Using a level doesn't always help

Every time I do a small home improvement project Sarah reminds me of the importance of using a level and a square so that things don't come out looking, well, like some of my past projects.

Yesterday I used a level. I was building shelves for our laundry room. It took forever. I had to start with rough cut boards. By mid-afternoon I had things almost ready to hang. The boards had been planed and cut to size. I built braces to mount and put a coat of finish on everything.

I used a level to hang the braces. It took about an hour because I was working over top the washer and dryer. When I finally climbed down and took a look it was obvious that these shelves were far from level. I have not been that angry in a long time.

Then I checked the level against a level edge of trim in the house. It was a faulty level. The little bubble was there, but it was making things off by about 10 degrees. Then I took a hammer and smashed the level. Then I quit. Then I ate supper.