Where is the Handyman

Douglas Lee  June 16, 2011

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I was recently exposed again to the absence of other handymen available in these times.

Tradition was that a father passed down skill sets and problem solving abilities (common sense) to their son(s). But did the chain get broken with the baby-boomer generation?

As a young teenager, I remember being loaned out to my uncles for various tasks ranging from cement work, remodeling, reconstruction and just plain manual labor.  Never during those summers, did I ask for nor receive monies. What I gained was a lifetime of experience. Unlike today, where my wife and I are paying $10,000’s in college tuition to have our children educated and upon graduation absent of some of the simplest life skills. How things have changed?

When I was 14 years old my father built our family home which was recently found listed in our real estate for sale search engine, ViewMyListing.com at Lansing Real Estate Journal. I helped him on this project which gave me a wealth of skills. I and my brother have repeated the same project for our families. I gained a lifetime of experience from the home building.

I have told my children that this experience allows our family to receive a lifetime of 60% discount on services and projects ranging from oil changes, painting, home repairs, new deck(s) building, pool installation, barn(s) building and much more.

I have a younger brother who is as handy as I am. We are often reflecting back to our father’s teaching. It was only the summer of 2010 when he passed away. Still, in his last years where he required 24 hour care with the basic tasks in life such as mobility, eyesight and hearing; he still managed to provide direction for the household where my mother and sister live. It seemed to me that my father’s mind was still as sharp as when I was a youth.

As I attend many school and church activities, I find my circle of friends do not possess this can-do, fix anything attitude. I find myself being isolated.

I have always thought this can-do fix-anything attitude was widespread.  It wasn’t until I talked to many others outside my world and had shared my experience that I grew to recognize that my youthful life experiences made me unique. Others are always intrigued about my knowledge-- which I always thought was so very commonly normal. See, I’m not a genius, just handy.

PBS has a show called The Red Green Show. Red has an expression I have repeated to my daughters. “If a woman doesn’t find you handsome then she should find you handy!” Handy will have a lifetime of benefits but handsome will only last for months!

I find that the can-do-fix anything has benefited me even in the technology and Internet world. One of the services my company offers to our clients is to perform Search Engine optimization (SEO) on there corporate web sites. In my own tech company, I struggled for many moons to get top SEO position for marketing my company’s’ products and services. My can-do-fix anything philosophy has empowered me to think through and understand Google’s Mission Statement; I understand how Search Engine Optimization is viewed by Google in consideration of their Mission Statement and Core Values. Now my company offers SEO as a viable and competitive service with real results to other companies wishing to Top Google Ranking.