Home Improvement Dork, Part II!
Kathy and I went to the Orchard Supply How-To Fair today. You may remember that this is the fair where I met Pat Simpson last year and had him sign my drill. This year, we were going to meet Lee Snijders, lead designer of "team A" for Design on a Dime, one of our favorite shows. I brought my utility knife for him to sign. I love my utility knife with the snap-off blades, almost as much as I love my drill. It is a Stanley knife, in case you are curious.
Because it was sunny today, the turnout was bigger than last year. As before, we were given a free bucket as we walked in. Everyone needs a free bucket, right? This year it was black and teal, very nice. It will color coordinate nicely with my Makita drill. I'll put it in the place in the garage where I store free buckets. Of course I have a place for that.
I had been nervous about meeting Lee Snijders because I love 'team A' so much and I didn't want my fantasy of happy, warm-hearted designers to be ruined. You know that, "what if I don't like the person after all?" kind of tension. I'd recently read on an HGTV message board that Lee, Summer, and Charles, don't really get along that well. This made me clap my hands over my hears and sing, "La, la, la, la, la!" for a few minutes. I mean, that can't be true, can it? They look like a happy team-and television must be real! Right?
Well, whatever, I wasn't sure I wanted to know the truth. But there I was, carrying my utility knife in my handbag (sans blades -- reminiscent of last year's obsession over drill safety).
Because of the scheduling, we met Lee before his presentation to get his signature. It felt a bit weird; he had a bit of an edgy vibe to him. My guess is that he's not the kind of guy who goes around "connecting" with people - at least, not fans of the show. No Pat Simpson moment here.
When we sat through his design presentation later on, I decided the edginess must be part of his personality. When he referred to a past Design on a Dime homeowner as a "whack job," I shuddered internally. Lee, Lee, Lee...that's something you might say to your friends, but not the viewing public. We all wonder if you think we are whack jobs! (Don't answer that.) I think Lee is probably a fine person, just not the group hug type. Perhaps a bit tightly wound.
Afterwards, we stopped by the 3M booth where they were demonstrating one of my favorite things, Command Line Hooks. Remember when I put hooks all over the house in a fit of organizational celebration? Yeah. I told the demo guy that I was a disciple already, but that I had a hard time finding one particular style that I needed. He offered to mail me some along with another kind that he thought would be useful, and took down my address. Wow, free hooks! Things were looking up!
We saw Pat Simpson and I said hi. Of course, I look nothing like I did last year when I had hair, so I had to mention the drill and then he knew who I was. (I assume he doesn't sign a lot of drills for people.) Pat is always nice to see, and he shows off cool little tools in his demo, like the touchless voltage detector that I covet. Who wouldn't want that?
I stayed away from the power tool booths because I was afraid I might find a router or a table saw that I wanted. Last year it was the miter saw with laser that turned my pretty little head, but have I used it yet? No, I'm still afraid that I'll need to sit a cup of ice next to the saw when I fire it up so that when I lose a digit, I can put it in there while Kathy races us to the hospital to be reunited. Hmmm, come to think if it, I should have a Ziploc bag there, too.
It's good I think things through, isn't it? (I have now had to promise to never bring that up to Kathy again.)
So, after some how-to demos, we called it a day and went off to run our other errands. Home and Garden TV celebrities are safe from me for another year. I better go put a coat of acrylic spray on that utility knife....
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