Schmunching with Ms Fix-It

Posted on | March 9, 2011 | No Comments

I have a girl crush and she goes by the name of Jennifer Phelps, a.k.a. Ms Fix-It.

She fixes things and organizes people’s spaces and now shares her expertise in classes around Tucson. So there, last night, were me and four other women passing around power tools and asking her very, very rudimentary questions. Very.

The fact that one of the ladies couldn’t hang a picture gave me great joy. It’s not that I was gloating (because this is one of the few things I can do), it’s just that I was happy that our ignorance and unwillingness in the DIY arena had brought us together. It felt liberating and bonding at the same time. It was like asking a bunch of addicts to take their first steps towards sobriety: admit you have a problem, then find some support. Phelps, I like to imagine we were all thinking,  may just be our saviour.

She’s funny. She has a contagiously loud laugh. She’s laid-back. And she’s a woman. Any other time I have been near a power tool, Hubby has been right next to me - helping, yes, demonstrating, of course, and many times ultimately performing the needed task while I looked on. But I was always afraid and awed, and his demos never inspired me to try things myself. Having a woman lead you through the ‘bits’ of a drill, show you how to use a caulking gun, and go step-by-step through the motions of a circular saw is much less intimidating. And having somebody be so less, well, perfect about things was a joy too.

I don’t mean that as an insult, since Phelps clearly knows her stuff. It’s just that her philosophy is: Don’t sweat it. Being married to a pedantic, perfectionist engineer who cringes at the sight of extraneous holes in walls, it was music to my ears to hear her say things like: “Spackle and move on. Don’t dwell on it.”

Some more of Phelps’ gems:

*  “Lefty loosy, righty tighty.” (that’s the direction a valve tightens and loosens, folks.)

* “Schmunching - it’s a highly technical term.”

* “As women we have to figure out a lot of things on the fly anyway, so why not apply that to tools?” 

 This is a woman who learned by watching her father and stepfather, and who had a handy mother too. A woman who, aged 6, won a competition for who can drive the most nails into a log in a certain amount of time. Yet a woman who admits to having stuck her leg to her trousers with liquid nails, and who says she would always buy a pre-hung door because trying to hang a door yourself is just way too much trouble.

* If you’re in Tucson, in dire DIY straits, and a woman, check out her next evening class on April 28th at Catalina Foothills High School. And you can check her out on Facebook.

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