Was learning cursive really necessary?

No matter how much goes right in a day, one screw-up overshadows it all.

The first tenet of the Hippocratic Oath applies equally well to a handyman. "First, do no harm."
I replaced the toilet guts, no problem. I knew the leaking tub faucet was going to be trouble when I saw it was a Moen. They are famous for causing grief, and it's no coincidence that neither Lowe's nor Home Depot carry parts for them. Not to worry; there's a plumbing supply store just over a mile away from this house.
The cartridge wouldn't come out (to be expected with a Moen) so I took a picture of it with my cell phone. "yeah, that's a 506" (or some such number). And I bought the special puller they make just for Moen faucets. I returned to the house ready to forge ahead.
Oh, did I mention that to do this job the water to the house has to be shut off?
Long story short, the puller would NOT get the cartridge all the way out. It did, however, irreparably mangle that cartridge - so badly that it would neither come all the way out OR go all the way back in.
I left there two hours later, with the water to the house shut off, the tub faucet in shambles and one very upset wife. The husband was very gracious. He watched it all and saw what transpired. I told him the only thing I could advise was that they call a plumber.
I did not charge them anything for fixing the toilet, for the new cartridge or for labor. By the time I add together the cost of materials and the puller I'm out about $100. But I could not in good conscience charge them for anything when I made things worse...and put them in a situation where they have to call a plumber to get their water back on.
The husband wanted to pay me for the parts. I told him to call me when the plumber is done. I want to know if I did something wrong or if it was a legit problem with the faucet. If the former, I'll eat all the costs. If the latter I might let him pay for materials (the toilet innards and the cartridge).
I am NOT happy with myself for causing them grief. I can't imagine what I could have done differently. This is not the first Moen tub faucet I've encountered. It is the first one that required a puller...and still didn't come out. But the bottom line is that I made things worse.

I left there and went to the auto parts store. Pam's battery has been getting worse each day and this morning it barely turned the engine over. So I got a new one, drove to the hospital's employee parking lot and made the switch. What I replaced was the original Panasonic battery that came in the car. Pretty good for a 2005 vehicle! The heat of an AZ summer is harder on batteries than the cold of a MI winter, so for that thing to have lasted this long is surprising. It's also just shy of another $100.

This afternoon I had an almost 90 minute Skype (internet video) conversation with Fred Vinton about Sunday. (See last night's post.) I like communicating that way, esp. for a conversation like this - more meeting than conversation.

I'm not going to do my normal Wed. a.m. bike ride tomorrow. I put extra effort into a speed workout this morning knowing that I was skipping tomorrow's medium-distance ride.
Two guys who attended our church in Riverside CA are in town for a few days on a golf vacation. Tomorrow afternoon they're joining Todd and me on the Wigwam's Gold Course. That's the hardest of the three, so I need to skip a bike ride and save all my physical and mental resources. It will be hot - mid 90's. It will be long - 6,800 yards from the Championship tees. (We may play from the backs, which makes it 7,400 yds.) Which is to say, it will be humbling.
I've explained to God that after this morning's handyman debacle I'm set for the month in the humility department. Bogey golf would be a real blessing. Hey, double bogey golf would send me home rejoicing.
But realistically I'm expecting another serving of humble pie.

Which is why I'm going out to the kitchen now to get a spoon and the carton of ice cream. I'll start on the a' la mode part now. Couldn't hurt.