Refurbishment. We fixed up his family boat, so I got to pick up some things about getting rid of rust, or sanding down wood, or replacing floorboards. I was pretty good with engines to begin with, though. The jeeps were always breaking down overseas and we always had to patch them together ourselves or wind up stuck in some ditch somewhere, with Krauts just over the next ridge.

[ there's a contemplative edge to his voice now, though, thinking about it. how satisfying it had been to take the paul & darlene and piece it back together. being able to build something, for once, rather than just taking things apart. huh. ]

Maybe in another life, I could've flipped houses.