AnthonyL <[email protected]d> wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces
around the house. SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not
going to be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs? Hunt around
for a specialist on each occasion? That's a bit painful. Not sure I
rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

Training my children and son-in-law. ;-)

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

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On Sun, 16 Mar 2025 13:33:01 +0000, AnthonyL wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces around
the house. SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not going to
be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs? Hunt around
for a specialist on each occasion? That's a bit painful. Not sure I
rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

Find a non-DIY friend who has to employ someone to do everything for them.
Then approach said fixer to see if they can do stuff for you as well.

I am part way down this route because I don't bend enough to get into
corners and fiddly bits.
My upper body strength is way down as well.

It will happen to most of us eventually.

Cheers


Dave R



--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 10 x64

--
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com

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On 16/03/2025 13:33, AnthonyL wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces
around the house. SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not
going to be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs? Hunt around
for a specialist on each occasion? That's a bit painful. Not sure I
rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

Decide what needs to be 'fixed' and what can be safely ignored
(or fixed by buying a new one). If something needs regular
attention, like tap washers, ?replace the entire tap now

I get regular local booklets where close-by tradesmen advertise,
and some places have 'repair cafes' where you might be able to
find some useful contact details.

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On 16 Mar 2025 at 13:33:01 GMT, AnthonyL wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces
around the house. SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not
going to be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs? Hunt around
for a specialist on each occasion? That's a bit painful. Not sure I
rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

I reckon/hope I have another 10 years of reasonable mobility left before I
need to think of such things. And my plan as I sit here now is, come the time, to move to a low maintenance house. New build or similar. Or, and this is extreme, a flat.

--
Cheers, Rob, Sheffield UK

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces
around the house. SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not
going to be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs? Hunt around
for a specialist on each occasion? That's a bit painful. Not sure I
rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?


--
AnthonyL

Why ever wait to finish a job before starting the next?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 16/03/2025 13:33, AnthonyL wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces
around the house. SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not
going to be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs? Hunt around
for a specialist on each occasion? That's a bit painful. Not sure I
rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

Is there a LOCAL facebook group? Where I live there is a group just for
the town and asking on that usually results in recommendations but the
group is mainly about what's happenings locally and for some strange
reason a lot of local photos all with the same of similar subject
matter. Where friends live in a rural area the group seems to work a lot better. When recommendations are requested many dozens of people will
suggest 2 or 3 local tradesmen who will do the jobs.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

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On 16/03/2025 13:33, AnthonyL wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces
around the house. SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not
going to be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs? Hunt around
for a specialist on each occasion? That's a bit painful. Not sure I
rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

Age UK have (or had) lists of people who would assist the elderly and
repair items at fair prices.

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On 16/03/2025 13:46, David wrote:

On Sun, 16 Mar 2025 13:33:01 +0000, AnthonyL wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces around
the house. SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not going to
be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs? Hunt around
for a specialist on each occasion? That's a bit painful. Not sure I
rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

Find a non-DIY friend who has to employ someone to do everything for them. Then approach said fixer to see if they can do stuff for you as well.

I am part way down this route because I don't bend enough to get into
corners and fiddly bits.
My upper body strength is way down as well.

It will happen to most of us eventually.

My knees are shot, so it can be painful to do some things, but I can
still do them and just suffer. Children are useful for sending to crawl
under the floor!

My mother has recently banned my father from working up extension
ladders, in case he has a dizzy spell, but he's still allowed to use the scaffold tower. He's 87. His main problem is a tremor, so it's an effort
to get a screwdriver lined up on a screw - although he's ambidextrous
and has less of a tremor in his left hand.

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RJH <[email protected]> wrote:

On 16 Mar 2025 at 13:33:01 GMT, AnthonyL wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces
around the house. SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not
going to be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs? Hunt around
for a specialist on each occasion? That's a bit painful. Not sure I
rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

I reckon/hope I have another 10 years of reasonable mobility left before I need to think of such things. And my plan as I sit here now is, come the time,
to move to a low maintenance house. New build or similar. Or, and this is extreme, a flat.

