HouseWorks: HouseWorks goes on a field trip

There are some pretty nice perks connected to writing a newspaper column.

Among them: People give me stuff.

Mainly, I get books from publishers hoping for free publicity: interior design, house construction, fix-it guides and gardening books galore. Some are so specific o ne small manual was on planting perennial bulbs (not choosing bulbs, mind you, just planting them) that I cant imagine anyone reviewing them for a general readership.

I have received so many books over the years that they have to be awfully special for me to keep them. Theres only so much room in the house, and I have yet to receive a bookcase in the mail. Apparently, furniture companies dont need publicity.

The rejects I pass along, usually to freshly minted homeowners whom I figure could put to use guides for plumbing repairs or basement remodeling.

And its not just books.

Over the years, Ive opened boxes filled with cleaning wipes, plastic cooking bags, live plants, a miniature washboard (??), toilet seats (one with a self-closing mechanism), a lawn sprinkler disguised as an ugly tropical bird and the sorts of tool kits that people who dont need tools keep in their kitchen junk drawers or on closet shelves.

I pass those along, too.

But my favorite perk is a road trip.

Every couple of years I get an invitation to visit the workshop of someone whos as toolish as I am.

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HouseWorks: HouseWorks goes on a field trip