Hey Paul, I just finished reading this 36-page thread so I thought I'd check in and introduce myself. I'm 40 years old, and like you, I'm a DIY'er and a tinkerer. I wasn't raised this way, though. My dad didn't teach me much about doing anything handy around the house. Where I really learned stuff was when I was in the military. I spent 8 years in the Navy, serving with various Marine helicopter squadrons. I made some good friends that opened my eyes up to a whole world of being self-sufficient.
It started one day about 12 years ago when I needed a shelf to fit in a small space, and I guess I must have told my friend Brad that I was having a hard time finding the right size. He had me over to his house, brought out his miter saw, and very quickly made me exactly what I needed. I was in awe. He explained that with the right tools, you can accomplish anything. This concept was mind-blowing to me, and forever changed my life (Brad was killed not too long after in a helicopter mishap, but he left in me a legacy that he'll never know).
The idea of having the right tools for the right job stuck with me, and another friend of mine explained that if you have a big project for which you don't have the tools, just buy the tools because for the same amount of money you'd pay a contractor to do it, you'll get it done, you'll probably do it better, and at the end, you'll still have the tools for future projects.
I needed new floors in my house at the time. Another friend who had a contracting business on the side told me that I should do it myself. He said, "What's the worst that could happen? You screw it up? Well, you can never screw something up so bad that you or someone else can't fix it." The idea of not really being able to screw anything up really motivated me. So I bought some wood flooring, a miter saw, a table saw, and various other things, then set to work re-flooring my house. I made a few mistakes, but in the end, I was really proud of my accomplishment. I still have that miter saw and table saw, and have used them for countless other projects through the years. A little while ago I taught a friend of mine how to refloor his house, and I loved to see his amazement that he could do something that he thought you had to hire someone to do.
Same goes for my cars. When I got my first car, I taught myself how to change the oil for 2 reasons: to save money, and to make sure it was done right. When I was in the Navy, I learned about these things called Auto Hobby Shops on base where you could rent a bay with a hydraulic lift for $4 an hour. I would go there to change my oil all the time. One day, my 4x4 Pathfinder started making a squealing noise when the clutch was engaged. I learned that it was probably the release bearing, a $40 part that would cost $600 in labor to replace (you had to drop the whole transmission). Oh, and while the transmission was out, they might as well go and replace the clutch and flywheel, another $600. I thought screw that, I'll do it myself at the hobby shop. The factory manual said that a skilled mechanic could do it in 10 hours. I had 10 hours. I forgot the part about the "skilled mechanic." Well, it took me about a day and a half to drop the transmission, and another day and a half to put it all back together. But when it was done, not only did I save hundreds of dollars, but I also realized there was nothing on that car that I couldn't fix. I've done many other projects on my cars ever since, including replacing lower control arms, fuel filter, O2 sensors, timing sensors, A/C system line repairs, rear axles, and so on. My wife loves that I can work on cars, because she almost never has to go wait at the mechanic while her car is being worked on, nor fear that she's getting ripped off by someone. Oh yeah, and that Pathfinder never did need a new clutch and flywheel the whole rest of the time I owned it.
This post has gone on long enough without me mentioning an aquarium, so I guess I'll throw that in there. Like you, sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea. Just a couple nights ago I had an idea on how to improve the plumbing in my system at about 3:00 in the morning. So I was in the garage cutting PVC, tinkering with my system at 3 am, and when I was done I went back to sleep for a couple hours before the kids woke up.
A few weeks ago the pump in our septic system failed and our tank got full. I had to call the guy to pump the tank out, and most people would have called the other guy to replace the pump. But the pump was simply a bigger version of pumps that we use in aquariums, plumbed to 2" PVC. I pulled out the old one, got the proper specs, and went and bought its replacement, then installed it. Saved a few hundred bucks and got it done quicker than the pro who wouldn't have been able to come for another couple days. I think most people nowadays wouldn't know where to begin doing something like that, nor have the willingness to even try. I know my neighbors don't.
I don't fix things because I need to save money anymore. I do it because I feel that self-sufficiency is an important trait to have. I know we're not like Little House On The Prairie, but I do think it's important to understand and be able to troubleshoot things that we interact with every day. It's amazing how many people who drive cars don't even know the basics of how a car operates. The same goes for a house, or a computer (I built this computer that I'm typing to you on).
Your granddaughter is a little sweetheart. I'm so glad to see you're enjoying her and helping to raise her right. I have 2 boys, ages 5 and 2. They're going to be tinkerers just like me. Whenever I'm under a car or working on some project, they always want to help out. I always let them, even though it slows me down. I don't care, it's just so important to let them get their hands dirty and figure out how things work by DOING things. Besides, they don't slow me down for long because after a few minutes they get bored and go back to running around, and whatever other mayhem they can create. Oh yeah, my kids play outside all the time. They love it outside. We're lucky to live in the country, in a safe area with no fences and little crime.
I wrote all this to tell you that there still is hope for the world. There are some of us in the next generation who value self-sufficiency, a good work ethic, and have curious minds that like to tinker and explore. My kids will be the same. Even now, if they break a toy they don't freak out. They just say, "Daddy will fix it." My older one has discovered scotch tape, so he tries to fix his own toys. I haven't even told him about superglue yet. Soon he'll be taking stuff apart to see how it works, which is fine with me.
