I’ve been hiring a handyman named Rob to help out with some home improvements in preparation our new family member. It’s amazing how, on a 100-year-old house, a small list of upgrades can turn into a hefty amount of work. At a certain point, I finally had to tell Rob that I’d have to save some of the jobs for a later date, when I could sock away a little more cash to pay him.

This left one important task undone before the rainy season: staining the deck. In my mind, I reasoned that I could dedicate a sunny weekend to this job”one that most people don’t hire someone else to do anyway. When I explained my thinking to Rob, he surprised me by saying that he’d be willing to work out a trade for sanding and staining it. I wondered what he could possibly want of mine.

“I noticed in your basement that you have like seven surfboards,” he said. “I’ll do the deck for an old board and some surfing lessons.” I immediately thought of the only board I have that would work, an 8-foot beast I’ve affectionately named “The Banana.” It’s the board that got me stoked on surfing in Oregon”the first stick I slid along the green face of a wave on.

“Deal,” I said, but insisted that he take one of my wetsuits as well, to make the trade fair.

He started the deck a couple weeks ago, but then the rain came, accompanied by massive surf that isn’t kind to beginners. So now the deck’s a quarter sanded, but I have a feeling he’ll be back to finish when the weather lets up. He seemed pretty stoked on our arrangement, which reminds me of the first phase of the One Red Paperclip phenomenon, where a guy traded a paperclip for a house in a series of amazing exchanges. Long live bartering!