Sunday, July 5, 2009

A Funny DIY Story

At the wedding reception last week, I got updates on several cousins who could not attend. I alluded to a funny DIY story I was told about Dago's brother, J.

J. was always a good-natured, fun-loving guy. He was fairly athletic but always lived in the laborer shadow of my uncle when it came to doing anything house-related. According to my cousins, his wife accepted this a long time ago and regularly tries to dissuade him from taking on DIY projects. (In addition to fouling things up, he is also accident-prone. Must be genetic!)

Anyway, for some reason, J. needed an extension ladder. He decided to rent one. His wife told him to secure it to the top of their van. He thought that would be too much trouble to try and lock it to the roof. Instead, he decided to put it IN the van where he assured his wife he'd make sure it was secured.

He got the ladder, locked it in, and drove home. As he pulled up in front of his house, a kid or a dog or something ran out in the street, forcing J. to jam on the brakes. As he did, the ladder extended and promptly went through the van's winshield -- as J.'s wife watched from the porch.

I can SO see this happening. Apparently, he DID secure the ladder in place, just didn't sufficiently lock down the extension! Yep. That's my family.

3 comments:

Karen Anne said...

Gee, I never would have thought about the extension myself.

But when I have had long stuff in the car (no van), I have always been worried, since it has to be angled, that some car would come along and whack it, removing the crucial portion of my anatomy above my shoulders. There are worse things than a broken windshield.

Why S? said...

Karen Anne's right. That could have been a very un-funny DIY story.

NV said...

You're both SO right. Even so, I had to laugh because there was his poor wife, hands on hips I'm sure, with that, "I told you so" waiting to leap from her lips.