Making do makes do with a lot less fuss and frustration
By Burton W. Cole
Making do is what I do best.
There is no reason to invest the time, money and effort required to do a project the so-called "right way" (see my wife for the definition of such) when "making do for now" gets a thing accomplished with far less frustration.
Take, for example, the leaky kitchen faucet. What it needs is replacement of a gasket, a little tightening at the connections or possibly a whole new faucet outfit. I'm not sure which.
Until I get a moment to find out, I folded a wash rag and draped it over the divider between the two sinks. With faucet aimed overtop the rag, that old drip-drip-drip that crashed through the night is muffled.
I've been making do with that just fine the last two or three years. It leaves me free to fix the faucet just as soon as I can ... when there isn't something better to do.
Making do makes life easier. It is nothing for me to make do temporarily with the same pair of dress shoes for months after they have become "air conditioned."
True, the washrag trick so handy with the faucet doesn't work as well at plugging leaks in my dress shoes, so I make do with sneakers, even with my suit — the same one I've been wearing for five years now through a variety of personal size changes.
Making do has saved me from hours of torture in clothing stores. That way, I can save my shopping trips for more worthwhile causes, such as a burger and a chocolate milkshake.
When I happened upon a discontinued, scratched and dented sound system on clearance at a department store, I knew it would make do until I can afford the kind that will knock down walls with a simple twist of the volume button. (The walls need bolstering but I make do.)
The sound system need came with rear speakers needed to be mounted on the wall on the far side of the living room. Someday, I intend to buy those little doodads for hanging electronics wire in place. Until then, I'll make do with what I had on hand — Scotch tape.
I will replace the chunks of Scotch tape dotting the living room ceiling with the proper electronic wire clips, just as soon as there's nothing more pressing to do. If the Scotch tape doesn't hold until then, I may be forced to switch to duct tape to make do. Because first I have to do something about the car mirror.
I am happy to report that my experimentation with the technology of break-off mirrors proved successful. When I happened to brush the side of the door backing out of the garage one day, the passenger side mirror snapped right off without damaging the door. It just swung there, hanging by the electronic adjustment cable.
As a temporary fix, I flipped the dangling mirror through the open window and rolled up the window so the mirror wouldn't flop back out. Sure, it slaps passengers on the knee, but it is not a nuisance to me. So I am making do for now with the discomfort of my passengers until I raise enough money that isn't needed for pizza to fix the thing.
And I'll get onto that right after I find a thicker rag. I can hear the faucet dripping again.
Until you get around to writing a letter to Cole, you can make do with an email to burton.w.cole@gmail.com, or taping a message to the ceiling at the Burton W. Cole page on Facebook or at www.burtonwcole.com.