Useful skills.

Today, in anticipation of my taking possession and his moving out, Kids'FabDad and I went through the entire house, so that he could show me how to work and maintain all the things I'd never taken apart myself. We summer-ized the swamp cooler, replacing filtration pads and hose-bib washers and waterproofing the reservoir; we replaced the furnace air filter; we disassembled the gas heater and put it back together; we shut off the water to the house at the main line....etc.

It made me realize how much I have managed not to learn to do, how much I relied on him to take care of the mechanical and maintenance stuff. I'm pretty capable in that handy sort of way, but I've never had the time or need to learn to do these things myself. He repeatedly said that he'd come over and help out anytime I had a problem or needed help, but he wanted me to feel ownership over all the machines.

I'm a little nervous to have sole responsibility over all that can go wrong in a house. But after all that tinkering and handymanning today, I actually do feel better able to handle it. I like the sense of independence--or maybe it's an expanded sense of self-confidence--that follows from playing around with tools.