Good thread. Haven't read from the start, so expect repeats below.
Starting out of school, new to a steady pay cheque, didn't see that I had any choice. (I did, but like I've seen many others post on TBN, my attitude towards buying things "On Time" goes back at least one generation before me, but probably more like 2 gens).
I've always liked fixing things myself; part of what drew me into engineering.
Saving on Blood Pressure Meds. I found with a few brief attempts years ago with hiring a "professional" to do something I didn't think I had immediate time to do, that I often ended up thinking "Why do I have to pay you so much money, to get mediocre or worse results ?" < That was the family-friendly-viewing version of my thoughts.
I don't expect anybody to bat 1000. I do expect people to have integrity, advanced skills, and deliver good value versus money spent. Apparently, I expect too much.
Landfills are overflowing with "advanced" technology, much of which today is marketed as "green". 'Nuff said on that topic.
Cars/trucks - A common price of repair pain point:
Shady operators will take huge advantage of people's ignorance. A new customer brought (well, had towed in...) a higher-mileage Bug tdi into my buddy's shop a few years back - just the common plugged EGR issue. After identifying that, a few basic checks of the engine lead my buddy to tell the customer - "If we don't do it for you, PLEASE get your timing belt changed somewhere, as it only is being held together by threads. I don't know who got the bigger surprise, the customer who had a peak at the belt on-car, or my buddy who was shown the large recent bill for "Changing the Timing Belt" from another shop.
I don't like to throw parts at cars, but with today's door rates at most shops, you can often install 1 or 2 extra parts on spec, and still be way ahead financially.
I composed this note offline, in 2 stages. In the interim time, what drifted into my mind was reading a book Colin Powell wrote, long enough ago that I don't remember the Title. What lead me to that book was that he was into repairing old Volvo cars.
He wrote about appreciating Motor Pool personnel who quietly found him some spare out of the way space on base where he could work on his old car. I don't remember the exact timing of all this activity, vs. the trajectory of his career, but I suspect there were more than a few junior personnel looking at a senior figure with new eyes, and respect. Being a gear-head transcends many barriers.
I rambled through all that, mostly to frame the one passage of the book that has stuck with me. Commenting on Why Fix Things in his book, he said because a successful repair gave him the feeling that he had "Made Something Right in the World".
That comment ^ resonated with me the years ago that I read that book. Today, I probably understand more of the psychological aspects and benefits of that comment, than I did then.
Rgds, D.
Starting out of school, new to a steady pay cheque, didn't see that I had any choice. (I did, but like I've seen many others post on TBN, my attitude towards buying things "On Time" goes back at least one generation before me, but probably more like 2 gens).
I've always liked fixing things myself; part of what drew me into engineering.
Saving on Blood Pressure Meds. I found with a few brief attempts years ago with hiring a "professional" to do something I didn't think I had immediate time to do, that I often ended up thinking "Why do I have to pay you so much money, to get mediocre or worse results ?" < That was the family-friendly-viewing version of my thoughts.
I don't expect anybody to bat 1000. I do expect people to have integrity, advanced skills, and deliver good value versus money spent. Apparently, I expect too much.
Landfills are overflowing with "advanced" technology, much of which today is marketed as "green". 'Nuff said on that topic.
Cars/trucks - A common price of repair pain point:
Shady operators will take huge advantage of people's ignorance. A new customer brought (well, had towed in...) a higher-mileage Bug tdi into my buddy's shop a few years back - just the common plugged EGR issue. After identifying that, a few basic checks of the engine lead my buddy to tell the customer - "If we don't do it for you, PLEASE get your timing belt changed somewhere, as it only is being held together by threads. I don't know who got the bigger surprise, the customer who had a peak at the belt on-car, or my buddy who was shown the large recent bill for "Changing the Timing Belt" from another shop.
I don't like to throw parts at cars, but with today's door rates at most shops, you can often install 1 or 2 extra parts on spec, and still be way ahead financially.
I composed this note offline, in 2 stages. In the interim time, what drifted into my mind was reading a book Colin Powell wrote, long enough ago that I don't remember the Title. What lead me to that book was that he was into repairing old Volvo cars.
He wrote about appreciating Motor Pool personnel who quietly found him some spare out of the way space on base where he could work on his old car. I don't remember the exact timing of all this activity, vs. the trajectory of his career, but I suspect there were more than a few junior personnel looking at a senior figure with new eyes, and respect. Being a gear-head transcends many barriers.
I rambled through all that, mostly to frame the one passage of the book that has stuck with me. Commenting on Why Fix Things in his book, he said because a successful repair gave him the feeling that he had "Made Something Right in the World".
That comment ^ resonated with me the years ago that I read that book. Today, I probably understand more of the psychological aspects and benefits of that comment, than I did then.
Rgds, D.