My Life Sucks - Not Really

[Windigo]

I cleared out my septic pipe on Memorial Day with one of those heavy duty snakes...does that count? It was quite gnarly.

eeeeeww, that is such a nasty job..... good on you for doing it. I hope you rewarded yourself for doing it like 1-3 Sammy Adams and a motorboat tour

[Steelgrave]

I was raised by a succession of asshole stepfathers who I didn't want to be around, so I never learned much from them. I actually have self-taught myself some things and I have a helpful friend called Google who teaches me a lot  8)  I'll never be a "handyman" but like Gus, I have my small victories.

Ummm.....no pun intended, Gus!

[Gusington]

All my victories are small 😎

I rewarded myself by not taking off any of my fingers with that snake and not murdering the people who rented my house and clogged the pipes 💩

[bbmike]

I cleared out my septic pipe on Memorial Day with one of those heavy duty snakes...does that count? It was quite gnarly.

There are some jobs you just have to let someone else do.  :hide:

[bayonetbrant]

I can do some basic stuff - hang shelves, change engine oil, repair a drawer, install a lightswitch - but the tougher stuff I'm more suited to being an assistant.  I understand enough to be able to help with minimal direction, but I'm not always going to know enough to do the whole project myself from end to end.

[Barthheart]

Knowing yer limitations is good too. At least attempting to be handy is also good.

Gus, using a power snake to clear yer septic definitely counts as handy!  :bd:

I haven't ever framed a house but I did finish our basement by myself. Next project is tear the on suite bathroom down to the studs and rebuild it they way we want it. I'll be getting someone to do the tile work, because I suck at tile, but will do the rest myself.

My father was an electrician and taught me about wiring a all things electrical. That gave me enough confidence to at least attempt other things. If all else fails I can always hire someone to fix my screw ups.  :D

[Sir Slash]

My Handy High-Point: Putting together a large swing set X-Mas eve all by myself. And it actually worked the next day. I did have some help from Jack..... Daniels.

[trailrunner]

Among all the other things I've been dealing with, I changed the brake pads on my 17 year old car last Sunday.  It usually only takes me a half hour or so.  When I was done, I took it for a test drive, but one of the brakes was sticking, so I brought it back and jacked it up again.  I discovered that 3 out of 4 of the caliper pins (or whatever they're called) were stuck, so I pounded them out, greased them, and put them back (and now I know what that zerk fitting on the caliper body is for!).  That did the trick, and now my brakes work super great.  I think I've been driving with this problem for a while, but didn't notice it, but now I've got to be careful and brake slowly.

But as I alluded to in my other post, on Tuesday a rock hit my windshield and cracked it.  It was supposed to be fixed today, but there as a mix-up so we'll have to try it again.

[OJsDad]

Dad was career military, and living most of my life in military housing, there wasn't really any opportunity to learn those handy skills.  You move enough, and you don't tend to hang on to the things that you do when you live in the same house for 20+ years  that you may tear apart and fix.  After a certain point, I really didn't have an interest in learning too much about it.

Like some other here, I can do small projects.  Honestly, my wife has become more handy than me over the last few years i.e. tiling the back splase in the kitchen, hardwood flooring in the upstairs hallway and stairs. 

[Staggerwing]

I'm not really handy either but so far I've:

1 ) installed fencing around a yard (cemented posts and all, and it was actually straight!)
2 ) made from scratch, finished, and then wall-mounted bookshelves covering 2 sides of a room
3 ) changed out 3-4 toilets
4 ) rewired outlets and replaced ceiling lamps
5 ) installed several programmable thermostats
6 ) installed a garage door opener for my former MIL (with help from an electrician friend since there was only a single light and switch in the entire garage)
7 ) installed a floating floor (sort of like Pergo) in a family room
8 ) repaired more Powerbooks and iBooks than I can remember, along with a bunch of other electronics, mostly basic repairs.
9 ) built my last 5 PCs (not actually such a big deal theses days but the first one was a complete hail mary pass)
10 ) changed starter motors and installed car radios (I changed one starter motor while the car was broken down by the side of the street in downtown New Haven, near The Green)
11 ) completely restored the piping on a VW Microbus that takes the hot air from the engine blower in the back and sends it to the defroster in the front, needed to pass DMV inspection

And probably many other odds and ends lost to time and the ever increasing fog that is my brain. Most of the time I had little idea of what I was doing, outside of reading Chlymers or Haynes manuals, or later on looking stuff up on the internet. ifixit.com is your really, really good friend...  ;)

[trailrunner]

I'm not really handy either but so far I've:

1 ) installed fencing around a yard (cemented posts and all, and it was actually straight!)

I built a fence around my yard.  It was rough carpentry, which matches my skill level.

Speaking of dads -- My dad (with a buddy) completely rebuilt two blown car engines.  He also built a large garage, doing everything except pouring the foundation.  He and my mom bought a run-down house, and he completely replumbed the water and gas lines, and gutted and remodeled the rest of the house.  He probably re-wired the house, too.  Oh yeah, he did all of this while he was active duty in the Navy.

My dad always told me that we can teach ourselves anything by reading a book. Back in the day, he'd go to the library or buy a book at a yard sale.  Now we have youtube.

[OJsDad]

Now we have youtube.

That's my son.  We got him a mini dirt bike a couple of years ago.  It had a regulator that kept the speed down to about 20 - 25 miles per hour.  This spring, he went searching and found a video on hose to disable the regulator.  Now he can go 35 miles an hour. 

[trailrunner]

Now we have youtube.

That's my son.  We got him a mini dirt bike a couple of years ago.  It had a regulator that kept the speed down to about 20 - 25 miles per hour.  This spring, he went searching and found a video on hose to disable the regulator.  Now he can go 35 miles an hour.

I've had to fix a few Mac computers.  I had an iMac that needed a new hard drive.  The design is elegant, but I *never* would have figured out how to take it apart, but sure enough, there was a youtube video that showed me the trick ("do this one simple trick...").

About 20 or 25 years ago I had to fix my washing machine.  The solenoid that opened and closed one of the inlet valves died.  Back in those days, before we had youtube, I called the technical support phone number for Sears.  They wanted to charge me $50 for phone support.  I really didn't want to pay it, but I went ahead and agreed.  It was the best money I spent.  The guy on the phone told me how to easily get to the inside of the machine -- loosen a couple screws, hug the machine, then lift up and walk backwards!  I never would have figured that out!

[Gusington]

Trailrunner and 'Wing sound quite handy to me 👍

I didn't use the power snake alone - The Wife and a good family friend helped me for fear of me losing fingers, which was a very good call.

Last weekend my neighbor and I put in a new post and set of mailboxes. With my neighbor's help I used mortar and cement for the first time. That was very cool. The post and boxes are made of aluminum and we did a very good job with the mortar, cement and post...so they aren't going anywhere for a long while.

[mirth]

I didn't use the power snake alone

I'll bet you didn't