The roof leaked. No doubt about it, that puddle at the end of the bed and the beads of water dripping the ceiling were conclusive evidence. I opened the yellow pages, and called a contractor. By the time he had finished going over the leaking part, looked at the rest of the roof, and promised to call back “in about six weeks when I have an opening”, I knew my budget was never going to cover the cost of a roof repair.

I bundled up the estimate, my assets, my pay stubs and my mortgage papers and hied me to my local bank.

The loan officer looked over my financial statement, didn’t even look at the mortgage or the list of assets, sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “I can submit this,” he said. “Legally, we can’t refuse to allow anyone to apply, but I can tell you what the board is going to say. The problem here is that you’ve not owned the house a full year, and you want to get an additional loan.”

I sighed. Bundled up my papers and went home. I had some extra money coming-maybe that would be enough to repair the roof. Fate stepped in, however. Just three days before the extra funds were due, the truck broke down and needed major repairs. Good-bye extra money.

But the roof still leaked; summer was almost over. As I lay in bed at night, visions of termites, mold and rotting timbers danced in my head.

I awoke one morning, noted the sun was shining, gathered up my determination and went up the stairs to my room mate’s room. “Brian,” I said, “Get up, we are going to fix the roof today.”

“Grraaahhhhuummmph….” he replied, pulling his comforter over his head. I went down stairs to collect tools and supplies.

I hate ladders. I really, really do. They wiggle, they slide. They extend more than three feet off the ground. I’m five feet tall, and I weigh…well, never mind– More than I should. The contortions that came easy when I was thirty are now pretty much of a chore, making getting from a ladder to a roof top an adventure of considerable proportion. But a good ladder is absolutely essential to roof-repairs. I picked mine out of the bushes where it had been hiding all summer.