Last night at my home maintenance course, we built tool boxes. There is a good mix of people in the class, some coming all the way from Mississauga. There is also a Thursday class, and my instructor wanted me to give a shout out to the six chemists who come as a group to learn about home basics. They spend 2 hours on the road for a 3 hours class once a week. You go Glenn Coco’s! (if you don’t know this reference, you don’t know me or 2000s pop culture)
I am calling myself a tool in this post because I was the only one who showed up late (and I live the closest), I broke the drill bit, I almost broke my wrist, the electric sander overpowered me, and I don’t know how to measure or use wood glue.
Everything that went ‘wrong’ is actually comedic to me. I like to think I could be a character on one of my favourite shows “Broad City”. It’s a sitcom about two millennials living in New York, trying to figure out life. They are always in strange predicaments and that’s me. Seriously, the night started off with me running through pigeons to get to class. I also threw on whatever I had laying around and was a hot mess before class even started.
I missed a lot of the in-class lesson so I arrived just in time to start my masterpiece.
The first thing I did was cut my sides and bottom. Somehow, my sides were not even, even though I measured them both at 16 inches. Then, they didn’t fit together. It was kind of a mystery, but not really. I obviously fucked up my measuring LOL. Easy fix- I just had to keep trimming until the sides were even.
Next, I drew my profile and used a jigsaw to cut the curved edges. This was fun! The 
toughest part was using a drill bit to make the hole where the dowel would go through. The drill with the bit was so powerful, my arm literally twisted and my wrist turned so quickly that it actually hurt. Luckily, I took control of the situation and just put my body weight into it. One of the problems was that the workstations were not made for little Mexicans like me. I was on my tippy-toes a lot of the time until I moved to a much smaller workplace that wasn’t really a table.
I then screwed everything together. This took patience- which I do not have- but I managed. I was in a groove, and then the drill bit broke. I was surprised but fessed up right away.
Next, I sanded everything. The sander was so intense I felt that I was using a jackhammer. My entire body was vibrating with the sander! Clearly, I need to do some more pushups.
At last, after a few hiccups, my masterpiece was complete! But I didn’t put the glue on first so it dripped all down the sides.
I walked home, content with my creation. Low and behold, I ran into my best friend on the street so naturally, I accompanied her to the bar, toolbox in tow.
Who goes to the bar carrying a toolbox, covered in sawdust, and pens stuck in her hair? I do. To top off the night, I ordered pie at the bar. Classic Liz.
