Thursday, January 12, 2017

Call me Mr FixIt.

Today was spent fixing things at my mother-in-laws house. I replaced her printer toner cartridge, reset her television and replaced to under-counter light fixtures.

The toner was no big deal to do. The Brother printers have a simple and straight-forward system. I took the old cartridge out and said to my mother-in-law, "Hold this old one by these two tabs while I get the plastic bag to put it in. Don't tip it or touch it anyplace other than the two tabs." She immediately grabbed it by the bottom and got toner all over her hands.

Then I went and "fixed" her TV. This usually involves my pressing the "CABLE" button on her remote so it once again works both the cable box and the television. I then explain to her, for the two thousandth time, that she needs to stop pressing buttons other than POWER, CHANNELUP and CHANNELDOWN. She already has the volume at ear-shatter level so there is no need for her to press that button.

I then replaced two under-cabinet florescent lights she has in her kitchen. This is also not a big deal, it just takes time. Unfortunately, my mother-in-law insists on talking to me while I work. She tells me about her friends and repeatedly asks me what she can do to help. I restrain myself from saying, "Here, hold the white wire in your right hand and the black wire in your left hand."

After about 20 minutes of trying to "help" me, she finally decided that she should go print off all her emails now that she had new toner for her printer. That got her out of the kitchen and I could finish my work without the flow of unwanted conversation wafting around me.

I work best when I don't have to answer inane questions. I also work best when I can freely dispense profanities like water over Niagara Falls.


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