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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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