My Mother moved in as a second owner on an 18 month old house for just
that reason ,14 years on things mainly on the plumbing side have shown weaknesses . Plastic microbore on the CH has started to weep at radiator connections and one leaked so badly it badly damaged the the ceilings of
and walls of two downstairs rooms, as a 95 with limited mobility she
doesn’t enter some spare bedrooms for days and hadn’t noticed the leak. The pleasant looking bathroom fittings looked nice with toilet wastes
nicely boxed in but when one leaked the panelling got ruined and getting it replaced would be another expense to add on so it is waiting for my brother
who is a builder to do it,except he is always too busy. I live 200 miles
away so it isn’t practical for me.

New techniques lets builders put them up quicker but a lot depends on how
good the installers are.

GH
GH

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Marland <[email protected]> wrote:

New techniques lets builders put them up quicker but a lot depends on how good the installers are.

Who was the housebuilder, OOI? I don't know if there's a difference between small-scale local builders and volume tract-builders. Maybe infill new
build is better than new estates?

Theo

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Theo <[email protected]> wrote:

Marland <[email protected]> wrote:

New techniques lets builders put them up quicker but a lot depends on how
good the installers are.

Who was the housebuilder, OOI? I don't know if there's a difference between small-scale local builders and volume tract-builders. Maybe infill new
build is better than new estates?

Theo

Midas homes, reasonably large but mainly based in the Southwest.
They seem to have been wound up in 2022/23 leaving some unfinished
projects.

The house and its neighbours look quite presentable but the first thing I noticed was the noise when somebody walks around upstairs , the floors
just seem to shake and squeak compared to older houses. The plastic
microbore actually looks very tidy as it comes out of the walls with only a couple of inches to the radiator connections, trouble is if you want to
check the small weeps that developed there was no play at all without
digging into the wall.

GH

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On 16/03/2025 in message <vr6mdf$1ufbf$[email protected]> RJH wrote:

On 16 Mar 2025 at 13:33:01 GMT, AnthonyL wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces
around the house. SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not
going to be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs? Hunt around
for a specialist on each occasion? That's a bit painful. Not sure I
rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

I reckon/hope I have another 10 years of reasonable mobility left before I >need to think of such things. And my plan as I sit here now is, come the >time,
to move to a low maintenance house. New build or similar. Or, and this is >extreme, a flat.

From personal experience do not, under any circumstances, ever buy a
leasehold property, especially one on a so called retirement estate, you
would be better off sleeping in a cardboard box in the local rec.

Landlords are pretty grim anyway, retirement development landlords
especially seem to regard older people as fair game.

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
I've been through the desert on a horse with no name.
It was a right bugger to get him back when he ran off.

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On 17/03/2025 in message <vr9ees$cic4$[email protected]> SteveW wrote:

I reckon/hope I have another 10 years of reasonable mobility left before
I

need to think of such things. And my plan as I sit here now is, come the >>>time,
to move to a low maintenance house. New build or similar. Or, and this is >>>extreme, a flat.

From personal experience do not, under any circumstances, ever buy a >>leasehold property, especially one on a so called retirement estate, you >>would be better off sleeping in a cardboard box in the local rec.

My home is leasehold, but it all depends on the terms. In my case, the
ground rent is fixed at £3.75 every 6 months; the terms specifically
state that I can build or demolish what I want, with no requirement to ask >permission or pay a fee; the ONLY restrictions are that I keep the
boundaries marked (with fence, wall or hedge) and that I keep a building
on the land that is capable of attracting a specified minimum annual
rental value ... but as that was set in the 1930s, my garden shed easily >covers that! The lease has 909 years to run, so no problems there.

With retirement estates the landlord remains responsible for property maintenance, most flats are the same, sounds like you may have a leasehold house?

--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
We chose to do this not because it is easy but because we thought it would
be easy.

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On 17/03/2025 14:17, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 16/03/2025 in message <vr6mdf$1ufbf$[email protected]> RJH wrote:

On 16 Mar 2025 at 13:33:01 GMT, AnthonyL wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces
around the house.  SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not
going to be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs?  Hunt around
for a specialist on each occasion?  That's a bit painful.  Not sure I
rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

I reckon/hope I have another 10 years of reasonable mobility left
before I
need to think of such things. And my plan as I sit here now is, come
the time,
to move to a low maintenance house. New build or similar. Or, and this is
extreme, a flat.

From personal experience do not, under any circumstances, ever buy a leasehold property, especially one on a so called retirement estate, you would be better off sleeping in a cardboard box in the local rec.

