Big props to my brother-in-law, Lance. The man not only put me up in his home for the last 5 months, but he dropped everything and came over yesterday to help me mount my television on the wall. Check it:
You can’t see any wires because they snake through the wall and into the cabinet. All of my devices are neatly stacked on the left there: a U-Verse box, an Apple TV, a Roku, a Blu-Ray player, my Apple router, and my Weather Underground personal weather station relay. Everything just works.
Lance is a special man. He carries around a leatherman, a flashlight, and an astronaut pen wherever he goes. He owns 3 Volvo’s and he does all the maintenance himself. He owns professional tools for just about everything.
He’s not just handy, he’s a brilliant consumer. Before we make any major purchases, we call Lance. There are good odds that he’s done the research and knows what to buy, where to buy it, and when to buy it, for the best deal. He doesn’t skimp on things, he believes in quality…but he also believes in not overpaying. Especially when it comes to stuff you can do yourself.
Like his basement. He finished his entire basement by himself, and he did it to code. He framed it out, put in walls, ceilings, plumbing, a window, floors. He’s ridiculous. It’s no coincidence that Jesus was a carpenter.
When Best Buy tried to charge me $269 to mount a TV, I walked out of the store. I can do this, I thought. I did it at my last house, I can do it again. I thought I’d spend all weekend drilling holes and playing with wires, but with Lance’s considerable help, it was easy. Not only did he come with technical know-how and another set of muscles to lift the TV, he had 2 ladders, 2 levels, a crazy drill, and some insane kevlar string to route through the wall. He also played along with all the jokes about how good he is at mounting things.
We had to take a run to Home Depot halfway through the job. I feel inadequate at Home Depot because I don’t know what a 2×4 is. I do not belong there. But Lance exudes confidence. He strolls in like he owns the place, finds exactly what he needs, and gets out. It is clear just from the way he walks that he has the chops to see through any project.
Will I become more handy as Lance inspires me to take on more projects?
We’ll see. The next thing I want to build is a pong table and a dartboard for the basement…