Well hello Mr. Murphy!

There were eight people living in our home in Statesboro during my almost 20 years there. While we had lots of guests in and out, these eight were usually there. This number may surprise most folks who knew our family and who visited us. In addition to my parents, my three sisters, my brother, and me, we also had an unseen, yet seemingly constant house guest named Mr. Murphy. He was my dad's assistant when working on projects. Yet he was not much help. In fact, it seemed that his goal was to thwart or complicate every project, no matter how simple. Though I rarely noticed Murphy, dad must have seen him as he was constantly blaming him when things went awry. When a tool broke, a part didn't fit, or a simple plumbing project suddenly required the digging up of the front yard (yet again) my dad would exasperatedly sigh, shout, or grunt, "Murphy!"

Once when Dad was working with my Grandfather, Nathan Byrd, Sr., to repair the leaking knobs in the guest bathtub, a part went missing. It was the stem onto which the knob was affixed. The two men traveled all over Statesboro looking for the missing stem. They went to every possible store with Murphy and me along for the ride. They even took an example to show to proprietors. But no one could match the stem. They even took a break to return home for lunch and to try to brainstorm alternatives. replacing the entire unit seemed like the only option, one my father would only take as a last resort. After lunch they resumed their quest. At the last possible store, the one Dad hated to shop in because it was so expensive, they explained their predicament to the salesman. After listening to their long tale he got a puzzled look on his face, pointed to the stem they carried with them as an example, and asked, "What is wrong with that one?"

My Grandfather and my Dad looked at each other and burst out laughing. The stem they had carried all over town was actually the "missing" piece!

MURPHY!

You may know ole man Murphy by the rule named after him, Murphy's Law: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." Around our house Murphy not only visited occasionally, he lived there. There was no such thing as an easy solution. Everything was complicated. Every problem became more complicated the more we attempted to solve it.

• The dryer needed a new belt. While repairing it we discovered the bearings were bad too. No one in town carried those bearings. MURPHY!
• The toilet was clogged. While tracing the problem dad discovered the "Orangeburg" pipes leading to the street had collapsed. While replacing the pipes he discovered that tree roots had filled the "good" lengths of pipe farther into the front yerd. We couldn't take showers for months during one summer, but spent a lot of family time at the public pool. We would all shower before leaving. MURPHY!
• The hot water heater was not heating enough water. Inspecting it he found sediment had built up. After spending days digging out sediment and thinking the problem was solved he noticed the element had also burned out. No one in town had the part. We order it. It was back ordered. We didn't have hot water for months. For a while we had to use water coming from the neighbor's garden hose because the water lines coming into the hot water heater were so messed up. MURPHY!

Dad loved to tackle projects. Nothing was so complicated that we had to call someone else to fix it. We added onto the house, closing in the garage, putting in a bathroom, expanding the pantry, and building a bay window. We also installed a fireplace, put in several different antennas, built a deck, installed doors, added storm windows, built floor to ceiling shelving along an entire wall, built and added closets, added insulation in the attact, assembled and installed a metal shed, and many, many other things over the years. There was always a project or two in the works and Murphy was always close at hand.

We even attempted a few car repairs, but even a simple oil change sometimes resulted in Murphy coming out to offer his assistance. Nothing was ever easy.

I learned so much working with dad over the years. Though I did not enjoy the many of the experiences at the time, I am so grateful for the skills and knowledge I gleaned:

• I learned that I can do lots of things myself.
• I learned that working with your family can be fun.
• I learned that money can be saved by putting in a bit of time and effort.
• I learned the joy of completing a project and the satisfaction of knowing, "I did that!"

I also learned some things from working with Mr. Murphy:

• Not everything that I can do should be attempted.
• There are more important things than saving money.
• Every task attempted will take longer, cost more, and be harder than originally thought.
• There are people who actually get paid to do some difficult, time consuming, and unpleasant tasks - they are professionals. They know what they are doing, have the parts (or know where to get them), and can do it right in a reasonable amount of time.Sometimes professionals can do it more cheaply than I can.

With commiserating with my siblings back-in-the-day, we would swear we would never try to do the things Dad did, or, if we did we would pay for the best possible tools, equipment, and supplies needed to accomplish the task the right way, the easiest way, in the shortest amount of time. I probably try to tackle projects that are beyond my skill level. In other words, Murphy occasionally shows up at my house too. However, I have also learned a skill my dad never knew about (or, more true, refused to do). I'm not afraid to ask for help.

There is an episode of the Andy Griffith Show that comes to mind here. Sheriff Andy advised his beloved Aunt Bea to "just call the man" when their freezer began acting up. After valiant, yet failed attempts to solve the problem while trying to save money in a at each step, Aunt Bea ends up calling "The Man". If she had just called in the professional at the beginning of her travails much time, headache, and money would have been saved. Of course the episode would have been much shorter and not nearly as funny! Unlike Aunt Bea and my dad, I'm not afraid to call the man and to pay for someone else to do the jobs that will take too long, cost too much in time or emotional energy, or overly disrupt my family. Such calls to "The Man" cause Murphy to vanish and usually stay away for a good long while. In our first house I needed to replace a broken faucet in our bathroom. I bought the cheapest one I could find at a store 40 miles away. It cost about $25.00. I worked with that silly thing over several days, but could never get it to fit where it didn't leak. I finally called a local  handyman (who was the father of one of my students). He had the problem solved in about 10 minutes. The call cost me $30.00. Before he left he asked me how much I paid for the mostly plastic faucet. He gave me a knowing smile and told me that he had one in his truck he could have sold me and installed for less than $30.00. Not only did the project not save any money, I didn't even get the satisfaction of completing the task myself.

Honestly, I probably don't call "the man" as much as my wife would prefer. I love a challenge (especially if I can justify the purchase of a new tool or two) and the satisfaction of doing it myself. Home Depot and Lowes love me! I have several projects in the works now. But they are not major. Karen may disagree. Well, at least they don't require showers at the public pool or neighbor's house. And though he does visit from time to time, I don't allow Murphy to spend the night or to move in to the guest room.