A Chip Off the Old Block

When I was a young lad growing up, I was fortunate enough to have parents who believed in a strong work ethic. Their philosophy about getting things done, revolved around the fact that doing things for yourself was most often the best route to take.

Dad was a self-made man and was handy at pretty much everything. A lot of what I learned growing up came from his willingness to be a mentor to me. Probably the greatest gift however, must have been passed down genetically, even though remaining somewhat dormant for the first couple of decades of my life.

Thinking back over the years, and remembering all of the projects I have taken on and completed, is a testament to the skills that I began learning as a young adult. Throughout my life, I generally felt that if something needed to be built, rebuilt, or fixed, who better to do it than me? Thank you dad, for instilling that in me.

Recently, I decided that a new patio constructed of concrete building pavers, would be a fun and worthwhile project. The thought of laying more than 200 heavy cement blocks on top of the ground, to create the illusion of a well-designed patio, typically wouldn't pique my interest. My initial design plans revealed a wooden deck, built over an existing concrete slab. The change in plans and driving force however, was the fact that there was an obstacle --cleverly disguised as a building permit-- lurking in the shadows of my, "I want to build it now" disposition. When I make up my mind to take on a project, I'm not the type who is willing to wait. Similar to heading out the door for a run; when I'm ready to go, I'm ready to go. Simply stated, it's best not to stand in my way. Thankfully, permits are not required for those wishing to strategically place chunks of cement on the ground. Not yet anyway.

If you've never taken on a project that involved clearing and leveling 200 square feet of earth, and preparing it as a bed for cement blocks, my advice is... don't. Okay, as home improvement projects go, maybe it wasn't that difficult of a task. If nothing else, I think that I was trying to prove something to my aging self and besides, I had the best equipment that money can buy. My state of the art shovel and garden rake are second to none.

During my "do it yourself" career, I have come to realize that all of my projects normally have a happy ending. Regardless of whether or not there are issues or roadblocks during the building stage, the end result always seems to please me. By no means am I an expert on building or fixing anything, and believe me I have made many mistakes along the way. Thankfully, to the "untrained eye", small blunders that I have made while constructing my --soon to be enjoyed creations-- seem to go undetected. The life expectancy of my projects has never really concerned me either, as I have made it a habit to frequently relocate --along with keeping an unlisted phone number.

Once completed, I was pleasantly surprised with this new concrete concoction of a patio. The surprise was not about the end result being aesthetically pleasing and somewhat level, because as I stated earlier, my projects typically seem to have a happy ending. The surprise to me this time, had to do with how quickly everything seemed to come together. Within just a few days of semi-hard --I guess I'm not retired anymore-- labor, what was once just a typical backyard was now transformed into a patio paradise complete with accent lighting, mulch and shrubs.

A chip off the old block? Perhaps.

Did I chip any of the blocks? The untrained eye may never detect that. Only this DIY-er knows for sure.


~Safe Riding~

-Chief