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On fixing stuff
januar 31st, 2020
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No doubt, I like to fix stuff. Nothing is more satisfying
than giving your good old stuff a new life.
Also, shopping ain't fun anymore. When I was younger, I went
to a store when I needed something, maybe another store, if
the first did not have what I wanted. Call me sentimental,
but shopping is not like this anymore. Now I'd spend hours
comparing products, reading reviews, and then trying to find
the cheapest available offer for the said product
online. Where is the fun in that? So some years ago, I
stopped buying stuff. At least new things. If I want
something, I can find most of it second-hand. Or decide that
I don't need it at all. That's 100% of my money saved and,
more important to me, this has less of an environmental
impact. This is why repairability is so important! I wish
that the right to repair was applied to all our
belongings. Customers unite, don't buy non-repairable
gadgets!
Recently, my daughters tablet broke, that is, the micro USB
contact is so worn out, that it is impossible to
charge. Problem is, that the screen is glued to the
case. I've tried to lift the screen after watching lots of
videos on youtube. Still no success, but I'm not giving up.
My son's Playstation Dualshock controller had the same
problem with a worn out USB contact. I ordered a replacement
part for a dollar or two. Half an hour later, the controller
was as new. 50 bucks saved. Cool.
A while ago, I bought a refurbished ThinkPad x250. A
DuckDuckGo-search later, I had found the complete repair
manual online. Bingo!
When buying second-hand, things are sometimes broken. This
usually makes the item a lot cheaper. Plus, I can start to
fix it. Double the fun.
We bought some chairs for our dining room. They are about 90
years old, and one of the eight chairs was broken. What a
nice little woodworking project. Almost all tools in my
little woodworking shop were bought used in the past
decade. Many of them are 100 to 150 years old. And they
still do their job. Plus, no need for going to the gym.
After my two children were born, they got lots of toys. And
even more clothes which got worn out only weeks later.
Children break things. All the time. Fixing their stuff,
not only makes makes me a proud dad, but my children seem to
take extra care of things now. Maybe it's just because they
don't want to ask me to fix this or that for the third time,
and wait until I'm slowly but steady process my
fix-me-yesterday queue. But maybe it's because the are
becoming older. Nevertheless, this also allows me to
practice sewing, knitting, leather working, woodworking,
soldering, gluing (all the time!) and other crafts.
So, go and fix your stuff. And learn a whole lot!
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