Wednesday, January 9, 2008

A Bird in the Hand...

Rose has a very tiny bedroom. I think it is 7' x 15'. Many walk-in closets are larger than her room.

I decided to make her a collapsible desk. I saw a homemade desk like this once, but never something similar in a store or online. The desk attaches to the wall and flips up into a desk with fold-out brackets. When you're finished with the desk, you fold in the brackets and the desk folds down.

I made one.
I am very proud of it.

A few years ago Mark got me a circular saw for Christmas. It took me about two years to get up the nerve to use it. Since then, I have almost cut off my leg only once. This is a complicated tale of my stupidity, and I don't wish to share it at this time. Really, I didn't even cut myself--or my leg. But I almost did, which was enough to teach me an additional amount of caution.

I was thinking about how people often say the first part of well-known adages like: a bird in the hand...; or if at first you don't succeed... Everyone knows how they end, so often the first part of the phrase is supposed to suffice for wisdom. What a world of fools we will be if these concluding words are ever forgotten!

Yesterday I discovered that I did not know the conclusion of the little aphorism: measure twice, cut once.

There is, in fact, a concluding phrase, not as well known, which I will record below.

Measure twice, cut once.
Measure once, screw through the surface of the wood, unscrew, apply wood putty, go to Lowes, screw again, mess up, unscrew, go to Ace Hardware, attach, detach, cut twice, reattach.

It is not quite as catchy or as poetic as some of the other aphorisms I know, but it is at least as educational.