The one time I remember hurting my Dad's feelings was when we were building a model. We were applying decals, and we could never get them to stay on the model for long. I observed that when I built a model with my uncle, he didn't have that problem.

"He's better at it than I am," he said. I nodded. "You didn't have to agree with that, you know," he added.

I should have stayed away from the model kit.

I was looking for a way to unwind after a long day. I don't know why it was long or hard. It's not like I got jinxed by hearing "I Don't Like Mondays" by the Boomtown Rats on the radio today or anything.

But I don't need to tell any more of the story than this: I got in a hurry, and I got burned.

Several months ago I bought a plastic model kit for the first time in probably 20 years. This past week I started to put it together.

I'm doing things differently this time.