Tackling the Door Knobs

In an effort to make KB (and for that matter, my Mentor and brother-in-law PR) proud, I’m making a concerted effort to get the jobs that have been left for me done, ad so far, so good. I cleaned the barn, relatively speaking, so the electrician was able to get his work done, and I ripped that rough cut wood and nailed them into the kitchen walls.

One of the tasks that was giving me a bit of pause was installing new door knobs. As I mentioned, I was a bit overwhelmed when I went to Home Depot and that was a bit of a fiasco, there were too many darn choices and I couldn’t find any of the actual items. I had a better experience at LaValley’s, though I’d like to mention that the customer service at HD is really good, it’s just that store is huge and I tend to get lost. It’s great if you know what you’re looking for, but when you don’t, smaller is better.

As LaValley’s, they had a good selection and it was manageable. Plus, they helped me out a lot. They’re knowledgeable and helpful at LaValley’s, you just don’t always get warm and fuzzy service. Either way, we found what we were looking for, and it worked out fine. Plus, the prices at LaValley’s are definitely competitive with HD, and I was helped by H, who is super nice and mondo helpful.

Now I never knew how this all worked, but you can get all the locks you purchase adjusted to take the same key, they do it all there for you at the store. I’m guessing HD will do the same, though I can’t imagine how that would work. At LaValley’s, the guys helped me find the locks, and then she took them in back and keyed them all the same. We brought them home and were ready to install.

The kids wanted to help, but sometimes this gets to be a bit of a drama because I tend to make things difficult, especially when tackling new assignments. This drama increases exponentially when things don’t go smoothly, and I’ve found that with installing doors, things often don’t go smoothly. Putting in door knobs is pretty easy, but when I put the first one in, the thing didn’t line up and the door wouldn’t close. Now my first inclination was to get frustrated and mad, but after some careful examination, I could see what the problem was, and all it took were some minor adjustments to where the door frame plate was screwed in, also known as the “catch.”

I feel really bad when I lose patience with a job or get frustrated around the kids, but in a crazy way it’s become a bit of a joke between us, and thankfully it doesn’t scare them away from wanting to help or take part. That would be a big-time bummer, and rather than be thankful about that fact, the real solution is to work on my feelings of frustration. I’m definitely getting there. For the record, it doesn’t always help when you’re trying to do something new and the kids are tearing around the barn on their scooters, but that’s all part of the fun of being a parent, right? It’s good when you can find humor in these things.

In the end, we got all the door knobs in, though I realized later that I still need one more because there is a door on the second floor. Oh well, that just means I get to go to LaValley’s again and talk real-man talk with the pros. It’s much easier the second time around, or in my case, fourth or fifth.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.