I picked up my cordless drill from the workbench and backed out the two plastic wall anchors still stuck in the drywall.

The flaking plaster dust fell in a fine white line across the toes of my leather work boots.

I tossed the hollow anchors into the plastic trash bucket and set a fresh tub of spackle on the wooden worktable.

I scooped a thick dollop of smooth white compound onto the flat edge of a four-inch steel putty knife.

I pressed the blade hard against the sheetrock, filling the four screw holes with two clean upward strokes.

I scraped the knife flat across the drywall to feather the wet edges smoothly into the surrounding paint.