there was once a time where people actually fixed things. not just bought a
new one and replaced it, but fixed things. if they didnt make exactly what
you wanted, you made it yourself. it was assumed you knew how to look at a
problem and solve it. look at old popular mechanics magazines for one
example. heck, they practically assumed you had a welder in the garage.
and you know what, you probably did.

ah but times have changed. thinking has become a thing of the past.
spending is the new thing.

every time i suggest anything requiring some thought or innovation, one of
you guys comes out of the woodwork and attacks me for being 'unsafe' or just
plain crazy. it gets tiring trying to explain myself to you one track
minded idiots that have long since lost the ability to think. maybe there
should be a seperate group called
alt.home.pay.someone.to.fix.it.cause.i.cant.think. for.myself.

i give up. just toss it and buy a new one. if it doent exist, pay someone
to do your thinking for you. i figure at the current rate of knowledge
degredation, its only a few years before everything simply becomes
disposable anyway. we arent that far off now. the plug and play house and
the disposable education.

What do you want to make or fix? Here are some of my recent projects that
really **** some people off:

pulley contrap to lift framed walls all by myself (told by contractor I was out
of my mind...so I fired him)

Hooked up old swimming pool pump to fill heating oil tanks. Was told to switch
to propane by ignorant friends and neighbors. Now I have 250 gallons of
heating oil and diesel to fuel my truck when the gas lines get outta hand. The
heating oil company will truck the oil right to my house.

Decided to build my house all by myself and save a min $40,000. This angered
local workers who lusted after a piece of my action. Upside is I now have
great tools and can go into the biz myself and drive all these trailer-trash
high school dropouts into the ditchdigging business.

Do everything yourself. That way you learn and get quality at the same time.
There is nothing a contractor can fix or build that you can't.

The guy who calls you unsafe or crazy is just ****ed that you're competing with
him for precious dollars. Chances are he is a fat **** anyway so just **** on
his shoes while he is frothing away.

DF