My home is leasehold, but it all depends on the terms. In my case, the
ground rent is fixed at £3.75 every 6 months; the terms specifically
state that I can build or demolish what I want, with no requirement to
ask permission or pay a fee; the ONLY restrictions are that I keep the boundaries marked (with fence, wall or hedge) and that I keep a building
on the land that is capable of attracting a specified minimum annual
rental value ... but as that was set in the 1930s, my garden shed easily
covers that! The lease has 909 years to run, so no problems there.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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In message <[email protected]>, Jeff Gaines <[email protected]> writes

With retirement estates the landlord remains responsible for property >maintenance, most flats are the same, sounds like you may have a
leasehold house?

Ex-leasehold flat owner here.

The lease I had specified that I was responsible for repairs to the
interior of the flat, but the free holder was responsible for the
exterior. The windows were defined as being part of the exterior.

That came in handy when I had double glazing people cold call, asking if
I'd like a quote. They were rather confused when I told them that I
didn't have any windows.

Adrian
--
To Reply :
replace "diy" with "news" and reverse the domain

If you are reading this from a web interface eg DIY Banter,
DIY Forum or Google Groups, please be aware this is NOT a forum, and
you are merely using a web portal to a USENET group. Many people block
posters coming from web portals due to perceieved SPAM or inaneness.
For a better method of access, please see:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Usenet

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On 2025-03-16, AnthonyL <[email protected]d> wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces
around the house. SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not
going to be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs? Hunt around
for a specialist on each occasion? That's a bit painful. Not sure I
rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

The charity Age UK has a 'handy person' service that can handle some stuff. They fitted grab-handles for our bath, a second bannister and a handrail for the front steps.



--
Bernard Peek
[email protected]
Wigan

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On Sun, 16 Mar 2025 15:23:32 +0000, alan_m <[email protected]>
wrote:

On 16/03/2025 13:33, AnthonyL wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces
around the house. SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not
going to be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs? Hunt around
for a specialist on each occasion? That's a bit painful. Not sure I
rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

Is there a LOCAL facebook group? Where I live there is a group just for
the town and asking on that usually results in recommendations but the
group is mainly about what's happenings locally and for some strange
reason a lot of local photos all with the same of similar subject
matter. Where friends live in a rural area the group seems to work a lot >better. When recommendations are requested many dozens of people will
suggest 2 or 3 local tradesmen who will do the jobs.

I suspect that the 2 or 3 local tradesmen are self-recommending or the
names are put forward by family/friends rather than satisfied
customers. It's a cynical world we live in.


--
AnthonyL

Why ever wait to finish a job before starting the next?

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On Sun, 16 Mar 2025 15:48:53 +0000, David <[email protected]> wrote:

On 16/03/2025 13:33, AnthonyL wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces
around the house. SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not
going to be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs? Hunt around
for a specialist on each occasion? That's a bit painful. Not sure I
rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

Age UK have (or had) lists of people who would assist the elderly and
repair items at fair prices.

Good call, thanks.

See
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/age-uk-business-directory/



--
AnthonyL

Why ever wait to finish a job before starting the next?

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On Sun, 16 Mar 2025 14:15:11 -0000 (UTC), RJH <[email protected]>
wrote:

On 16 Mar 2025 at 13:33:01 GMT, AnthonyL wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces
around the house. SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not
going to be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs? Hunt around
for a specialist on each occasion? That's a bit painful. Not sure I
rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

I reckon/hope I have another 10 years of reasonable mobility left before I >need to think of such things. And my plan as I sit here now is, come the time, >to move to a low maintenance house. New build or similar. Or, and this is >extreme, a flat.

I have had a couple of very active friends who have woken up in the
morning, complained to their wives of back-ache and died on the spot
of a heart attack.

In both cases their wives had little idea of what to do with the
computers, finances and certainly not fixing dripping taps and
overflowing toilets.

I'm wondering whether just to get people in on jobs I could have
managed just to be able to assess them and put them on an "emergency
list" for my wife and I.


--
AnthonyL

Why ever wait to finish a job before starting the next?

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On 17 Mar 2025 at 16:03:34 GMT, "Jeff Gaines" wrote:

On 17/03/2025 in message <vr9ees$cic4$[email protected]> SteveW wrote:

I reckon/hope I have another 10 years of reasonable mobility left before >>> I

need to think of such things. And my plan as I sit here now is, come the >>>> time,
to move to a low maintenance house. New build or similar. Or, and this is >>>> extreme, a flat.

