A small step for one man, one giant leap for the local handyman
It seems Phil Brown would rather admire the paintings on display at our art galleries than the masterpieces created closer to home, but this you don’t have to say ‘you missed a bit’.
Our front steps have just been refurbished and painted and I feel very satisfied about that. Not that I did anything other than oversee the project.
I’m very good at that. First, I oversaw the work of our handyman who is a genius. This man can fix anything. Brain surgery would not be beyond him.
Then the painter came in and did his thing and I watched and occasionally offered advice. Such as … “You missed a bit.”
I like to help where I can.
The whole project made me think of the time I did some painting as a teenager. In my holidays my father organised it so that I worked for a few weeks with a painter mate of his, Mick. He was happy to have me get up on the ladder and touch up tricky little bits that he couldn’t get to with his lumbering frame.
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Of course, I ended up covered in paint and on the first afternoon when I got home, I got some turpentine because Mick told me that turps would get rid of the paint. Just use a little bit, he said.
Anyway, before getting into the shower I poured some turps down my front which was caked with paint. Let me tell you turpentine stings and I let out the most blood curdling howl and my mother and brother and sister were banging on the bathroom door shouting … “Are you alright?”
I didn’t do that again.
Painting was one of a number of manual jobs I did when I was young. It’s good to work with your hands sometimes even if it’s just to demonstrate that this is not what you want to do long term
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I had a number of jobs, some hard yakka, others just boring.
My dad owned a quarry on the Gold Coast until I was in my late teens and I worked there running the crusher and doing lots of other jobs. I would come home caked in dust.
Later on, I worked on the roads for a week or two, again a holiday job organised by the old man, and basically, I just held the other end of a string line for a fortnight. I was quite good at that.
I mowed lawns and stacked the shelves at Coles at night which is soul destroying but at least you are in the air conditioning.
And I know my way around a pick and shovel. I’m not sure if that helps.
Still, I reckon manual labour is a good education, to a point.
Nowadays I prefer to watch rather than participate. I’m a very good foreman on my own property and I really enjoy watching other people work. I mean if they need a hammer or nail passed, I’m good for that and I’m excellent at spotting little patches the painter missed.
I’m sure that’s appreciated.
