Comments on: Stop Depending On Others to Fix Everything

By: sean

sean — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:11:49 +0000

Jennifer,

Great post! I unfortunately think that these days are long gone and unless there is a huge shift in our culture they won’t come back.

For myself I find unable to keep up with the ever increasing complexity of the systems we create. I stood a better chance of working on my car (and did a lot of my own work) 20 years ago…today there are over 3 dozen computers controlling the thing.

My grandfather used a push mower…bet you I could fix that if needed, but the mowers today are as complicated as an automobile.

In addition, we have a service society! No longer do we actually make anything we just come up with ideas and tell others to do it…why should it be any different in our personal lives.

For the past year my family and I have been traveling through South America and I have fallen in love with Singer sewing machines. I don’t sew…never have and never will, but these classic 1800’s machines were well engineered, functional, and aesthetically beautiful!! We have seen hundreds of these working machines on our travels…still fully functional.

I can’t help but question how long the “new fangled”, computerized models will be around…my guess is that they will be in a land fill WAY before 150 years are up.

By: Jay Gatsby

Jay Gatsby — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:51:30 +0000

Here’s another reason people call someone else for repairs. LACK OF TIME. It’s a great feeling to fix something yourself, and you save money to boot. However, if you could have spent your time doing something else that would have brought in more money during the same amount of time, then you’re poorer for the effort of fixing it yourself. Likewise, if your entire schedule is thrown completely out of whack because you just have to fix something yourself, the resultant cascade effect on your entire day or week is more painful than parting with $100 for someone else to deal with the problem.

On the other hand, if you’re retired or you have time on the weekend to fix something (and learn how to fix it before you make the attempt), then go ahead and fix it yourself. But if you don’t have time, you shouldn’t take it personally if you call in an outside expert to help.

By: Gail

Gail — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:19:04 +0000

I’m sure the writer of this post would agree that at times it is valid to hire a job out, but if you own your own home or even rent, there are certain things you should be aware of such as curcuit breakers and how to reset them, how to plunge a toilet, how to wash a baby diaper (I think that is one of the reasons for the huge demand for paper diapers is no one want to clean up after baby) and other things that are easy to do, just takes basic knowledge. I’m sure even the guy here that is spending all his time improving job skills still changes his own rolls of toilet paper. Things that people routinely did for themselves 30-50 years ago now seem to take a trained specialist to do and that is SAD. If the DJ had been aware of how to reset his circuit breaker, he would have saved more time than calling in a professional–just the time to make a call, or calls to get someone, explaining the problem on the phone and then in person, and then berating themselves afterwords–he would have svaed plenty of time.

We can’t continue to use worst case scenarios as reasons to not try to do something for ourselves. Generally the worst case scenario isn’t going to happen.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:44:40 +0000

While it is always helpful to know more than just what comprises your field, it is also important to know your limits. If you fix a leaky bathroom faucet but don’t catch a leak and your house is overcome with mold (which happened to a friend of mine) then I think that it would be considerably cheaper to have hired a plumber. Extreme example, of course, but a pro can be cheaper and more efficient than “pretty good”.

By: Gail

Gail — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:46:16 +0000

Even as a kid I wanted to learn how to run an economical household: cooking cleaning, sewing, etc. I married a guy who always studies up on whatever needs done and it makes life so much simpler to be able to do things ourselves.

I can understand trying to be top in your field to earn the most money, but having the knowledge on how to sew a simple seam or button is also a huge savings.

I went to college over 30 years ago and I couldn’t believe then how few girls knew how to cook and I can only imagine that it is worse now. It sure looks it when you see grocery carts full of frozen meals.

By: ThiNg

ThiNg — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:41:16 +0000

Let me throw in a dissenting opinion.

I disagree. I believe in the saying “Jack-of-All-Trades: Master of None”. I did the learn everything I could thing for the longest time, and I suffered far worse financially then having to pay for some repairs. I lost a lot of money in salary because I didn’t specialize. I should’ve put less emphasis on my general studies (I work in Software Development, but have a degree in Sociology!) and more time and effort into learning everything I could about my career.

I understand that the article isnt saying that you can’t find a happy balance, but I just wanted to note, as a person who can do car repairs, computer repairs, and home DIY, I am now devoting ALL of my spare time to learning for my job. Any extra things that need doing, I hire someone.

My gardener doesn’t need a PHD to mow my lawn. But apparently, I do need one to make top money in my field!

By: Paula

Paula — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:02:53 +0000

Just wanted to add that about a year or two ago, our relatively new washing machine overflowed and wouldn’t spin. We didn’t know how to open it up and look at it, so we called the service department where we bought it. Guess what? It was a simple clog from the detergent that we used and it cost over $100 for them to simply clean a small tube that had a buildup of lint in it (that the service guy said we could have used a pipe cleaner or something to get at!). Geez!

By: Jackie

Jackie — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:22:17 +0000

Lots of good points. Personally, I’ve heard that changing break pads and whatnot is pretty easy, but I would still go see a mechanic. I would hate for my inexperience to cause a brake failure on the highway. But other stuff, definitely. Every time I learn how to do something new, no matter how small, I get a lovely sense of accomplishment.

Over Mother’s Day weekend, we were clearing downed limbs from my grandparents’ house and my dad showed me how to use the chainsaw.

By: Paula

Paula — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:33:11 +0000

Great blog! I grew up in a lower middle class family. My father was considered to be a “jack-of-all trades” because he could fix cars, do electrical and plumbing. He would never think to call someone to fix something until he tried to fix it first. This was mainly because we didn’t have much money to spend on repairs, but also because he loved to tinker with stuff and find out how things worked. In fact, family, friends, and neighbors would stop over or call if they had something that needed fixing because they knew my dad could probably fix it for them.

I, myself, have tried fixing small things like leaky faucettes and toilets and have a basic knowledge of how to troubleshoot car problems. Every time I am able to fix something myself, I gain a little more confidence. Luckily, if something is really difficult, my dad is just a phone call away for advice!