From personal experience do not, under any circumstances, ever buy a
leasehold property, especially one on a so called retirement estate, you >>> would be better off sleeping in a cardboard box in the local rec.

My home is leasehold, but it all depends on the terms. In my case, the
ground rent is fixed at £3.75 every 6 months; the terms specifically
state that I can build or demolish what I want, with no requirement to ask >> permission or pay a fee; the ONLY restrictions are that I keep the
boundaries marked (with fence, wall or hedge) and that I keep a building
on the land that is capable of attracting a specified minimum annual
rental value ... but as that was set in the 1930s, my garden shed easily
covers that! The lease has 909 years to run, so no problems there.

With retirement estates the landlord remains responsible for property maintenance, most flats are the same, sounds like you may have a leasehold house?

Just come from seeing a friend who has just sold his late mother's L/H flat - one in a block of 42, major retirement landlords with a 24hr warden on site. Bought around 2015 for £180,000, 2 bed in a nice part of Sheffield.

Agreed to sell for £40,000 2 months ago. Reduced the day before exchange to £30,000 as the service charge increased 25% to £8,000pa. That doesn't include utilities, but should include maintenance - which didn't stop an ad hoc charge a few years ago for lift repairs.

Moral in there somewhere . . .

--
Cheers, Rob, Sheffield UK

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On 17/03/2025 19:06, AnthonyL wrote:

On Sun, 16 Mar 2025 15:23:32 +0000, alan_m <[email protected]>
wrote:

On 16/03/2025 13:33, AnthonyL wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces
around the house. SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not
going to be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs? Hunt around
for a specialist on each occasion? That's a bit painful. Not sure I
rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

Is there a LOCAL facebook group? Where I live there is a group just for
the town and asking on that usually results in recommendations but the
group is mainly about what's happenings locally and for some strange
reason a lot of local photos all with the same of similar subject
matter. Where friends live in a rural area the group seems to work a lot
better. When recommendations are requested many dozens of people will
suggest 2 or 3 local tradesmen who will do the jobs.

I suspect that the 2 or 3 local tradesmen are self-recommending or the
names are put forward by family/friends rather than satisfied
customers. It's a cynical world we live in.

I would be a bit cynical in my area but where my friends live they have
taken up the recommendations and have found the tradesmen to be good.
However, they also have the advantage of having neighbours that have
lived in the same hamlet for 70+ years and the same re-occurring names
are also recommended by them.




--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

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Jeff Gaines <[email protected]> wrote:

On 16/03/2025 in message <vr6mdf$1ufbf$[email protected]> RJH wrote:

On 16 Mar 2025 at 13:33:01 GMT, AnthonyL wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces
around the house. SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not
going to be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs? Hunt around
for a specialist on each occasion? That's a bit painful. Not sure I
rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

I reckon/hope I have another 10 years of reasonable mobility left before I >> need to think of such things. And my plan as I sit here now is, come the
time,
to move to a low maintenance house. New build or similar. Or, and this is
extreme, a flat.

From personal experience do not, under any circumstances, ever buy a leasehold property, especially one on a so called retirement estate, you would be better off sleeping in a cardboard box in the local rec.

Landlords are pretty grim anyway, retirement development landlords
especially seem to regard older people as fair game.

+1

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SteveW <[email protected]> wrote:

On 17/03/2025 14:17, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 16/03/2025 in message <vr6mdf$1ufbf$[email protected]> RJH wrote:

On 16 Mar 2025 at 13:33:01 GMT, AnthonyL wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces
around the house.  SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not >>>> going to be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs?  Hunt around >>>> for a specialist on each occasion?  That's a bit painful.  Not sure I >>>> rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

I reckon/hope I have another 10 years of reasonable mobility left
before I
need to think of such things. And my plan as I sit here now is, come
the time,
to move to a low maintenance house. New build or similar. Or, and this is >>> extreme, a flat.

From personal experience do not, under any circumstances, ever buy a
leasehold property, especially one on a so called retirement estate, you
would be better off sleeping in a cardboard box in the local rec.

My home is leasehold, but it all depends on the terms. In my case, the
ground rent is fixed at £3.75 every 6 months; the terms specifically
state that I can build or demolish what I want, with no requirement to
ask permission or pay a fee; the ONLY restrictions are that I keep the boundaries marked (with fence, wall or hedge) and that I keep a building
on the land that is capable of attracting a specified minimum annual
rental value ... but as that was set in the 1930s, my garden shed easily covers that! The lease has 909 years to run, so no problems there.

