Husband for hire

Before anyone gets any funny ideas, this is a real business in New Zealand. It started from an allegedly off hand comment made by a woman envious of her friend's handy husband. "My hubby is hopeless around the house," she moaned, "I wish I could hire yours for a while!" The seed was planted and Hire a Hubby is a serious business catering to people without the time, tools, skill or inclination to tackle jobs around the home and garden.

When I was back in Malaysia, I was more handy than an average Malaysian with my "tools" that comprised at that time - an impact drill and several wrenches, screwdrivers, nuts and bolts, a high pressure water blaster and an electric grass cutter. Hardly anyone in Malaysia cuts their own grass! I remember when a friend of ours shifted to his new house, I helped him fix all his lights and hang his paintings. I wonder if his wife moaned "I wish I could hire him for a while!" Guess not!

When we moved to New Zealand, I proudly packed all my "tools" into 2 boxes. When the New Zealand Border Control checked our package, they let it pass without a fuss. Knowing they are particular about tools coming into the country with possible contamination, I wondered why they were not too concerned with mine. Then, when we started knowing people, I realised that the average handyman here has at his disposal, several varieties of power saws, welding guns and tools I can't even pronounce let alone spell! The work I undertook to rebuild the bathroom, made me realise that I am nowhere near the average New Zealand husband.

We had a leak on our roof and judging from the state of our "rebuilt" bathroom, Vera decided we should call for a real husband... oops I mean real handyman.