If I were a carpenter, and you were a lady......

I forgot, I am not a carpenter

     That was a painful lesson to learn in life.
      Jackie and I were going to finish the lower level of our first house, a bi level.  Jackie's brother was training to be a carpenter and he came out to build a soffit around the heat ducts so we could drywall that part of the basement.
     We had a system.  He would put the framing in place and I would finish nailing while he continued working in other areas.
     I was hammering  2 X 2s together.  I managed to do fine on the first three, but I hit a knot on the fourth.
    The nail bent.
    I did not want a bent nail, so I started to pull it out......but it would not budge.
    I pulled harder.  It would not budge.
    I figured it was a matter of leverage.  So I stood underneath it, grabbed hold of the hammer and yanked.
     At first I thought I broke my nose.  Then I checked my teeth and lips.  All seemed intact, but very painful.  And my vision was watery.
     "Problem Terry?  came a voice from the other room.
      Through the tears I managed to say no problem, just a bent nail.
      He was quiet for a few seconds, then he said.
      "You didn't hit yourself in the face with the hammer, did you?"
      It's hard to say no to that when you are checking for loose teeth and blotting blood from your nose.
     While I repaired myself, he repaired my area.
      After a few minutes I was ready to tackle it again.
      "What can I do? "I asked.
      "I need some stuff from the lumber yard...you can  go get it," he answered.
      "What do you need?"
      "About 25 minutes," he replied.
      So, I left and spent time wandering around Rochelle.  When I got home he was done and my teeth were still intact.
      But my lesson was far from over.