Man on a Mission

Ok so I nearly lost my pinkie today.

Have you ever been on a mission that you just had to complete, however once you did your not sure why? Like why was that so important? Well that's sort of what today was like for me.

See we have one of those Little Tikes basketball goals in our house right. It's one of those that you can adjust from like 3 to 6 feet. Well mini-me just loves it. I've taught him how to shoot hoops, and the other night we learned about getting change. For those of you who may not know, getting change is when you make a basket you get the ball again and get to keep shooting until you miss. So anyway, I'm teaching him some aspects of the game, and he loves it. He asks me as soon as I get home if it's hoop time, or if we're going to play that basketball game again. So today when the goal broke, I was on a mission.

I also learned something today, broke to an adult and to a 4 year old boy, are two entirely different things. You see when I would shoot a basket (well of course I play too), the rim would fall down a little. Not much, but enough. We've had the stinking thing for about six years now, so I guess it's about time for it to start falling apart. Well anyway, it's been doing this for a few weeks now. Well today, I had the day off of work, and I had had enough, it was time to fix it.

So I studied the goal and how I could make improvements. I got that sort of Tim Taylor, Home Improvement look in my eyes. You know the one where you just know you can make it better with just a few adjustments here and there. I began taking inventory in my head as to what I had out in the man palace a.k.a garage that could be used to fix it. Soon I would begin my challenge, a challenge that my son would love and appreciate. A challenge that he would no doubt tell stories of one day to his children and his childrens' children. Ok maybe that's a little much, but at the very least I would be his hero for fixing it right?

So I got some tools and materials, and began. I told the boy it would be a few minutes because daddy was going to fix his goal. At first he didn't seem to mind, but as the project continued to drag on, as so many of these do, he grew impatient. So much so that at one point when I told him I was almost done and to just be patient, he told me, I don't want you to fix it, I don't care if it hangs down a little. And there you have it....

Shortly there after I cut my pinkie with a utility knife, maybe bad enough to get a stitch or two, but, like I said, I was on a mission. I was going to fix that thing if even if it was the last thing I ever did, and besides at this point there was no turning back.

So in the end, the basketball goal is fixed, well for the most part anyway. I got two blisters, a gash on my finger, and a son who quite frankly could have cared less. In hind sight maybe I should have just tossed that one out and spent the 45$ or so for a brand new goal. Better yet maybe I should have just gone with the wife's suggesting of buying some duct tape. After all in a man's world, if you can't fix it, duct it.

J-Tony