Our old, rickety gas grill died in the last few weeks. So, facing a summer without cooking out, we did the research, made a decision, and ordered a new grill shipped from Home Depot. The UPS guy delivered the huge, heavy box about 6:30 on Thursday, and by 9 that night, Rick had the whole thing assembled, without even too much swearing. And, then, as he rolled it from the living room towards the back door, he said, "You do realize this grill is NG (natural gas), not LP (liquid propane?)
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| The new grill, ready to be rolled outside! |
Either way, the thing was put together--no way it was going back!
We have natural gas, and the meter is only a few feet from the grill, so what was the problem?
"We'll have to get a plumber," he says. "To put in the gas. It's a professional job."
You have to understand, this was a big deal--we don't get plumbers at our house. To my hubby, plumbing is an irresistible challenge. Dishwashers, washing machines, broken pipes and toilets, he's installed or fixed them all.
And by the next morning, he'd decided he'd plumb in the grill himself. After lots of YouTube videos (how did we ever manage without YouTube?) and trips to the hardware store, by dinner time Friday, voila.
Gas for the grill, plumbed and ready.
Here's the before-and-after.
Isn't that smashing? Am I impressed? You better believe it!! Surprised? Not really, because I've seldom seen him fail at a mechanical project.
But I am curious about what makes people "handy." I don't think it's gender. The running joke in my house when I was growing up was that my dad couldn't change a light bulb, and he was a very smart guy. He just didn't have the handy gene. Nor do I! (Understatement of the century...) But my brother was building his own TVs and stereos by the time he was sixteen.
I'm not sure I have any female friends who tackle major plumbing and wiring jobs, but I know plenty of women who love their tools and take on things I would never dream of.
Is this learning? Environment? Basic individual wiring?
What do you think, REDS and readers? And how handy are you?
P.S. Grilling is such a guy thing, right? I do all the grilling in our house:-)
P.S.S. Bibliophile and Susan, you're the winners of Francine Mathew's Merry Folger books!! Send me your addresses at deb at deborahcrombie dot com and Francine will get them off to you!
