By Staff
Chuck Bodiford
T his weekend I had to prove, that yes, I am the king of the castle and qualified to make any repairs necessary to my castle. And prove it to Stephanie, I did, I think. Little did she know that she had slapped me in the face when she said we could just call a repairman. What am I chopped liver?
It started a couple of weeks ago when we had a bad electrical storm to come through, which killed the telephone line going to our bedroom. I will admit it's been awhile since this had happen and yes I might have been putting it off a little, but that doesn't mean I can't fix the problem.
So, first thing I needed to do was get suited up and gather everything that I could possibly need. With headphones blaring music and black electrical tape in a backpack, I stared into the black void, most people call a crawlspace. Legs dangling outside the house, I began to do as they say in the Air Force, "Work smarter, not harder." Using the existing line I was able to stay relatively close to the crawlspace and pull the new line over to me.
After I got into position, I went ahead and did a check. This wasn't the first time I've been under the house running lines. The first time I wasn't too successful, so I was bound and determined that this was going to work. Sure enough, before I ran the line up inside the house I rigged everything up and had a dial-tone; so far, so good. I laid the line beside me as I worked to get the old line out of the way; that was when I was bit.
I would be the first to say, if there is anything that I truly do not care for it is spiders, snakes and frogs. I know of the three, at least two bite. With a yelp, I felt the sting move up my arm, as thoughts of unmentionable horrors sprung to mind. After my senses came back, I was relieved to find out; I had only rolled over onto the bare connection that was exposed.
So, what does this column have to do about anything? Like I mentioned above I've tried running these telephone lines, one time before and wasn't successful, but rather throwing in the towel and giving up I gave it another try. Sure this meant going somewhere or doing something that I would rather not do. But in the end, I won and know that I accomplished something. So, next time you come up against the wall and want to quit, remember, give it one more shot, that's all it might take.
Chuck Bodiford is an Atmore native and publisher of the Advance. He may be reached by calling 368-2123 or by email at chuck.bodiford@atmoreadvance.com