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For 99% of people it would have been left out for the rag and bone man and a off to buy a new microwave. It'll cost a grand total of £3 to fix and thats with having to buy 2 sets of fuses.
There's an element of this. You can see it particularly in the American "haves" who are constantly asking "what can I buy to do this?" With some people there's also a lack of confidence it their abilities. It's not about knowing how to do it, but having confidence that you'll find a solution. Even if that means working out what needs doing, and getting someone else to do it.
Something that I didn't learn until 2008 is that some people have never learned the dexterity required to rotate a screwdriver whilst maintaining adequate pressure. Living in India it was surprisingly difficult to find a shop which sold a set of screwdrivers. Most people there get a little man in to fix something, which creates an industry in not quite fixing it so that he gets called back, or fitting faulty parts so at it fails again. That promotes a culture of dependency.
In the UK we aspire to be independent. Some people believe this is routed in the Black Death, where between a third and a half of the population died. Afterwards there weren't a lot of people around to do the work, and we got used to doing things for ourselves. You can see this attitude amongst some of the American "have nots".
What I like about this forum is that is contains a lot of people who do things rather than buy things. Our values are different from those on many other forums, where the balance is more about buying.
Personally I've always wanted to understand how things work. So I get great pleasure from making and mending. Often it saves money. Sometimes it's an opportunity to acquire a new tool. This month I repaired a child's wooden toy, for which I had to buy a scroll saw. It's already been used to cut a new guitar body template.
My dad went the other way, almost a rebellion at his dad's un-DIYness I suppose. He's a very practical guy, and an extremely talented woodworker to boot.
When I bought my first house the decor was in appalling order; the living room carpet was held down in places with gaffa tape. I set about it, decorating, fixing, fitted a new bathroom, and quickly realised that I'd acquired so much knowledge that I didn't know I had just from watching and helping the old man down the years. I love it, I love tools, I love learning the knowledge and hand-eye skills to do a job.
It's complete anathema to me, getting someone in. Buy a toolkit, fuck's sake. A few hundred quid will set you up with hand and power tools to do so so much, and you don't even have to buy it all in one go. Who knows, you might enjoy it.
I guess the 'boring dad' stigma of DIY doesn't help. Who cares. I got a Dewalt drill for Christmas to replace my knackered old one, I was happy as a pig in muck.
Plumbing can, as far as I'm concerned, die in a burning pit as slowly and painfully as possible.
He freely admits it- he just doesn't have the patience to understand how things work.
I'll have a go at most things, but I ruined a couple of guitars trying to work them out and I tend to be more cautious now than I have in the past.
My problem with modern cars and bikes is there is an increasingly limited amount of things that you can do.
I think it is pretty typical for the norm to be 'do no attempt' now.
I had a motorcycle pannier replaced under warranty and the dealer seemed surprised that 'I knew' how to remove the locks from the pannier and was comfortable replacing them. It was literally a 30 second job.
I've done electrics and plumbing but tend to leave this to the experts.
Won't touch anything to do with gas other than bleeding radiators and refilling the boiler, which isn't anything to do with the gas side of it.
I don't do plastering- it takes a certain knack that I don't have.
I'm happy to do flooring, tiling, painting, gutters, car and motorcycle stuff, bicycle maintenance, electronics, soldering, garden stuff and of course anything to do with guitars.
I enjoy it all and I'd rather spend £100-200 on tools, rather than getting a man in, if it means I learn a new skill- provided I know I can do a decent job of it.
Sometimes it means I have to do the job twice- but that is all part of the job.
I'm 45.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Football is rubbish.
I quite enjoy working on cars (I used to be a mechanic), but leave certain jobs out (I hate passionately doing cam-belts, always have, I know quite a few mechanics who also hate doing them.....) and anything which needs to be done on a 4-post ramp (cos I haven't got a 4-post ramp).
I do have a fairly comprehensive tool kit which has taken a few years to acquire.
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
I've changed taps and sink wastes.
It even fits and everything. My fingers now have the vague smell of sealant about them..
In my time I've rebuilt motorbike and car engines (never tackled a gearbox though!), car wiring, suspension, brakes etc, house electrics, plumbing, door locks, repaired loads of domestic appliances - microwave, washing machines (drum spider, bearings, motors etc), cookers, dishwasher (my Ariston is like Trigger's broom!). I've repaired TVs, monitors (with online help), countless printers/scanners/computers/networks, guitar amps, mixers, the space shuttle, just checking to see if anyone's still reading. The trouble is, I used to love fixing cars, now I hate it. I hate the cold and the dirt, the skinned knuckles, seized threads and ingrained oil in your hands - but if anything goes wrong on the car, I abhor paying someone else to do it because I know I can do it myself.
Offset "(Emp) - a little heavy on the hyperbole."
I have developed a thing about tools too. Basin wrenches, pipe cutters, cylinder honing devices and brake caliper expanders all alongside a comprehensive set (or 5) of sockets, crows feet, ring rachets etc.
Gas and electricity are dangerous and best left to those specialists who know about these things. Plumbing is doable but can be messy - it depends on the problem as to getting a plumber in or doing the work yourself.
Every job is doable but you need to consider how long it will take yourself to do it as essential items/equipment can be out of use for longer than comfortable in the household. Bathrooms for example or heating.
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