In ,
JIMMIE dropped this bit of wisdom:
On Aug 23, 4:25 pm, David Nebenzahl wrote:
Well, I don't personally hate him. Don't even know the guy.

But that's the title of the latest piece by one of my favorite
columnists in the /Berkeley Daily Planet/, Matt Cantor, local owner
of a home-inspection business who writes a weekly column on home
repair and maintenance.

Here's a sample:

I do genuinely hate these specific shows: "Hometime," "This Old
House"
and "The New Yankee Workshop." I hate them for one simple reason:
they
make most people feel like idiots. Even if a show only demonstrates
how
to build a basic chest of drawers, it does a lousy job of preparing
the average Joe or Joan for the task. In the end, the show provides
nothing
more than boutique shopping and showing off. I suppose that would be
a
lot of fun if you only want to learn that you—as a homeowner or stock
broker or bank clerk—know nothing about houses or furniture or nails
and that you’ll never stand a chance of doing more than hanging a
picture on
the wall.

On shows like these, the jobs are made to look so darned easy. All
the materials are waiting for assembly and nothing is spoiled, the
wrong
type or missing. The air gun never misfires and the compressor never
needs to be drained (yes, you have to drain compressors daily because
they fill up with water and will rust out if you don’t do so). That’s
another thing I hate: in actuality, there are many small details that
fill a contractor’s day (or your day when you play contractor) but
they’re neatly edited out, just as they are in a cooking show. Just
pop
the raw one in the oven and Voila, the new freshly baked one comes
right
out of the other oven.

(See article
athttp://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2009-08-20/article/33531)

--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

They are definately not woodworking for dummies shows but I get a lot
of good ideas from them. Most of us know it is going to take all day
to do one step in his .project that it takes 5 minutes to do on TV.
That is just just the reality of DIY hobby woodworking. Hell it took
me 4 months to build my wife a cedar chest. Now my daughter wants one
and expects me to have it built over a weekend. Now thats the problem
with those shows. I t gives unrealistic ideas to those who want you to
use your woodworking skills for them.

Jimmie

You probably can get it built over a weekend.

Just don't tell her which one. LOL

P D Q