Handy-Man Jai

When I titled this journey Surviving a Road Trip, I did not realise that I would be the biggest threat to the whole endeavour. For example, I was reversing my car out of a parking lot and bumped my bumper. The car is fine but the bumper is cracked, and it is not safe to ride around with a cracked bumper lest the wind has its way with it and rips it out while I am driving. So, I got quotes for replacing the bumper; and let me just say ... I cannot really afford it. So I found out where I can buy a new one. The price was under R500 -- now that at least I can afford.

So in order to put a new bumper on, I had to remove the broken one. Now I had never done this before, and I had no idea how to do it. Yet you don't know until you try. Would you believe it -- I actually got it off. Now there are few things I can do, and even less that I can do well. Mechanical things are on the "Do Poorly" list. So I spent just under a hour beneath my car, swearing in a very colourful manner as I tried to negotiate the screw which I assumed would remove the bumper. After I had to eventually make up my own curse words, I got the last bolt off. The result was me holding up the bumper as though it was Simba, and enticing passers-by to share in my triumph. Sadly, they did not.

To quote the characters from South Park, "I learned something [that] day." Just because you have never done something before, it does not make it impossible. Hell, you may even be certain that what you want to do is completely out of you skill set. Just try it. You might just surprise yourself.

Here is a picture of my handiwork. I realise that the image of a gutted car is depressing. At least, it is to me. So I thought I would add a picture of a boy holding a flower I took.