February 2007

It is hard to work with relatives I think, especially our elders. This weekend I needed to replace the battery in my wifes car. A simple enough task till you add in kids and relatives it goes from easy to aggravating to finally finished. I got back to the house with the battery and started to scrounge up the necessary tools. A crescent wrench was about the extent of the tools I could find that my father-in-law owned, along with a weird assortment of box-end and open-end wrenches that seemed to mysteriously skip all the sizes I needed. 10 mm on one side and 13 mm on the opposite side wrenches seemed most prevalent but were really unhelpful. Then my father in law got involved. Was it bad? Not really the Job got done. Was it fun? Oh hell no! Involving my father-in-law is worse than having my own father help. At least I understand my dad. Regardless I had no choice my fight or flight instinct had taken hold but I couldn't run ........ the battery was 1/2 out of the car and I had dropped one of the posts that holds the battery into the underpart of the car. Escape was not a option. Now my father-in-law was in there with his hands grabbing everything I was working on. I excepted my fate and relegated myself to holding the light. I have been holding the light since I was 5 and now some 30 years later I hate it even more. I know I can but the idea of shoving one of my elders out of my way is not what I am about. I respect my elders even if sometimes I want to strangle them.