I Wasn’t That Dumb After All -

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“Necessity is the mother of skill”

Here is a home renovation story that I think we ALL can relate to at one time or another. You want – even NEED – changes in your home, whether for safety, cosmetics or upgrading. Four simple choices immediately spring to mind:

1. You can scrap the whole thing and go for a new(er) one. May be financially irresponsible in a tough economy.

2. You can hire the project out to a professional. May be a slightly better deal than ‘brand new’, but you really have to do your homework these days as hungry sharks can sniff ‘sucker-blood’ from miles away.

3. You can Do It Yourself. Before jumping in, be sure to assess all the materials and tools you’ll need to get the job done. Can you REALLY DIY, handling large sheets of flooring or dry wall, cabinets, etc. Are you familiar and comfy using power tools? How much material can you afford to ‘eat’ before you send out the S.O.S.? It’s a scary step which many people put off, sometimes for years, as they muster up the knowledge, skills and GUTS to even begin.

4. You can leave it ‘as is’ for now and hope fate will strike you with a Lottery Lightningbolt. As scary as step three is, there is NOTHING more devastating to the esteem than having to ‘settle for’. It’s downright depressing and demoralizing.

For many people, necessity automatically rules out number 1 and 2. Depending on how hot the fire of desire is torching those rectum-rockets, you may or may not feel the need, or the necessary courage to move out of your comfort zone.

Russy, the Early Years

Growing up, I was a brilliant kid with a gift for music and teaching. I was a highly accomplished performer, and I could take even the most difficult concepts and boil them down into easy, understandable and DOABLE steps, serving me well over my long and successful teaching career.

Skills are often transferable – not always, but often enough to make a statement. If a person is competent and confident in one area, he can usually get by in another area if need be. The soft skills of a healthy self-esteem coupled with an over-riding dose of ‘I-can-do-it-myself’ makes a powerful and unbeatable combination. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!

Unfortunately, I never did get that knack for ‘Home Improvement’. My dad, on the other hand, could fix ANYTHING. And if he didn’t know, he would either read up on it or apprentice himself out to a friend or relative who was also doing a similar project. He learned a LOT on the job, and tried to pass this concept on to me.

At first, my Dad would invite me to ‘watch’ along side while he did repairs around the house. He would ask me to hand him a hammer… I think I handed him a screwdriver; I’m not sure because my Dad’s patience ran out that day and I couldn’t understand what he was trying to tell me for all the shouting!

One time he told me, “Russ, I hope you make a LOT of money when you grow up because you’re going to have to pay EVERYONE to DO things for you!”

I think I was 10 or 11 at the time. It was the proverbial ‘nail-in-the-coffin’ which took me another two DECADES to overcome.

I Finally Get My ‘Mr. Fix-It’ Degree

When I was 35, I bought my first property, a twelve-year-old Townhouse. To say it was a ‘fixer’ would have been one of the grossest understatements of the millennium. Mother Necessity resided in every crack and crevice of that place – I swear, the entire structure was one big crack and crevice. Add to that the fact that it was 1988, the peak and CRASH of the real estate market; yup, we bought high and got sucked dry over the next nine years… but that’s another volume!

Looking back, the house WAS a blessing, as ALL things eventually work out for the best. With my Dad coaching me over long-distance phone conversations, I finally overcame my childhood jinx. Today, there isn’t ANYTHING I can NOT do if I put my mind to it.

In the video above, you can see one of my Reno-Projects (an outside retaining wall) that I did COMPLETELY by myself, from chasing hydro, gas and other building permits to dig; to excavating tie-backs with only a pick and shovel; to filling in and leveling the weeping tile and gravel for proper drainage; to drilling my logs for rebar reinforcement; to stacking the logs; to adding the decorative trellis; to rolling out the sod and planting flowers; all over a period of six weeks in my ‘spare’ time. I was teaching music seven days a week back then to keep up with my crushing mortgage payments.

In 1997, I walked away from that house, leaving it exposed to the Power of Sale vultures. It was the beginning of a bankruptcy which I finally declared in 2000.

One of the crucial factors is that I ditched the beating and kept the lesson. I still have my Mr. Fix-It Degree and I can do just about ANYTHING I put my mind to today!

Look at those pictures, will you? Can you tell I’m super proud of myself? Damned right I am!

Overcoming personal dragons and demons has got to be one of the BEST feelings one can experience on this Earth. Oh, you’ve gotta Love That Feeling!