Anything to Fix Today?

Last Christmas, Indy wanted two things: a disco ball, and a tool kit. (She also wanted a dragon, but I'm afraid that was never in the cards.) Indy got her disco ball. And she got her tool kit. And, boy, was she excited.

Ever since, Indy has been looking for projects. Her current career goal is to become a mechanical engineer, so the kid needs some practice. Admittedly, non-emergency repairs were thin on the ground while I was in charge of the boat. But she pulled out the ratchet set whenever she could, just to make sure the pieces were still in order.

When we got ready to move to Papua New Guinea, Indy insisted the ratchets come with us. I winced a little; our bags were heavy enough as it was.
"I'm going to build things with Daddy," she explained.
"Like what?"
"A treehouse," she said firmly.
"That sounds good. But we might not have any trees in our backyard."
She shrugged. "We'll build a tree, then build a treehouse."
So I packed the ratchet set.

As we waited for our visas in Brisbane, Indy's plans grew. She, Stylish and I stumbled across American Ninja Warrior one evening, fell in love with the awesome Kacy Catanzaro, and became hooked on the show.
"I am going to build Mount Midoriyama in our backyard!" Indy announced.
"That sounds fun," I said. I looked forward to telling Erik that he would be building a giant obstacle course over a pool behind our new place.
"Yeah," said Stylish, "and all of the kids in town can come train on it."
And let the lawsuits begin.

Once we settled into our house, Indy started looking for projects in earnest. I had visions of her going door-to-door, looking for bolts to tighten. Luckily, the girls' new bicycles soon needed adjustments.

"Can I help?" I asked.
"No."
"Please?"
Indy rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay. You can hold the frame steady."

But there are only so many bicycle wheels to tighten in this old world. Indy needed a project. The girls did a little brainstorming, and one of them though of Zippy, the bat that flies around under our house.
"We'll make a bat box!"

Problem is, the only tools we have here are Indy's ratchets. So, bright and early Saturday morning, Indy and Erik walked into town to find wood and tools.

And, voila. A beautiful bat box for Zippy and her family.

"I need more tools," Indy declared.
"I think that will have to wait until we get back to the boat, honey," I said. "Tools are too heavy to carry around in our luggage."
Indy considered. She brightened. "That's okay. I'll just ask Santa at Christmas."
Poor Santa. He is going to have a very heavy sleigh this year.