...and we could all pay other people to fix our cars for us, so we
wouldn't need the shops we talk about. I think most of us on this list
have some of the "I'd rather do it myself" attitude. If it's a job I
know I've done before, then I know I can do it again. If I haven't done
it before, I'm usually interested in learning, and heck, maybe I can
justify buying some more tools.
I've had some success with hiring contractors, but then again, the only
projects I've ever had go just horribly awry were the ones where I had
"professional" help. Case in point -- I bought a curtain style garage
door. Took the "professional" installers 5 trips to my house (averaging
4 hours each) to get the job done. A few weeks ago, a friend and I (who
had never installed a garage door before either) installed 2 doors in my
new place in about 3 hours total. My friend and I at least know what we
don't know, so we read the enclosed directions very carefully and we
followed them to the letter. We weren't working to the flat rate book,
so we could work at a careful pace. The "pros" admitted they'd never
installed a door quite like that before, but I don't remember seeing
them refer to the directions much. Maybe all my friends who refer me to
these "professionals" don't really like me so they send me to the idiots
on purpose. <g>
Then again, it was a nice sunny day, and I didn't get to play with my
kids for those 3 hours.
-----Original Message-----
From: Andy Poling [mailto:andy@realbig.com]
Rush wrote:
> Douglas Shook wrote:
> > I would recommend that whatever you do, try to do it right (I mean,
> > I tried to do it right, but....) or have a pro do it, because it is
> > way too much time and work to have it fail, and it is just a
> > horrible disappointing mess when it fails....
>
> About four years ago, I adopted this as my life strategy. First
> evaluate if it makes personal and economic sense. Second, the above.
Add in a healthy dose of "do I really want to breathe hazardous acid and
epoxy fumes while doing it", and I'm pretty easily sold on paying
someone else to do this sort of thing...
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