Regarding hardware and air filters…

There’s something I never quite understood about the excitement surrounding a trip to Home Depot or Lowe’s on a weekend afternoon that so many men seem to share.  Was I lacking some male component that this didn’t appeal to me, or I thought of a trip to the hardware store as a chore?

No.  What I was missing was a garage.

The little, covered, unfinished, shelf-filled, peg-board-wall-covered haven that came with our house has unlocked a long-dormant manlier-man hidden inside this hardwired computer geek.  All of a sudden my to-do list is filled with things like “buy a shop vac”, “buy bike hooks”, “buy a dry-wall saw”.  All tasks lovingly checked off after a trip to the store.

Ever since we moved into the house I’ve found so many little things to do that aren’t actually necessary for me to get through my day, but the act of completing these tasks are tiny victories in a life that is filled less and less with free time.  These days projects at work span months and years, there are long time-spans between vacations, and a car loan that has years to go until that feeling of accomplishment with the final payment.

I wired my house for CAT6 Ethernet even though I have a wireless router.  I changed the air filter on my little Mazda 3 instead of having it done during my last service.  I organized all of my tools on the peg-board wall in my garage even though getting them out of my toolbox took no effort.

Does the fact that these tasks have to do with the house or car (as opposed to my computer) make them more acceptable to my fiancee?  Do I undertake these low return-on-investment projects simply because I know it’ll be a task I do on my own and can take care of my introvert?

Next stop: oil changes.

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