Is This You? Circle Your Wagon

My back door sticks. Not knowing exactly why it was sticking I took a hammer to the threshold and beat it down into submission. That worked, for one closing. Then it stuck again. I am gaining muscle tone just going in and out forty three times a day by having to yank on that door. Then I noticed that the thing on the bottom of the door was slipping out and it stuck out the end of the door bottom and was catching on the door jamb as the door tried to close. So I slid it back and the door closed easier. Again, only once. So for a few days as I went in and out I pushed whatever that strip is called back under the door sliding it in along its slots with my foot. Well that got old so I grabbed a few strips of tape. Not just your basic fix all duct tape. Oh no. I used Gorilla tape. Mostly because it is black and so is my door. But also because I know from prior use that it will be stuck where ever you stick it. I used a tape once for water repair that used “Peel-Stick-Stuck!” as their tag line on their packaging. Now that’s what I call tape. It stuck like nuclear fusion to my fingers, hair, cheek, and eventually the place I wanted it to stick to. But I’m becoming stuck here. Moving on.

The tape repair worked on my door. For like six door openings. Oh the tape stuck, but the stick of the door is bad enough to slide the strip just enough to let the door stick some more. Now I have to tap the sliding thing on the bottom of the door that has tape on it with my foot. But! Yes a sticky “but.” But at least it works for those six openings. Now why is it that I bring all this up? Because I will now circle my wagon. (I know it is kinda hard to circle just one wagon. HAHA Just go with it okay?) I will circle my wagon, dig into my pocket and pull out the name of a friend that I know will be able to fix my door. I say friend but I will pay him for his work. His time is valuable to me. His knowledge is valuable to me too.  I want to be friends, but I never want to feel guilty about calling for help so I pay my way when I call on my circle of friends to help me fix stuff. It’s just good karma. And I want to be sure he will slide the little phone icon on his phone up to answer instead of sliding it down to dismiss when he sees it’s me knocking on his phone door. And while here, who came up with “dismiss” to ignore a call. There are so many other, more colorful words that would fit here. Terminate, axe, abolish, obliterate or eradicate just to name a few. HAHA

Of course there are friends that are also good for just advice. Did I just say “just” advice? Well that is kind of condescending. Advice friends are in a category all their own. They can go from, “Yes just take off your shoes and walk over that bed of hot coals. Don’t worry nothing bad is going to happen.” YIKERS! To the one who will tell you, “Maybe you should re-think your decision to move to the Arctic Circle too cool off–just buy a fan. August won’t last forever you know.” Pick your advice friends carefully. How? So glad you asked. Off the top my head you could ask to see the bottoms of their feet and go from there.

So to re-cap. Circle your wagon. Keep your friendly helpers happy by paying them for their time and work. Always be ready to show that your advice is good advice by showing the bottoms of your feet. And keep your toenails cut—you just never know.

Trina lives in Eureka, Nevada. Find her on Facebook, Instagram or share at itybytrina@yahoo.com