Fixing stuff
Posted by WingZombie@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 145 comments
I was raised by silent generation parents. They themselves grew up in a very rural town in northeastern Utah. They grew up in a place where replacing things and buying new things was not even an option. One of the results of how they grew up is how they raised their kids. I grew up in a household where we always owned 20+-year-old cars, decade old appliances, and various other used and aged things that they had collected along the way. We never paid anyone to do something that we could figure out how to do ourselves. I distinctly remember one time fixing something and while standing there with my father as we tried to get the job done I asked him “is this how we’re supposed to do it“, to which he replied “I’m not sure how you’re supposed to do this, but I know how I’m going to do it“.
I was fortunate to be able to leverage my learnings of how to fix things into a lucrative career that has served me well. As part of my career, I see the newer generations coming in with no concept of basic troubleshooting. There lacks the basic ability to “ figure it out “. There is an explicit expectation that there will be a guide, video, directions for every possible scenario that one could encounter to fix troubleshoot or repair something. Maybe it’s the YouTube effect or maybe it’s the ease at which Amazon can deliver a new widget to my door.. When I see people talking about how expensive it is to live today I see a lot of things getting thrown away and a bent towards convenience.
Maybe it’s just me being a grumpy old man 😂
Luv2Dnc@reddit
I had the opposite experience with my silent gen parents: wanted new stuff, wouldn’t allow anything second-hand, didn’t repair anything and never did anything diy. I really wish I had learned how to repair things on my own.
PyroNine9@reddit
I learned to fix things "helping" my dad fix the car. Somewhere in the 3rd grade or so, I could correctly diagnose some car problems even if I wasn't physically able to fix a lot (rusted on nuts and such).
Even if you hire someone else to fix something, if you don't know how it works you'll get ripped off a LOT. I feel for people who can't tell if a tech is blowing smoke or not. For example, had someone out to fix the water heater (warranty on parts required it). I had already diagnosed the problem. Tech trues to tell me a story about how the whole thing needs to be replaced. He claimed the TRD (safety cut-off) had activated. That model didn't even HAVE a TRD.
Hvac tech wanted $150 for insulation on refrigerant tube on mom's A/C. I want over and did the job with <$10 in parts from Home Depot. Took 10 minutes.
RustySilver42@reddit
Yeah. I had a shop try to sell me brakes I had recently replaced. "Okay, show me." Talk about backpedaling.
Rough_Condition75@reddit
My dad still fixes everything and laments when he can no longer (most recent, a bird feeder that has been taken down by a bear one too many times). I fix more than normal, even for GenX, and I’m a chick. I have my 3 year old grandson help so he learns as well. Our last project was replacing the socket in a $10 floor lamp I bought a decade ago.
Chaotic_Dreamer_2672@reddit
My parents were the same, grew up in Austria during WWII, after the war you couldn’t buy anything, even if you would have had the money to buy it. However, my dad, who is still alive, is at a loss these days because machines have become much more sophisticated and the electronics is almost impossible to fix by yourself
Bubbly_Following7930@reddit
My boomer dad worked in manual labor and could fix anything. Sink, car anything.
He taught us nothing.
restingbitchface2021@reddit
I spent the day in the barn with my dad yesterday wrenching on mowers and tractors. We fix everything. I’m trying to learn as much as I can from him.
I have so many bruises today. I smacked myself with every thing I touched.
WingZombie@reddit (OP)
Ha! My hands are constantly covered in scrapes and cuts.
Anarolf@reddit
I've gotten to the point that I don't even notice the cuts or bruises from the day's activities until my wife shrieks "YOU'RE BLEEDING!"
WingZombie@reddit (OP)
It’s amusing when you suddenly see a blood smear on what you’re working on and you have to start searching on yourself to see where it’s coming from.
Anarolf@reddit
Same, grew up in rural area where you couldn't easily replace items like generators, water pumps, and of course vehicles...and back then there was no Amazon equivalent for parts to arrive out of the ether... So you had to pore over whatever scanty information was available, while wrenching it. My silent Gen father was not great at fathering, but I'll forever be grateful for the confidence to fix, design and build whatever needs doing.
Monkeynutz_Johnson@reddit
Depending on where we were, I'd ride the bus with little brother and sister in tow to the vacuum shop to buy parts or appliance parts house. Nobody ever questioned why an 11 year old kid was buying this stuff or why I had a 7 and 5 year old with me. Wife didn't believe I could pull and replace a well pump or build a deck until I did it.
