Today is my wedding anniversary. It’s kinda funny to note that today is the day, many years ago, I got married, but I no longer increment the years, even in my head. Yup, I was married for 25 years, and today is the anniversary, but I don’t even know how many years ago that was.
Damnit, now I want to do the math… Ha!
It is an auspicious day in my life. Although it’s over, my marriage was central in making me into myself. Honestly, I cannot imagine what my life would be like if I hadn’t gotten married. Today, I looked through some old pictures of travels with Teri, some pictures of the boys, and some family adventures. Teri and I traveled a lot together—nearly all of the adventurous things in my life I owe to her. Shark diving! Sailing in the South Pacific and the Caribbean! Eating satay and peanut sauce in a market in Singapore! Cuba Libres with sweet Belizean rum on Water Cay.
New Caledonia 2001
Fiji 2007
Key West 2006
We are no longer married, each with lives of our own. But there is no denying we have a past together. I will be toasting Teri and my family today!
When I was a lad, my grandpa asked us kids to collect up these little lead weights they use to balance car tires. They come off frequently and you can find them in the street gutters, (a place I spent a lot of time as a kid). So, we collected up these little things for a while, then my grandpa showed me what he was going to do with them. He had a small crucible, (I didn’t even know that word back then, and neither did he), and used a propane torch to melt the metal. He poured the molten lead into a mold he had, added a couple of wires and let it cool. An hour or so later, he popped the molds open and voila! Fishing sinkers!
Lately, I’ve been riding my bicycle to and from work each day, and, of course, as I’m riding along, I notice a lot of these tire weights. Many of them. This gets me thinking—well, of course, by the time I collected up the weights, found a crucible, found a propane torch and bought propane, well, the whole thing would be rather silly unless it turned out to be a lot of fun, too. I’m a little busy in my life for this sort of fun, but I bet I could do it. It’s not a question of would I do it or should I do it, (not economically feasible/busy guy), but could I do it?
In our modern life, I find it remarkable that so many incredible things have become disposable. Take cell phones, for instance. They are amazing gizmos, full to the brim with modern technology. When one goes bad, it is cheaper to buy a new one than to fix the old one. Cell phones, like fishing weights, are readily and cheaply available. When you think about it, there are a lot of things like that these days.
But what do we lose when we do not apply our problem solving skills to things like making fishing weights? Just today, I made the decision to replace a car battery, rather than figure out how to charge the old one. (It was probably dead. I jumped the car, let it run for 30 minutes, stopped the engine, but it wouldn’t turn over again). I could have taken the battery to an auto parts store, had it tested, bought a charger, charged it at home, etc. I didn’t even want to invest the time to learn about that process; brand new Costco battery, $79 and 15 minutes of my time. I stand by my decision, but I wonder if that battery had life in it? Would I have learned something today? I have never been very handy when it comes to cars, but I am Mr. Goodwrench compared to my sons. Will they be hostages to the car dealership? You can guess how I feel about them…
I often tell my sons that the two most valuable attributes I look for in employees: problem solving skills, and the ability to retain things learned. But what happens when I opt out of problem solving infavor of cheap and easy? Do I become a dull knife?
