I've finally fixed the wooden fence in the backyard. I'm pretty sure it's my neighbor's fence, but when a board fell off a few months ago (yes, a few months ago!), it fell into my yard. So, I just went ahead and fixed it.
The repair job only took about 15 minutes. The majority of that time was actually taken up with getting the extension cord, geting the drill, and getting the screwdrivier. Total labor time was maybe 5 minutes.
So, why did it take so long for me to get around to fixing it? Well, as I said, the board fell off a few months ago - during the winter. Cold, snow on the ground - I worried that the age of the board might make it likely to break or crack if someone tried to drive a nail into it. So, I decided to wait for some warmer weather.
Warmer weather finally arrived a few weeks ago. Still worried that the chances of breaking the board were dramatically greater if I attempted to do the work myself, I called my handyman guy. (Yes, I have a handyman guy). He was busy, but said he would stop in about a week. Well, the appointed day came and went, and he never showed. I guess he took me at my word when I told him it was nothing urgent.
Anyway, since the board had now been lying in the yard for months, I finally decided that enough is enough, and rather than bug my handyman guy again, I would just do it myself. So, I got my dad to hand over some appropriately-sized screws (thanks, Dad!) and went to work. No problems, except for when I put in the second screw. I didn't exactly line it up with the first one. I kind of missed by one board to the right. But, that board was loose anyway. I also (on purpose) put a screw in another loose board. So, all told, I fixed one board and hopefully prevented two others from falling. Of course, the fence contains lots of other boards...