A Stick in the Mud

Day 2:

On day two I take my pint size helper to the other home improvement store in town. (I am still a bit too irritated by my trip on Day 1 to return to the scene of the crime. Although, honestly, I am mostly irritated at myself for forgetting that their store layout stinks since this is not the first time that I have wandered back and forth a ton of times to collect what I need.) I consult the man in the orange vest about the appropriate tools to cut my 2"x8" and 4"x4" boards and post, and it turns out that I already have what I need (or my dad does) to get the job done.

I call my dad over with his Saws-all, park the munchkin in front of the TV and we get to work cutting up the wood on the driveway. When we are done, I have a bunch of wood that, while not perfectly sized, is close enough. We bid adieu to my father for the afternoon and I prepare to start assembling.

The first step is to pre-drill some holes for my bolts, so I get out my cordless drill and affix the proper size drill bit. But when I press the trigger, nothing happens. Shot. The battery must be dead, but that is ok because I have another that has been on the charger since the last time I used the drill. I swap out the batteries lickety split and....... nothing. Good thing I have another drill with a battery that is ALSO fully charged. Except, that does nothing either. Now I am perplexed. I have 2 drills and 3 batteries and something has gone very wrong here. Either both drills are dead, or all 3 batteries have given up the ghost. That just doesn't seem feasible, and it leaves me unable to identify what I need to replace.

I call my dad back and ask him to bring me his battery so that I can test my drill when he comes over for dinner. When he arrives, it turns out that his battery pack is not compatible with my drill, so I can't use it. Luckily he has brought his drill with him and agrees to lend me the set for this project.

At the end of the day, I still haven't assembled anything, but at least I feel like I finally have everything I need for the next day.