In trying to get the house ready for the housewarming next Saturday, I made up a list of about 30 things to do (12 of which are actually done as of this writing). All of these qualify as "handy" projects, so here is a small example of things I've learned during the process.
From the former owner I've learned:
1. No matter what you are attaching, use nails. The more nails the better. These are best inserted at an angle, and if the head or point protrudes that's just fine. Probably won't cause any problems.
2. Grounding on switches is not at all important.
3. Grass and trees in the yard don't actually need to be maintained
4. To clean your chimney, simply continue to burn wood in it. The new smoke, contrary to logic, does not continue to deposit but instead miraculously removes previous soot.
Things I've learned on my own:
1. Jessica is trying to kill me. To wit: today she insisted that she had tested a particular outlet and that it was off. As I was working on it I was electrocuted. "oops, I guess it wasn't off."
2. Powerful drills are designed to rip your arm off. Seriously, if they come with that extra handle, use it.
3. If you need to replace an electrical box, you may as well just let it fall down inside the wall. Isn't hurting anybody.
4. Take your estimate for how long a job will take, and then multiply it by your "slowness coefficient" n, where n ≥ 3.
5. Despite their best attempts, cats cannot help with home projects.
6. Machetes fucking rock.
