Tuesday, September 21, 2004

If you want something done right

DOB's next younger brother has vehicles that are, if possible, even more troublesome than ours. (Of course, he takes cars for free, so it is to be expected.) Right now he has his truck parked in our garage and comes over in the wee hours of the morning (he works graveyard) to tinker with it until DOB leaves for work. He also is thus available for various tasks like taking doors off their hinges to be painted.

This morning he and DOB were conferring in the garage. DOB came back in and said, "You got paint all over the doorknob."

"Yeah, I know. It's really hard to get around it. I'm going to clean it off."

"Why didn't you just take the doorknob off?"

I don't know, I guess I always thought paint on doorknobs was an inevitable part of life. Removing the doorknob had not occurred to me.

DOB pointed out that one of the key distinctions between us, when we are faced with a task, is that if he sees a problem with accomplishing the task the way he desires, he will stop and analyze it until he figures out how to fix it. Whereas I will just soldier on in spite of everything. The end result is, if I do it, it may not be done right, but it will be done. If he does it, it may not be done, but if it is, it will be done right.

Anyway, his brother took the doorknob and hinges off, so I will be cleaning those today in addition to painting the inside of the door.

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