How Minecraft fixed my Window

For some of you what I am about to write is so far fetched it may be hard for you to even understand my view of the world in this way. It is going to be hard for you to see this through my eyes. You have fixed windows since you were ten, grouted your own bathroom and like to change your own oil. This is not me, yes I've had a few of those experiences, but most of this handy work was not part of my upbringing. I have a basic idea of how something works, but know nothing about the details. I get that plumbing brings water into the various rooms under pressure and drains using gravity, but how to make those connects not leak is another story. I can use a screw or nail or glue, but I never quite feel like I "know" what is supposed to be done.

That brings me to a couple weeks ago. While on the way home from work I get a call from my wife informing me a few things. First, my nephew Nick will live, that the slashes on his wrist were not that deep. Second, she thinks he has been told by nearly everyone that he is not supposed to slam the door. Third, one of the glass panes in our front door is broken. I think you can put together what happened. Anyway, it is clear that she is communicating this to me because I need to do something to get the door fixed. I am not sure she understands I have never done this before, but, in spite of all the feminist propaganda out there, she still has a strong belief in gender roles. She'll fix the clothes, but everything else is pretty much mine.

Now normally at this point I look for someone who has the skills to give me direction. My first line is with my father-in-law, because he loves to help on this sort of thing, but he has been ill. My second is my dad, who probably could have helped me, but for some reason I wanted to do this without him. Last, and rarely, I'll check in with my brother-in-laws. That's always a weird one for me, it feels like by asking I would be reinforcing a belief they might have, about my ineptness, but that's a little too in my head. They have never denied me help or made me feel dumb for asking anything, but with this window I didn't want to face my own insecurities.

At the same time all of this had been happening, I had been spending time in my evenings playing a little Minecraft with my friends. Normally this is a pretty simple game, but this server has about 100 modifications and gives you the ability to do all kinds of crazy things, like refine oil or build a nuclear plant. It is huge and complex. On this I have an automated farmer that, produces saplings, that I refine to Biomass, that get distiller to ethanol which power a steam boiler that runs 24/7. If I break a window here I replace it. If need be, I pulverize the stone to get her and sand and cook the sand to get the glass. It doesn't have to be easy or quick, there are tons of resources to help you figure it out and it is enjoyable.

It is hard for me to re-feel this moment, but I'm driving home thinking about this broken glass how I don't have any idea how you replace a pane of broken glass and how I would repair it, or find out how to repair it, if it was on a Minecraft server. It occurs to me that it makes no since to dread having to fix something in my real home, while I enjoy fixing something in a virtual, fake, home. Further, the reason we play games to learn something about real life and the one thing Minecraft has taught me is it is fun to figure out how to build and fix stuff.

So, once I get home I check out the damage and I do exactly what I would do if I was figuring out a puzzle in a game, I google it. I realize most of you were there about five minutes ago, but here it is. There are websites and YouTube videos and everything you would need to do all manner of home repair, including replacing this broken pane of glass in my front door.

It turns out that, even though I couldn't see it because of the layers of paint, there is a frame that hold the window in place and it can be removed with a screwdriver and a little prying force from the inside. Once it is gone you can clear away all the broken pieces of glass and it is not hard to find a place to cut the glass you need to size. Also, it turns out, that fixing your own door and pick up that new skill can be fun.