When my eldest son became 12 years old he

When my eldest son became 12 years old he helped me fix an ailing Caddy transmission. Actually he did it all, crawled under the car, pulled a piece off of it he found broken, and then fixed it.

We got in the car and it worked. I do not know what or* how he did it.

I decided at that moment that I would never crawl under another car as long as I lived. We had five boys and I fantasized that with proper indoctrination, they not only would relieve me of | crawling under, over and ; through, but might even be a profit making operation.

Do not be disillusioned. There is no way that you can raise children at a profit. At least I could not. There is a lot of emotional satisfaction but no profit.

Now 32 years later all the boys are gone and I am crawling under cars and fixing things again. About all the real benefit is that these five boys can all fix things at their houses now.

To get them to fix things at my house I have to promise them union scale. I never pay them union but I promise anjihing just " to get them over here.

More and more I am realizing that age is telling on me. I should hire all work done. I seem to make things worse now when I try to do it myself.

Last Saturday I learned the hard way, - again. While trying to clean the gutters a rung on the ladder broke. It was the rung that I happened to be standing on. The reason that I am not dead or hospitalized is not related to my intelligence but soley to luck.

I knew that the ladder was probably older than I. I even said _ to myself, “That ladder is going to break some time.” Then I , climbed on it.

So you see how little intelligence has to do with my everyday operation. I will be another two weeks before my shoulder is well enough for me to reach my back pocket.

Having learned this rude lesson, I decided to hire work done. It happens that I had responsible oversight on three flush toilets. Y '