“A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains.”

– Dutch Proverb

 A few years ago for Father’s Day, my wife bought me one of those huge, chrome barbecues. It did not come pre-assembled, but that didn’t appear to be an issue – I had always considered myself to be mechanically inclined. “How difficult could it be?” I thought.

With visions of sizzling burgers in our heads, my teenage son and I began to rip open boxes containing the individual components. The first thing we did was dump all the parts out and spread them across the floor of our deck. Some of the smaller pieces came in plastic bags, which we promptly opened and added the contents to the growing assortment.

“There sure are a lot of pieces,” observed my son....

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