Anarolf@reddit
what really grinds my gears are the "professionals" whose work is total @$$, who scoff when you point out their mistakes..... I've put down a few submersibles in my time as well!
Specialist-Leek8645@reddit
This is why I follow you guys. I was raised like this. Everyone was a handyman. Wasting anything was criminal. Figure it out. I also idolized my Grandma so her Great Depression mentalities went deep.
Present_Type6881@reddit
To play devil's advocate, fixing things is harder now than it used to be. My dad loved tinkering with cars. He'd spend most weekends working on his Fiat convertible. He died in 2015, and towards the end of his life he told me he just couldn't do much with modern cars. Too much stuff is computerized, and even if it's not, it's just not put together in a way to make it easy to fix yourself. Like when I broke the rear view mirror of my Toyota prius, we had to spend all day taking apart the entire door to replace it. And I have an older Toyota prius, not the newer ones with blindspot sensors in the rear view mirrors.
I imagine it's the same situation with other things like household appliances. Manufacturers are deliberately making things impossible to fix yourself to force you to buy new ones.
Stereo_Jungle_Child@reddit
If it cost $1000 to have a mechanic put a new mirror in your Prius and you did it yourself, but it took 10 hours, then you paid yourself $100/hr to fix it. Divide the cost of having someone else do the repair by how long it took you to do and that's how much you paid yourself to fix it.
I'm retirement age and I figured out how to take apart my iPhone 7 and replace the screen and the battery. Youtube is amazing! It will teach you how to fix ANYTHING. I wish I had that when I was growing up!
Present_Type6881@reddit
That is true. And I am broke right now and will probably need to learn how to fix more things, but it's still a trade-off between time and money. It used to be easy to replace a rear view mirror in an hour or two, and now you have to spend an entire frustrating weekend doing it. I can understand why some people just give up and pay someone else to do it so all their spare time isn't taken up fixing things.
My dad actually liked working on his car, too. It was like a hobby to him.
Starkville@reddit
Fix it, mend it, wear it out. Make it do, or do without.
Come from a long line of people who DIY if it’s possible. I’m the one who assembles things, goes to YouTube to try to fix it first. Save a fortune on things that people pay others to do. It gives me a sense of competence and accomplishment, too. Hemming pants, simple darts, mending holes, etc. Mani/pedi, hair cut and color, waxing, facials, etc. Drywall, spackle, refinishing, etc.
We don’t fuck with plumbing or electrical work, though.
My sister just bought a new refrigerator, then discovered the old one was fine, and just needed to vacuum the coils at the back of it.
tandem_kayak@reddit
I have definitely done light plumbing and electrical. You can't pay someone to come do some simple tasks, they don't even want to bother. Stuff like a dripping faucet that just needs a new cartridge in the valve, or replacing loose electric sockets, that's homeowner level work.
Distinct_Magician713@reddit
My father: Go to college and pay someone else to fix your shit. I did, I do, and I sure miss that man.
Olelander@reddit
“I was primed my whole life to be good at this thing. Why aren’t other people as good at me at this thing?”
You’re so close to an understanding here…
WingZombie@reddit (OP)
That wasn’t the point. I never would expect someone starting out to know the things or do or be at the same altitude. I was a technical trainer for years, educating people who are new to a trade. For decades I’ve worked with 20 year olds just entering the workforce and there has been a distinct shift. What I used to experience was “teach me the theory of how something works along with the basics of repair and I’ll be able to troubleshoot it.”. What I experience now is “when it doesn’t do the thing just tell me what needs replaced and how to replace it.”. The issue with that is you can’t cover every possible scenario of behavior and symptoms in some magical flow chart (IBM used to try). Its too the point that we have had to develop massive intelligent systems behind the scenes and also create remote support roles of people who so have these skills because we can’t hire people with basic troubleshooting acumen. This is my experience at work, but it manifests in other places. .
More_Pineapple3585@reddit
I wish we still had awards to give. Thank you stranger.
NetJnkie@reddit
Why am I going to waste time trying to "figure it out" when someone on YT already has a guide on how to do it correctly the first time? It's like when I was an IT Director. My team had 30 mins to fix a problem and then they had to open a support ticket.
WingZombie@reddit (OP)
YT is amazing and I agree, but not everything is on YouTube. When its not, you need to dig in and figure it out for yourself
Universespitoon@reddit
Looking it up on youtube, there's an example of figuring it out, your way.
Without direction you knew where to start, the argument is that the basic skill, that you highlighted is not present.
If they don't know immediately, they don't know how yo start or initiate.