And now back to aquariums. Here's a link I thought you'd enjoy. This is a guy who does 95% water changes with NSW. He gets his water directly from the reef, and the only thing he does to it is match the temperature with the tank. Oh, and adds some alkalinity at the end. His fish seem pretty happy.
http://youtu.be/Y5tVuqYFf48
It started one day about 12 years ago when I needed a shelf to fit in a small space, and I guess I must have told my friend Brad that I was having a hard time finding the right size. He had me over to his house, brought out his miter saw, and very quickly made me exactly what I needed. I was in awe. He explained that with the right tools, you can accomplish anything. This concept was mind-blowing to me, and forever changed my life (Brad was killed not too long after in a helicopter mishap, but he left in me a legacy that he'll never know).
The idea of having the right tools for the right job stuck with me, and another friend of mine explained that if you have a big project for which you don't have the tools, just buy the tools because for the same amount of money you'd pay a contractor to do it, you'll get it done, you'll probably do it better, and at the end, you'll still have the tools for future projects.
I needed new floors in my house at the time. Another friend who had a contracting business on the side told me that I should do it myself. He said, "What's the worst that could happen? You screw it up? Well, you can never screw something up so bad that you or someone else can't fix it." The idea of not really being able to screw anything up really motivated me. So I bought some wood flooring, a miter saw, a table saw, and various other things, then set to work re-flooring my house. I made a few mistakes, but in the end, I was really proud of my accomplishment. I still have that miter saw and table saw, and have used them for countless other projects through the years. A little while ago I taught a friend of mine how to refloor his house, and I loved to see his amazement that he could do something that he thought you had to hire someone to do.
Same goes for my cars. When I got my first car, I taught myself how to change the oil for 2 reasons: to save money, and to make sure it was done right. When I was in the Navy, I learned about these things called Auto Hobby Shops on base where you could rent a bay with a hydraulic lift for $4 an hour. I would go there to change my oil all the time. One day, my 4x4 Pathfinder started making a squealing noise when the clutch was engaged. I learned that it was probably the release bearing, a $40 part that would cost $600 in labor to replace (you had to drop the whole transmission). Oh, and while the transmission was out, they might as well go and replace the clutch and flywheel, another $600. I thought screw that, I'll do it myself at the hobby shop. The factory manual said that a skilled mechanic could do it in 10 hours. I had 10 hours. I forgot the part about the "skilled mechanic." Well, it took me about a day and a half to drop the transmission, and another day and a half to put it all back together. But when it was done, not only did I save hundreds of dollars, but I also realized there was nothing on that car that I couldn't fix. I've done many other projects on my cars ever since, including replacing lower control arms, fuel filter, O2 sensors, timing sensors, A/C system line repairs, rear axles, and so on. My wife loves that I can work on cars, because she almost never has to go wait at the mechanic while her car is being worked on, nor fear that she's getting ripped off by someone. Oh yeah, and that Pathfinder never did need a new clutch and flywheel the whole rest of the time I owned it.
This post has gone on long enough without me mentioning an aquarium, so I guess I'll throw that in there. Like you, sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea. Just a couple nights ago I had an idea on how to improve the plumbing in my system at about 3:00 in the morning. So I was in the garage cutting PVC, tinkering with my system at 3 am, and when I was done I went back to sleep for a couple hours before the kids woke up.
A few weeks ago the pump in our septic system failed and our tank got full. I had to call the guy to pump the tank out, and most people would have called the other guy to replace the pump. But the pump was simply a bigger version of pumps that we use in aquariums, plumbed to 2" PVC. I pulled out the old one, got the proper specs, and went and bought its replacement, then installed it. Saved a few hundred bucks and got it done quicker than the pro who wouldn't have been able to come for another couple days. I think most people nowadays wouldn't know where to begin doing something like that, nor have the willingness to even try. I know my neighbors don't.
I don't fix things because I need to save money anymore. I do it because I feel that self-sufficiency is an important trait to have. I know we're not like Little House On The Prairie, but I do think it's important to understand and be able to troubleshoot things that we interact with every day. It's amazing how many people who drive cars don't even know the basics of how a car operates. The same goes for a house, or a computer (I built this computer that I'm typing to you on).
Your granddaughter is a little sweetheart. I'm so glad to see you're enjoying her and helping to raise her right. I have 2 boys, ages 5 and 2. They're going to be tinkerers just like me. Whenever I'm under a car or working on some project, they always want to help out. I always let them, even though it slows me down. I don't care, it's just so important to let them get their hands dirty and figure out how things work by DOING things. Besides, they don't slow me down for long because after a few minutes they get bored and go back to running around, and whatever other mayhem they can create. Oh yeah, my kids play outside all the time. They love it outside. We're lucky to live in the country, in a safe area with no fences and little crime.
I wrote all this to tell you that there still is hope for the world. There are some of us in the next generation who value self-sufficiency, a good work ethic, and have curious minds that like to tinker and explore. My kids will be the same. Even now, if they break a toy they don't freak out. They just say, "Daddy will fix it." My older one has discovered scotch tape, so he tries to fix his own toys. I haven't even told him about superglue yet. Soon he'll be taking stuff apart to see how it works, which is fine with me.
And now back to aquariums. Here's a link I thought you'd enjoy. This is a guy who does 95% water changes with NSW. He gets his water directly from the reef, and the only thing he does to it is match the temperature with the tank. Oh, and adds some alkalinity at the end. His fish seem pretty happy.
http://youtu.be/Y5tVuqYFf48
. At 18 I pulled and re-installed my first motor in my parents garage and all I had to go on was help from other people on forums. I probably would have done it at a younger age, but everything I had I bought. My parents didn't have enough to spoil me with things (I think that's a good thing). I had the internet for that, but I can still remember what the world was like before the interwebs. I like tinkering on Honda's and purposely drive ones that don't have gofast parts I can buy off the shelf just so I can build them myself. I love the feeling you get when you build something yourself (especially when it works :rollface
