Tinkering and MacGyvering: Sustenance Series
Basically a husband appreciation newsletter
Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of The Bell!
Tinkering is a skill that sustains our family in a major way. It’s a skill I don’t have—and I’m not required to, because my husband is such a good home problem-solver.
There are so many moments when you need something to be custom-built or repaired, but the project is so small that it would be a waste of time and money to hire someone to do it.
If you’re me on my own, you just leave the problem unsolved and live with a workaround for years. I have my talents, but being handy around the house is not one of them.
My husband is basically the opposite. He spots little inconveniences and issues—often ones that completely escape my notice—and solves them immediately.
Uneven floorboards when we move in? Wedges to put under the furniture arrive from Amazon the next day. His dad’s cane falling on the ground? He runs around the hardware store picking up items that seem random to me, then fashions them together into a custom clip for a table, that both holds the cane securely and is easy for his dad to remove it from.
The cherry tomato plant on our fire escape was sold to us in a hanging basket, but he quickly realized that the branches were too heavy and would soon break over the sides. While I was out of town, he tried staking it, then ultimately replanted it in a pot with built-in stakes, and strategically tied the branches so the plant could grow and fruit most freely. It was wilting when I left, thriving when I got home.
I think this is because he grew up in an ancient country house that requires a lot of custom fixes, and isn’t afraid to dive in and do it himself. I have a sense that if I brainstorm a solution for a house problem, somehow I’ll make the problem worse. I’m just not comfortable with that kind of MacGyver move.
But tinkering adds a ton of value! It’s a skill I would like to build for myself, even though someone will do it for me.
It’s the kind of skill that makes it possible to live in an old house without unlimited funds. It’s the kind of skill that makes it less daunting to buy a fixer-upper (and not do a gut reno). It’s the kind of skill that makes life in any house more pleasant and functional and smooth.
What about you guys? Do you tinker? Teach me your ways!
xx Jane