NetJnkie@reddit
YT is education. Learning from someone with experience. That's not figuring it out my way.
Universespitoon@reddit
The two are different; one leads to the other direct interaction allows for direct questioning and discovery of your way..
Either way, you are given a head start, and then, you go on your own and discover..
This is not difficult.
NetJnkie@reddit
Again. "Discovery of your way" is fine if that's what you want. But learning from an experienced person isn't that. And your discovery is going to be far less efficient and may get you a solution that "works", but not optimally.
This is not difficult. If you want to go find it out yourself, go ahead. But hopefully someone doesn't have to come behind you and figure out "your discovery" when another problem occurs and now they have two problems.
Universespitoon@reddit
You've missing the point.
It is not about optimal methods, or method. it is the lack of curiosity on how and why.
Just as you have displayed.
Challenge, question, rewrite and reinterpret.
Or don't.
NetJnkie@reddit
I'm not missing any point. If you want to poke around and be curious, knock yourself out. Enjoy. I'm talking about fixing a broken thing or solving a problem that needs to be fixed. If my dishwasher is dead I don't want to poke around and be curious. I want to fix it.
The most efficient way to do that is by getting knowledge from an experienced person and doing it the "right" way. I'm not taking it apart to figure out how it all works and takes hours.
Universespitoon@reddit
Then, that is fine for you.
Then you will end yp fixing something, no doubt.
But you may not know why it broke or what it was you were doing, besides following somebody elses direction.
And not thinking for yourself.
Ask this: What if youtube or internetwas unavailable?
Where are your troubleshooting skills? Where is the curiosity?
Or do you just like being told what to do?
NetJnkie@reddit
Not sure what your deal is this morning. I never said to follow steps like a robot. You can learn the why/where/how from an experienced person. You're far more likely to "fry something" by fucking around without knowledge.
If you want to disassemble things to figure them out like a meth head, go right ahead. I have things to do and have always tried to learn from those with knowledge and experience. It's the fastest way to the best outcome. AND..AND! You also learn from them on the way so you don't fry something.
I don't need to be curious about everything. I'm curious about a ton of things. But how the control wiring on my 1965 oven isn't one of those things. I want someone with experience to help me troubleshoot and repair that. I can't just go get spare parts from the manufacturer anymore...etc.
Universespitoon@reddit
Then you have found the right balance.
Most have not.
And it is not robotic, it is the basics of the scientific principal an epistemological based analysis, the bedrock of engineering.
GogglesPisano@reddit
I've found YouTube to be invaluable for much of my house and car maintenance. Seems like there is a YouTube video that shows how to fix nearly anything.
WingZombie@reddit (OP)
It is an amazing resource for sure.
Kodiak01@reddit
I just learned how to replace the lid switch in my old Whirlpool washer from a video.
Alit_Quar@reddit
Y father was an airplane mechanic for 20 years in the Air Force. He was head of maintenance at a factory for another twenty. He never taught me anything about repairing things. YouTube and books have been a godsend.
Migamix@reddit
When companies make everything unfixable, it's not lack of skill entirely, it's lack of ownership.
kent_eh@reddit
We can still choose which things to buy (or not to buy).
Repairability was one of the criteria when buying the appliences we currently own.
Migamix@reddit
Can we, granted my slightly modern lowish tech maytag is a purchase I regret, they haven't been "maytag" for many years, they are made cheap. An entire drum rests on 1 bering with sheer force causing seals to fail and the crappy berring to rust and fail. I had that entire washer on pieces but since I'm the grandson of a farmer that trained my mum how to repair stuff, I didn't give up, a design flaw was a a huge pain in the ass to repair, it got done, but I'm never doing that again. So, please, how was I to know maytag, whirlpool, and a slew of appliances we all knew as the best of the best, are now shit. Back in the days, the FULL service manual was taped to the lid of washers, we had the choice to fix, or since they were actually maintaining quality, was worth hiring a pro. Now, people roll modern crap to the road because we have accepted trash. And if we take two months shopping for quality again, it's more cost effective to just by more. I'll now get to computers. My amiga 1200 had capacitor leak damage, only with schematics was I able to find the trace to the OPAMP so I could hard wire a bypass after a full recap. A laptop that had a flaw where the battery was shorted just enough it would drain, I found a "fell off the truck" schematic to help me fix that. Where it's damn hard to find service manuals for most modern electronics. I could go on. I take pride in still having a pre over-teched vehicle that, like farmers used to be able to do, fix EVERYTHING in it. But people are just oh so willing to not own anything anymore, where people like me DEMAND the ability to maintain what we paid for. I will never accept nor allow the excuse most companies attempt to push that, I might hurt myself because it's so technical for plebs to fix.
