When did \u201cdo it yourself\u201d become such a trendy, positive, popular term? I mean, it used to be a negative. Something you would shout when you were fed up with someone, and usually with a bit of nastiness tacked onto the end: \u201cOh yeah, well do it yourself \u2026 jerk face!\u201d<\/p>\n
But, not today. Not when we\u2019re all proud \u201cdo-it-yourselfers.\u201d And even though I\u2019ve sworn off doing-it-myself \u2014 numerous times \u2014 I always find I\u2019m pulled back in. Lured to a new project I should have hired out. Like when I decided to fix a water filter assembly in my refrigerator. Yeah! Good idea! <\/p>\n
So here are a few tips I think everyone should ponder before launching into their own DIY nightmares \u2026 I mean \u2026 projects: <\/p>\n
\u2022 Make sure you do it right before heading out of town on a business trip. Your wife will absolutely love this when she realizes the \u201cfix\u201d you may (or may not) have just completed could send a jet of cold water spraying into the kitchen while you\u2019re gone.
\n<\/p>\n
My wife always asks me questions like, \u201cSo what\u2019s the worst that could happen?\u201d I hate these questions, partly because I\u2019m brutally honest, and partly because I think humor is a great way to pivot away from a problem: \u201cWell, you remember that scene in the \u2018Titanic?\u2019 The one where the rivets shoot out of the steel?\u201d The look of horror on my wife\u2019s face makes me realize I have miscalculated terribly and need to go!<\/p>\n
\u2022 Always make your best guess when you\u2019re ordering parts online. Don\u2019t bother looking up the exact part number. Don\u2019t bother doing any actual research. That\u2019s for fools. Just plunge on in. Give it your best shot. Buy anything the same color. I mean, it\u2019s only a $20 part that costs another $26 for shipping and handling. <\/p>\n
\u2022 When you\u2019re working on anything involving water, don\u2019t listen to your wife when she recommends \u2014 shoot, even offers to put down! \u2014 towels in case there\u2019s a leak. Because, oh no! There won\u2019t be a leak. Are you kidding me? This thing is going to be a piece of \u2026 WOOOSHHH!!! (Cue scene from \u201cTitanic.\u201d)<\/p>\n
\u2022 Realize there is a point-of-no-return. This point is when something either breaks or you disassemble so much looking for the problem that it resembles a rocket explosion. At these points, you will be far too embarrassed to ever call a repairman to dig you out. Because how will you explain it? And how will you live down the look he gives you \u2014 that smug smile and shake of the head signaling you are a waste of a good man? And how will you ever look your dear wife in the face again, when she is soaking wet, without a key appliance, grumbling over the huge repair bill and wondering why she lets you out of the house unchaperoned?
\nIf you\u2019re lucky, you won\u2019t hear, \u201cJust had to do-it-yourself,\u201d with that stinging little nastiness tacked on the end. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When did \u201cdo it yourself\u201d become such a trendy, positive, popular term? I mean, it used to be a negative. Something you would shout when you were fed up with someone, and usually with a bit of nastiness tacked onto the end: \u201cOh yeah, well do it yourself \u2026 jerk face!\u201d But, not today. Not when we\u2019re all proud \u201cdo-it-yourselfers.\u201d And even though I\u2019ve sworn off doing-it-myself \u2014 numerous times \u2014 I always find I\u2019m pulled back in. Lured to a new project I should have hired out. Like when I decided to fix a water filter assembly in my refrigerator. Yeah! Good idea! So here are a few tips I think everyone should ponder before launching into their own DIY nightmares \u2026 I mean \u2026 projects: \u2022 Make sure you do it right before heading out of town on a business trip. Your wife will absolutely love this when she realizes the \u201cfix\u201d you may (or may not) have just completed could send a jet of cold water spraying into the kitchen while you\u2019re gone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[554,563],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2016-nutshells","category-houses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1512"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1513,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1512\/revisions\/1513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}