Our first house was leasehold with a ground rent of £15 per annum. We were able to buyout the freehold by paying 10 X the ground rent. I do not know
if that is still available as it was 1976 but very worthwhile doing so if possible and not too expensive. At the time mortgage providers were quite
happy to extend a mortgage to cover the cost of freehold buyout.

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On 18/03/2025 11:59, Tricky Dicky wrote:

SteveW <[email protected]> wrote:

On 17/03/2025 14:17, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 16/03/2025 in message <vr6mdf$1ufbf$[email protected]> RJH wrote:

On 16 Mar 2025 at 13:33:01 GMT, AnthonyL wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces
around the house.  SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not >>>>> going to be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs?  Hunt around >>>>> for a specialist on each occasion?  That's a bit painful.  Not sure I >>>>> rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

I reckon/hope I have another 10 years of reasonable mobility left
before I
need to think of such things. And my plan as I sit here now is, come
the time,
to move to a low maintenance house. New build or similar. Or, and this is >>>> extreme, a flat.

From personal experience do not, under any circumstances, ever buy a
leasehold property, especially one on a so called retirement estate, you >>> would be better off sleeping in a cardboard box in the local rec.

My home is leasehold, but it all depends on the terms. In my case, the
ground rent is fixed at £3.75 every 6 months; the terms specifically
state that I can build or demolish what I want, with no requirement to
ask permission or pay a fee; the ONLY restrictions are that I keep the
boundaries marked (with fence, wall or hedge) and that I keep a building
on the land that is capable of attracting a specified minimum annual
rental value ... but as that was set in the 1930s, my garden shed easily
covers that! The lease has 909 years to run, so no problems there.

Our first house was leasehold with a ground rent of £15 per annum. We were able to buyout the freehold by paying 10 X the ground rent. I do not know
if that is still available as it was 1976 but very worthwhile doing so if possible and not too expensive. At the time mortgage providers were quite happy to extend a mortgage to cover the cost of freehold buyout.

I've just never got around to doing it as, other than the very low
payments, it has zero effect on me.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 16/03/2025 13:33, AnthonyL wrote:

As I get older I find I'm making mistakes fixing bits and pieces
around the house. SWMBO is not practically minded at all and I'm not
going to be around for ever either.

So the question is who to use to do all those small jobs? Hunt around
for a specialist on each occasion? That's a bit painful. Not sure I
rate any of my neighbours' recommendations.

Do you have a plan you can share?

My concern too, especially with so much tech in the house. I am slowly
training SWMBO to at least know how to operate things, and to have some
basic understanding of how they work.

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SteveW <[email protected]> wrote:

I've just never got around to doing it as, other than the very low
payments, it has zero effect on me.

Could be worth it when you come to sell. I suspect 'leasehold house' is
going to put off a good chunk of buyers, especially since recent
shenanigans. Often estate agents are terrible at explaining what the T&C of
a leasehold are, and so buyers will assume the worst.

Theo

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On Mon, 17 Mar 2025 19:11:35 GMT, [email protected]d (AnthonyL) wrote:

I'm wondering whether just to get people in on jobs I could have
managed just to be able to assess them and put them on an "emergency
list" for my wife and I.

Many years ago, a gentleman cultivated me as a handyman. I was 12 or 13 at the time, had basic handyman skills. He was ex-military, colonel, and knew how to lead. Asked if I felt capable of a job, encouraged me, told me how he'd go about
it, and sometimes we'd go and talk through the job with a salesperson in a store, and I'd give it a shot. I also learned when I was out of my depth, as when the oil in the automobile engine turned to gloop -- water in the sump, turned out to be a broken head gasket.

I was paid very well, I thought, and it was still very much less than any tradesmen! It was the equivalent of a full tank of gasoline in large car.

It was mutually beneficial: I was flush with money. I learned skills I still use
today, and he got a lot done, fixed and repaired, mowed, scarified, painted, oil-changed etc. (I recall noting a very slight leak in a straight pipe run, well before it caused any problems. I asked him to drive me to the store, we got
a pipe repair clamp, I put it on tight, done. Lasted for years...)

So maybe you can find some willing young person, and train them?


Thomas Prufer

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