TLDR, I demand quality first so it doesn't need repairs like our grandparents had, and if it breaks, we can fix it by opening the washer lid for the service manual.
gothamguy212@reddit
i swear that working in tech support to start a career in high school is a massive advantage to being a problem solver long term
No-Lime-2863@reddit
I grew up with a family that had no money but also didnt know how to fix anything. I was the only “handy” kid. so from age 8 or so, I was Mr. fixit. they would bring me things like an offering.
I raised two kids. One is as you described Has no interest in fixing things and is clearly destined for a life of hiring people. he seems fine with that. The other is more than happy to get dirty, at 15 asked for my old beater if they could get it working again and proceeded to rebuild the top end with YouTube as the guide. it’s not just “kids these days” or even how they are raised, it’s in their nature.
fast forward, ive had a good career, and saved money along the way. part of savings money along the way was rarely hiring a pro. So that has allowed me to retire. Great, now if have the time to get to all those projects. But, not that the projects aren’t a respite from work, I am it so sure I want to do them. I used to revel in how much money I was saving, now I wonder if I should just pay someone to domwhat they are good at and go back t9 work at what I was good at.
jrobski96@reddit
I feel fortunate that we live in both worlds. We have the ability and the mechanical know how to fix things, along with helpful YouTube videos in case you get stuck. I wish I knew more about electronics tho. I remember replacing the TV tubes lol. I don't think that is relevant these days. 🤷♂️😅
AC_Uni@reddit
Needs instead of wants.
practicalm@reddit
I had a three year old washer break and the repair tech said it was more than the cost of the washer to repair. Found the parts online and replaced the board with son and we fixed it for much cheaper.
They don’t make it easy but there are some good videos out there on how to fix and repair things.
EnjoyingTheRide-0606@reddit
My dad and brothers built the house I grew up in. I learned a lot from watching them. But as a girl, I wasn’t given lessons like they were: welding, drill press, table saw, air compressor, cars, etc. I wish I would have been taught!
Ok-Entertainment5045@reddit
I tried to teach my girls these skills. They picked up on a few things but prefer dad to do it. One raises chickens and has a garden, she’s done a lot more than her big sister but neither really likes doing that kind of stuff.
EnjoyingTheRide-0606@reddit
I taught mine to figure things out. She learned how to build things, fix things, and investigate how to approach a task. She also learned to be bored, experience challenges, risks, and failures.
Late-External3249@reddit
Reading this on a phone in a case that I mended with gorilla tape. I grew up poor and that's kinda what we did. I could buy a new case but meh.
Rude_End_3078@reddit
Electronics these days are harder to work on. Before you could literally repair even your own TV's. Now to some extent it's possible BUT you're buying whole replacement parts. Before you could fault find and replace just the capacitor or a resistor.
DrJonathanOnions@reddit
It’s funny, I’ve always rented but last year we bought an older house in an older neighborhood & I find myself now fixing things (or trying to). My 14 yr old wants to know where his dad got these skills and ideas from & I’m telling him all about his grandad and great grandad who never bought new, you fix, rebuild & replace. Knowledge that has lain dormant for decades now coming out
Tagpub1@reddit
I do feel like YouTube has a how to video for just about any mechanical, electrical,plumbing , hvac , automotive problem you might commonly run into ….it has saved me thousands
ggibby@reddit
My dad grew up in a similar household (rural Vermont), and for a long time those skills were a benefit.
Then the dementia started. He REFUSED to consider the idea of Mom going to a mechanic, hiring a plumber, or getting things fixed that were way beyond his capacity, like the driveway. So she snuck around him when she could.
When he passed, Mom found a bank account with only his name on it holding a low six-figure balance.
She is using it to fix all the things he couldn't over the last seven years.
Dementia is a helluva thing.
slade797@reddit
My grandson and I got my generator out of winter storage yesterday, a mouse had chewed the fuel line in two. The fuel line I had for mowers and such was too large for the carburetor end, but it fit the fuel shutoff valve fine. I trimmed up the ragged end of the chewed line, slid it into the larger-diameter line, slid the small end on the carburetor, the bigger end in the shutoff, et voila! Worked fine, no leaks.
Bryanmsi89@reddit
Very true. For many reasons.
newwriter365@reddit
I sew. It’s therapeutic for me.
