds.

First, I learned why everyone buys cordless drills nowadays. The reason? Five foot power cords. I received a 1/2 inch craftsman drill as a wedding present. It's a nice piece of equipment, especially with the speed-lock bit set that came with it. But it only has a five foot cord. Give me ten feet and I could put holes almost anywhere in my house, but five feet wouldn't let me drill pilot holes for blinds even with an outlet next to the window. I now have a 100 foot indoor/outdoor extension cord. My lot is only 20 feet by 125 feet so that should do.

Secondly, I learned why my father rarely bothered to read directions. The directions for the blinds were worthless. I've seen better assembly instructions on the back of a Lego box. No parts list. No details. Their pilot hole size for the mounting screws was completely off. Through trial an error I went from a 1/16" hole up to 7/64". Now I know why there are so many home handyman books out there. They're just expensive collections of good directions to do this sort of stuff.