Any owner builder will tell you that long weekends are sacrosanct - their sole purpose is to move DIYer's building schedules along by more than a normal two day weekend permits.
Our plan for this June long weekend had been developed weeks ago:
- complete sanding the floor,
- get at least one coat of oil on the boards,
- caulk the downstair's wall plates, and
- replace some of the dead walnut saplings in the tree plot.
Three days instead of two meant the opportunity to come back 150% more worn out than usual and we had both been looking forward to it since out last trip a couple of weeks ago.
But things don't always go to plan. 10 minutes from our home the ute gracefully ground to a stop and refused to be revived. Everything looked fine, in fact I had just picked it up from a service the evening before and filled the tank 15 minutes ago. An hour later the tow truck turned up and that was the end of the trip.
One view the weekend is as an utter waste of one of the owner builder's prized possessions - a long weekend.
The other perspective is to see it as yet another example of how well God cares for us. Consider this:
- We broke down beside a grassy verge which was safely off the busy road and perfect for tow truck access.
- We hadn't left the previous night after work (like 10,000 plus other people had) - which would have meant a long dark wait in sub zero temperatures.
- Our roadside assistance package provides for 20km free towing - exactly the distance the tow truck travelled to our mechanic's workshop.
- The tow truck's next job took him within a 15 minute walk of our place - no need to "phone a friend".
- Saturday night Nette suddenly became very unwell - it would have been much harder to care for her in a cold, unfinished house with no running water and an outside loo.
You know, even from an owner builder's perspective it wasn't a total loss as I spent the unplanned time tiling our ensuite. A job I'd been putting off for yonks in preference to the house project.
Conclusion - God is good.
