Destroyed Cord, Nail, Screws, Crudly drawn diagram.
The ambulance pulls up and Nassir hops out.
“Bryce. Can we use the blue electrical cable?” he asks, his eyes showing a sense of urgency.
I pause for a second eyeing the young man in the passenger seat. Not that he doesn’t look responsible, but I love that blue cable. I cherished it last year and never thought I’d see it again. It’s my computer’s lifeline.
“Now? Where are you going to use it?” I respond.
“Yeah, up at the school. For the afternoon,” says Nassir.
“You’ll be done with it before tonight?”
“Yeah.”
With that, we step on to the house and I hand it off to the young man.
Five hours later, I’m wrapping up class and decide to check up on the cord. The man has been welding all day up the hill in the vocational school cafeteria. I climb the steps and find the first piece of my cable.
Inside are the rest of the pieces scattered about. Copper wires stick out the ends of multicolored plastic and unfamiliar parts lay scatter at the base of the cords coils. I look over at the generator and follow a different cable towards the welding mechanism.
The young man sees me tearfully eyeing my cable and comes over.
“Are you done,” I ask.
“Yes,” says the welder. “We didn’t use today.”
“I know.”
He then produces a paper diagram of what wires go where in the plug. Fair enough. All I need is a screwdriver he points out.
“Do you have one I can use?” I ask.
“No.”
A handy nail can sometimes substitute as a philips screwdriver!
This leads up to this episode of Bryce’s Guide! Have a torn up electrical cable? Need to fix something while ten people watch you? No problem! You’re one nail away from all your problems being solved. What you’ll need:
1 destroyed 25 foot blue extension cord.
Misc pieces of said cord
1 1/4 inch nail
1 diagram drawn on the back of a receipt.
2 kids to wonder what the hell you are doing
Amazing nail also doubles for a flathead screw driver!
Directions: Find dismantled cord. Obtain diagram from welder. Find unoccupied school desk and children. Use tip of nail as Philips head and top as a flathead screwdriver. Tighten up electrical fittings. Plug in and hope for the best. Do not repeat.
