Do It Yourself

DO IT YOURSELF

         Fletcher placed the ladder against the eaves of his house and climbed to the roof, as he muttered, "A penny saved is a penny earned."

         That bandit of a chimney guy wanted a hundred dollars to do this job. Fletcher decided that he could take apart the brick chimney himself. He had it all figured out. Next he hauled an empty barrel to the eaves and made it fast by tying the rope. He could load the bricks into the barrel. And lower it to the ground. It wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be, but he got the barrel filled with bricks, climbed down and untied the rope.

         What happened next was all over in seconds. The heavy barrel came down with a thud and Fletcher, holding the other end of the rope, was hoisted to the eaves. When the barrel of bricks hit the ground, it broke and the bricks fell out so down came Fletcher as the broken barrel hit him on its way up. Fletcher let go of the rope and the broken barrel fell on him.

         The only good thing you could say about this is that his insurance company honored his claim. They figured nobody could have made that up. And Fletcher did save a hundred dollars on the deal.

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