Are you grateful you are a handyman.....? And has is been worth the time and expense

[CajunRider]

Being handy saved my life more than once. I'm not going to complain of lost opportunities to take it easy.

 

[Deere Dude]

I came from a DIYer family when all the uncles did for themselves almost everything. Naturally I picked up up that. My problem is I always was to cheap to hire a job out.

At 27 approx. my wife and I decided to build a house because we wanted one other family members were doing that. So we built the whole thing except for the basement floor, laying the carpet and kal-coring the walls. It gave us a sense of pride because it was an 1850 sg ft house not counting the finished basement. I did the electrical, plumbing, roughing it it etc. But we saved a ton of money. The next house I tackled the flatwork to and turned out not as good as the professionals, but fair.

I found when it came to decorative stonework for example, to get an estimate and wait for the crew to come and put it in, buy the time I wait for that to happen I could have it done already at half the price. So I guess my impatience and cheapness is my downfall.

The stuff I would not do now would be to replace a 12/12 pitch roof and get into the engine stuff on my new car. I got money for that. I would be open to almost anything else that my old body would be game for.

I really don't understand how someone could call a repairman for every little thing that goes wrong. That would break the bank rather quickly.

I do have a 47 yo boy that was a professional money manager but is totally useless with any tool in his hand. But I think he was just lazy.

 

[TractorGuy]

If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy! - Album on Imgur

 

[dragoneggs]

Boy this thread caught fire... loved the knack video. Also thinking the OP should chime back in after his misinterpretation of Moss's initial post.

To me... the DIY/handyman is a lifestyle but some are blessed with talent up front... and some learn the hard way. One practicing this lifestyle likely does spend a bunch on tools that he (or she) doesn't fully capitalize on but we (oops I admit it) don't get taken to the cleaners by a repair man when we do solicit help. We also usually do not value our time well either except that we enjoy the satisfaction of accomplishing things on our own and gain knowledge on how things work.

Waste of time? ...in my case I enjoy this lifestyle a far cry more than going to a movie and paying to watch someone pretend to be someone else.

 

[ultrarunner]

Could not have said this better myself. Those of us who can troubleshoot and fix 99% of the problems thrown our way are a dying breed for sure.

... and in some cases not appreciated.

For 26 years I was the person that kept the Hospital going by sourcing obsolete parts and repairing older equipment...

Ownership changed a few weeks ago and the penny pinching ways went with it... the new owners do not want equipment repaired or HVAC systems tweaked with optimal start/stop times or steam boilers on idle after hours...

I was told today that cost and operating budgets are no longer my concern... the founder and former CEO said I have saved the facility millions over the years but that was then...

We developed processes to reprocess certain instruments and now everything is going disposable, single use and the waste stream has already reflected this...

I fear that a real jack of all trades that can pull a rabbit out of the hat simply isn't what corporate America values going forward...

 

[ultrarunner]

I grew up in a family grocery store...hauled sides of beef that weighed more than I did (I was a skinny kid...maybe 140lbs at the time)...we had a beer/liquor store too (a half-barrel of beer weighs about 150 lbs. and more than I did). That was back in the days of returnable soda bottles and for some strange reason I remember that a case of 16oz. Pepsi with the wooden crate weighed 53 lbs. A box of chickens with ice pack weighed 60 lbs. A bale of sugar weighed 60 lbs. My point is that I probably abused my body when I was younger and am paying for it in later life. I now look at several things and conclude that some things are meant for younger bodies (who now have the benefit of tools that make tasks easier).

This is why I love my little BX TLB... it is such a pleasure to dig, move, or carry things without breaking your back...

 

[Industrial Toys]

I always love to recount that story about how my GF and I came across some young presumably city people stuck on the sand of a local beach (Sauble). I told the kid to try and rock it. He stood on the side of the vehicle with his hands on the roof and did just that. Yeah, very funny. But I'm guessing he can operate his I-Phone and I can't.

 

[dragoneggs]

... and in some cases not appreciated.

For 26 years I was the person that kept the Hospital going by sourcing obsolete parts and repairing older equipment...

Ownership changed a few weeks ago and the penny pinching ways went with it... the new owners do not want equipment repaired or HVAC systems tweaked with optimal start/stop times or steam boilers on idle after hours...

I was told today that cost and operating budgets are no longer my concern... the founder and former CEO said I have saved the facility millions over the years but that was then...

We developed processes to reprocess certain instruments and now everything is going disposable, single use and the waste stream has already reflected this...

I fear that a real jack of all trades that can pull a rabbit out of the hat simply isn't what corporate America values going forward...

The larger the company the less it appreciates JOAT's. Larger companies segregate the tasks in the name of efficiency and create robotic type behavior in people. Thus the lost art of troubleshooting, MacGvyer'ing, and agility... whether it be mental or physical!

 

[Industrial Toys]

I too will be loosing a pharma customer that I have enjoyed a decades long relationship with. They got sold once again to some BIG-PHARMA corp that has their own security systems in place. My customer could reach me any time, one phone call, and I would know the facilities and of what they spoke. That kind of relationship is just not valued in big business anymore. In fact discouraged.

Any dumbed-down (and low paid) robotic employee should be able to replace any other such employee without notice.

In fact, I have witnessed a few of my customers where I had relationships with key people. Capable, hands-on people. They retired, and I watched the companies go down the road to a more dysfunctional way of running. Nobody knows anything and nobody really cares.

 

[ultrarunner]

The larger the company the less it appreciates JOAT's. Larger companies segregate the tasks in the name of efficiency and create robotic type behavior in people. Thus the lost art of troubleshooting, MacGvyer'ing, and agility... whether it be mental or physical!

I'm learning this quickly...

Part of my duties since day one was leasing and tenant services... we leased office space to medical practices in the Hospital... market rate with very satisfied Doctors due to the service...

The head of Orthopedics came to me with a letter saying all tenant and lease items are to be directed to corporate hundreds of miles away... it was the first that I had heard of it... so it was news to me... it also said that all tenant requests must be made to the property management division... thing is NO ONE from that division has every set foot here and only asked me to send them a floor plan with lease copies 6 weeks ago...

I do think it is a comment on the times when those that can do and have the track record to prove it no longer matter...

I stood by my record in 26 years years under my watch we have never cancelled a surgery due to a problem with the facility, equipment or supplies... the response was Doctors will just need to learn that not all their wishes can be accommodated...

Not to get too far off into the weeds but some of the old military Docs I worked with were amazing... they could do the impossible with very little... they were tempered under fire in field hospitals and makeshift facilities on foreign soil...

Not so with most of our young docs... they only know what they know... with little real world experience.... thank goodness we still have a couple of old birds that are calm under pressure and have nothing to prove.... they are also very handy... rebuilt engines, build computers, designed their homes, etc... and no egos to satisfy...

All of my nieces and nephews received tools for birthdays and Christmas... many were asked for like a Milwaukee combo set for my then 8 year old niece...

Tried to instill a little can do spirit in them and so far it has been taken to heart...

The 13 year old was on a sports trip with her coach and teammates... they van got a flat and the teacher said there was no cell services...

My niece said there must be a spare and the teacher said you have to be trained to change tires and this little blond girl said I'm trained... I've rotated tires with my uncle and put new brakes on her Mom's car...

Turned out she was the hero for changing a tire on a van late at night.... the teacher is still amazed a 13 year old girl could do this...