For the past few weeks, a brand-new, unopened set of windshield wipers, front and rear, sat in the breezeway.
I intended to ask Willem to throw them on the minivan, and never quite got around to it.
This morning, the kids and I were ready to run some errands, and it was raining. And I remembered that the wipers on the car were approximately as effective as old tissues in their long-term water-decreasing efforts. So I sighed. Looked at the replacements waiting in the breezeway. Sighed again.
And I opened the packages and installed the damn things myself.
No big deal, perhaps, except I’d never done it before. Somehow I had this unarticulated belief that it was hard, which is frankly stupid because I can knit, make pasta from scratch, program in HTML and program the DVR. But I’d never attempted it before, sheeplike and passive.
It took longer than it should have, but not long enough to be embarrassing. And now I’m unreasonably proud of myself for starting the day with a simple bit of productivity.
Great job! Some tasks seem so intimidating before you try, and then you wonder what all the fuss was about. And new windshield wipers are excellent. I love actually seeing the road — it helps. I think I’m due for a new pair myself, now that you mention it.
By: Batty on May 17, 2008
at 3:57 pm
You GO girl!!!
By: wordnerd on May 17, 2008
at 5:00 pm
As long as one or more of them don’t fly off into oblivion within the first half hour, you’ve done a fantastic job; we all have.
By: Paul is a Hermit on May 17, 2008
at 6:55 pm
Nicely done!
By: Melissa on May 17, 2008
at 7:32 pm
Necessity dictates that I too have to have a bash at things I normally have no clue about. I’ve done windscreen wipers but buggered if I can program in HTML! There is a sly satisfaction in accomplishing something that you think only a man can do!
By: Baino on May 17, 2008
at 8:21 pm
Necessity dictates that I too have to have a bash at things I normally have no clue about. I’ve done windscreen wipers but buggered if I can program in HTML! There is a sly satisfaction in accomplishing something that you think only a man can do!
By: Baino on May 17, 2008
at 8:22 pm
The last time I tried to replace wipers, one broke off during the next hard rain. And when I say “broke off” I really mean that that it broke in mid-swipe and flew off the car and into the road. I had to drive around the rest of the day with a stick going back and forth across the windshield. I replaced it the next day, and the same thing happened again a few weeks later. I suck at repairing mechanical things.
By: Beverly on May 18, 2008
at 12:50 am
Hooray for you! Must have been the day for it- I mowed the lawn for the first time ever and I think we proabably felt similar levels of pride.
By: JMLC on May 18, 2008
at 7:06 am
Yeah Kate!!! It won’t be long before you can over haul a carburetor.
I grew up with a mechanic instructor for a dad and even though he teught me to do this stuff – I still walk into it meek and mild and VERY TIMID!
By: destinyfay on May 18, 2008
at 10:47 am
I am new here. Just wanted to say hello. So hello!! Zeynep xx
By: zeynepankara on May 18, 2008
at 10:57 am
All thumbs that’s the way some of us are. We are smart enough but something in the genes, the culture, the luck of the draw makes us nervous about doing something as simple as this sounds. When I was around 28 I had to admit to a friend and his wife that I could never pour stuff from one container to another. They showed me how to focus on where I was pouring not on what I was pouring. I don’t spill much anymore but I always think of the way they smiled pityingly while they were giving me the help and it makes me laugh at what a little insecurity can do.
By: rhbee on May 18, 2008
at 8:48 pm
I distinctly remember the first time I installed windshield wipers all by myself. It’s a very empowering thing, I think. It was the same feeling when I was pregnant and put together a set of dowels and plastic bins to create a storage rack for the nursery. Mind you, it was all bought as a kit and I was following directions to the letter, but I DID IT MYSELF, and that felt really, really good.
By: LeeAnne on May 20, 2008
at 9:33 am