The Rural Voice, 1991-05, Page 8• UPTO75%OF YOUR
OPERATING COST.
• QUALIFY FOR HYDRO
REBATES.
• LAST 10,000 HOURS.
• SEALED AGAINST
ENVIRONMENTS.
• C.S.A. APPROVED.
• PROVEN INSTALLATIONS.
• REPLACE 25 WATT TO 150
WATT LIGHT BULBS WITH
ENERGY EFFICIENT
FLUORESCENT LAMPS.
K L PRODUCTS INC.
R. R. 2, Mount Brydges, Ontario
NOL 1 WO
(519) 264-1016
Fax (519) 264-1017
4 THE RURAL VOICE
NEW BATHROOM LOST
TO USED PICK-UP
Gisele Ireland is from Bruce County.
Her most recent book, Brace Yourself,
is available for $7 from Bumps Books,
Teeswater, Ontario, NOG 2S0.
In order to get a watertight com-
mitment from your man to actively
participate and contribute to improve-
ments in the house, it takes special
talent on the woman's part. I appa-
rently totally lack it!
Some successes have been a-
chieved in the small stuff if I snivel
and whine enough. Loose doorknobs
usually get fixed if they come off in
Super Wrench's hand and there is a
danger of him being locked in the
house with me all day. Leaky faucets
take longer. Cupboard doors that no
longer close take a lot of wheedling,
bribery, and downright threatening.
mentioning the little nest egg. I had
my eye on a tub with water jets and
had the colour of the wallpaper and
floor all picked out.
At noon, several days later, a
smooth talking gentleman dropped in
at lunch time. There's nothing unu-
sual about that around here, so I didn't
pay much attention. Until I caught the
word "truck." I became all ears.
This man had a truck for sale, and
Super Wrench was all ears. Our son
knew what it was like and actively
encouraged the bartering back and
forth when the question of price arose.
Before I could get my hands out of the
... I was within a hair's-breadth
of actually getting the dream to become reality.
Then it all came off the rails .. .
Getting the bathroom upstairs over-
hauled is getting to be the impossible
dream. What really wilts my petunias
is the fact I was within a hairs-
breadth of actually getting the dream
to become reality. Then it all came
off the rails before I realized it.
Super Wrench and our son had
complained for weeks about the she-
nanigans the old truck was putting
them through. It quit at crucial times,
had to be jump started, and then just
generally lost its zip. I commiserated
with them. The bathroom upstairs
was giving me the same problems.
Everything leaked, the floor was done,
and the tub's finish was history.
There wasn't a product on the market
that would get the grease and film off
the once pristine porcelain surface.
They agreed that work in the bath-
room was long overdue. Where
would the money come from?
Little did they know I'd squirreled
away part of my pay cheque and had
just about enough to do the job, if they
did the work instead of a contractor.
Then, I made the colossal mistake of
soapy dishwasher to brain the pair of
them, Super Wrench had the cheque
book out and was avidly closing the
deal. Our son beamed in pleasure.
Before I could get any scathing
rebuttals or worthwhile arguments
against this purchase lined up, it was
all over. I guess it's just a coincidence
that the price of the truck was exactly
the little nest egg I had men-tioned just
days before. Mind you, the body on
this truck was great, they informed me
knowledgeably, but it didn't have a
motor. I groaned in utter frustration.
Another cheque would be issued to
buy a motor, not to mention days in
the shop to put in the motor, which
meant more grease marks in the bath-
room upstairs. When they left I pon-
dered endlessly on what had gone
wrong. I was so close, then pftt ... it
was all over, and along with it, my
carefully hoarded loot to boot.
The truck is running now and the
men are as proud of it as if they had
personally given birth to it. They even
named it just for me. It's called the
"Bathroom."0