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

[4570Man]

I'm not old enough to have reached the downside of being handy, but I'm not about to give it up and take the city slicker lifestyle. If it cost years off my life or makes the later years harder than it was worthwhile. What else would I want to do? Sitting on the beach and drinking ( insert beverage of choice ) brings me zero satisfaction. But making a perfect weld or machining something within a .001 puts a smile on my face.

 

[MossRoad]

I find your reply to be incredibly insulting. Most of all because you failed to address what I said in the last paragraph. Was my taking time to learn how to do things myself a wasted effort or not? No, you did not take heed of that, Just want to tell you a few things that you obviously do not understand nor realize: I have been 100% deaf since 1960 and my wife has been as deaf since 1955. And I have also had to deal with advanced narcolepsy since 1970 yet I worked full time and overtime since graduation. By working 55 to 60 hours a week for 35 years I got to retire. AND, you choose to belittle my post when you obviously have no idea what my life has dealt me? Guess what? I have always done 100% of the outdoor chores here following my marriage AS WELL AS 85% to 95% of the household chores here as my wife is too disabled to do many of those. So...are you happy being able to belittle me or make fun of my situation? Must be nice to be a moderator and be able to pick and choose who to belittle.

How you ever construed I was attempting to insult or belittle you out of that I do not know. :confused3:

 

[newbury]

<snip>Would I have been better off taking a laid-back attitude and letting others do things that I had the capabilities of doing? Should I have been better off loafing around, or enjoying myself collecting tools and materials and heading off to the next project at work or the job at home? I have to wonder if my priorities were wrong. Thank you for your input.

Yes, your priorities were probably wrong.

I find your reply to be incredibly insulting. Most of all because you failed to address what I said in the last paragraph. Was my taking time to learn how to do things myself a wasted effort or not? <snip>

And you did not put that in your first post.

If you have not learned by now that gaining new skills is worthwhile by itself your priorities were probably wrong.

 

[oosik]

Its just a whole lot easier for me to do the jobs that need to be done out here. Plus I simply do not have the $$$ to pay for somebody else. There have been those few exceptions over the 35+ years but only because I don't have the equipment/tools or time to learn. Example - installing carpeting.

There have been those few times when I wish I had the $$$ to have somebody else do the job - but that's not the case. I've had to learn how to do an awful lot of things to keep this operation running for 35 years. If I had to do it all over again....I'd do it exactly the same. If I had to do it over, it sure would be nice to bring the knowledge I have now back to the beginning of this operation.

BTW - MossRoad was not insulting you or what you have done. You need to ease up and unwind a little.

 

[MossRoad]

As far as was you taking time to learn how to do things yourself a wasted effort or not?

Of course not.

 

[beowulf]

How you ever construed I was attempting to insult or belittle you out of that I do not know. :confused3:

I don't get it either. I went back several times reading both posts but don't see the insult or any intent to insult. I tried to find it - can't find it. But maybe its just me.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I made the decision to go to a career center (vocational school) in HS for HVAC and it was a fantastic decision, learning HVAC branches off to so many other trades, electrical, plumbing ext ext.

By no means am I a pro in the electrical field or plumbing but I can do it.

I worked 5 months in an low income apartment complex so I picked up a lot about residential maintenance from that job.

I can't tell you how much "being handy" has helped when buying my house at the age of 23, I have never had to hire someone for anything. Stuff like converting my electric furnace to a natural gas furnace and keeping my existing heat pump, that's all simple to me now, any plumbing or electrical issues are no big deal, I never find myself helpless having to wait or rely on someone else to fix it for me.

Idk how much money I saved by doing it all myself but I'm sure close to 10s of thousands, I buy equipment from the whole seller/ supply house with my own accounts and install it myself lol. I put in a twin water softener with the brine tank, I paid $1400 for the whole system plus my time, a guy down the road paid over 4k for a single with the separate brine tank installed.

One thing that sucks is I have become the HVAC guy for a lot of people, it's fun for me and I enjoy it. I don't charge much, I mainly get the experience out of it and kill some time. Since it's not my career, I like to stay sharp with diagnostics of HVAC systems so I like the challenge of a new prob, what I don't like is to get a call from someone that's frantic and wants there system fixed yesterday and gets mad at me when I don't drop everything and make them the number one priority in my life, that crap happens a lot.

Another aspect of it was I learned a trade in HS, shortly after graduation I quit my restaurant job and got hired on as a HVAC installer/ Tech apprentice, apartment maintenance after that and now I'm 4 years in being a building engineer in a almost 300k sq ft call center, I didn't waste thousands trying to find a career path in college, so I don't have the higher education to pay off, I have education threw experience.

I don't make a ton of money, there's college educated people making double what I do but I don't hate my job, it isn't super stressful and I make enough to pay my bills and dabble with my farmer wannabe hobby lol. So I'm happy how things turned out.

Physically I may last longer living with a apartment in the city lifestyle but mentally I would be in much rougher shape and would constantly be seeking entertainment outside of work.

 

[widefat]

Would I have been better off taking a laid-back attitude and letting others do things that I had the capabilities of doing? .

No, because you're wired to be the way you are - to fix, do, and learn for yourself. I cant imagine not doing my own car work, carpentry, fix-it, plumbing, electrical, etc. I ENJOY being my own handyman. So do you. I have friends that dont own tools and cant fix bupkiss; but they are content and dont desire to do anything. No worries.

 

[the old grind]

No, because you're wired to be the way you are - to fix, do, and learn for yourself. I cant imagine not doing my own car work, carpentry, fix-it, plumbing, electrical, etc. I ENJOY being my own handyman. So do you. I have friends that dont own tools and cant fix bupkiss; but they are content and dont desire to do anything. No worries.

Lots of us are 'wired' to do our own 'stuff'.

Some of us see our peers getting handouts and become disgusted with those who depend on others but could get off their butts and do something for themselves.

Just as "can't" never will, "gonna" never did. As we stand tall with our accomplishments we have to remain humble among those who 'cannot', and those who just d__ won't.

"Hats off" to the OP for perhaps hoping we'd recognize a guy who will DO as best he can. IMO one's biggest mistake is never exploring what they can do, and the greater joy is having DONE something than just pondered or paid for it. t o g

 

[BLSXJ]

I'm 33 and there isn't much I can't fix or build given the time and tools. What I have found lately (last 5 years) is for a lot of things, I'm not "saving" money but I get a better product. The 2 examples I have are my car hauler trailer and my "trailer mover" both items I built or re-built for about the cost of something brand new. But I got a trailer that does everything I want, and makes most people jealous. the trailer mover was built from scrap but still cost me something for the grab hooks, 3pt pins, and d-rings...
I like the fact I'm self reliant... I don't "need" anyone else... but I'm out of time... I've got projects for the next 3 years and some I want to do, most I have to do. The idea of just paying some one to do it all, then spending the next three years paying the work off and enjoying the results does have a certain appeal.

We (mostly) all live in a world of disposables and cheap stuff from over seas... some things aren't worth fixing or building...