I have been sewing on the same sewing machine my parents gave me when I was 14 or 15 years old. I had it serviced a couple of years ago, and a month later it died again. I pivoted to a $35 thrift store machine. It served me well until \~ 2 weeks ago, and so I packed up my first machine to drop it off for repairs.
I went to the shop Saturday and they ended up selling me a new machine. At first I was anxious but the owner said, “You had a good run with your first machine. Maybe it’s time to let it go.”
She was right. It was my faithful companion for over forty years. The gal is tired. She earned retirement.
Paint-by-numberrs@reddit
My boyfriend does all the home repairs and vehicle maintenance and repairs. He has saved so much money that way.
squirtloaf@reddit
Kind of off topic, but not really...I play guitar and have since I was a teen. Part of my skill set has always been tinkering with my guitars and gear to get them to do what I want, so when I buy something, I look at it more for its potential than what it currently is.
...but the young guitarists I know think I work magic. To them, you buy a thing, and it is just THAT thing, so they are willing (when possible) to pay out the ass for premium guitars that start off playing and sounding right.
Me, I'll but a $100 guitar, reshape the neck, paint it and rewire it and have exactly what I want. I cannot even imagine buying a $3000 guitar to get that.
SkibidiBlender@reddit
I see this in my kid. Schools teach the test, set exacting expectations for success and require particular methods. I regularly put her into situations where she has to ‘figure it out’ as a way to combat the way the schools teach.
Asleep-Code1231@reddit
Bean dad is that you (just happened to be chatting about bean dad with someone a couple of days ago)
sotiredwontquit@reddit
It’s odd to me how little “just figure it out” mindset there is. I see it most in my library, where the kids have clearly never mucked around on a computer. Their life has been app-based and they can’t navigate even basic submenus. It never occurs to them to just keep clicking on things until they figure it out.
Grafakos@reddit
"decade old appliances" - Unfortunately this is becoming harder and harder. A lot of stuff, including major appliances, just isn't built to last more than a few years anymore.
"20+-year-old cars" - This, on the other hand, is much easier to do now than with the cars from the 70s-80s, which in most cases could barely limp along to 100k miles.
Black_Hole_Tim@reddit
This is a very interesting thread. I’m a high school teacher and see this a lot with students. I think YouTube is great for finding information but raises the issue of what to do with it and what questions to ask to get to the solution.
WingZombie@reddit (OP)
I never tried to teach people what to think but how to think. It’s continued to get more challenging
roger_roger_32@reddit
Yeah, the attitude of "Why aren't these new employees as good as I am?" is pretty grumpy old man-ish.
Also, not sure exactly what kind of situations you're talking about. However, every employer I've ever had would consider it a positive if an employee's first reaction to a problem is to go try and find a guide or manual.
WingZombie@reddit (OP)
I don’t disagree. I spent a lot of years as a technical trainer standing in front of new employees. Things have shifted the past few years.
markov-271828@reddit
Yeah - nobody repairs their own shoes anymore. I learned a little leatherwork back in middle school but never did any cobbler-work.
WingZombie@reddit (OP)
I tinker with leather work. It’s a lot of fun and you can do so much with just a handful of tools.
markov-271828@reddit
I remember making a coaster and a wrist band. I don’t think they wanted me working with anything sharp ;-)
ZenRage@reddit
I just added a set of sipes to the soles of my worn sandals using a razor blade and a set of hemostats.
They grip almost as well as when new.
markov-271828@reddit
I’ve used Shoe Goo but failed due to operator error.
Delphi238@reddit
I was raised by a single silent gen mom. She literally built a 7 bedroom 2 bathroom house while raising 10 kids. She could fix anything. We had the same dishwasher for 40 years. After she passed we were goi g through a box of old papers and we found a list of wedding gifts from 1949 - it was all homemade gifts with the exception of a toaster - it was a group gift from her first husbands co-workers at the mill. Funny that a toaster was considered luxury back then.
obligatory-purgatory@reddit
My dad once built a TV lol.
classicsat@reddit
I never bought a stereo new.
I had the main chassis from an old tube console stereo. Deleted the tuner, made it into a fairly usable stereo amp, if quite dangerous.
MoJoTuck@reddit
My Parents were silent generation and my Dad grew up poor on a farm with 10 brothers/sisters (7 bros).
They fixed everything on the farm they possibly could. My dad achieved the Anerican Dream and became upper middle class but we fixed everything around the house. So I learned how to pretty much fix anything starting around 1983 or so when It was kind of hard to find a manual to fix things if ours was lost which was pretty rare. And usually knew how to fix it anyway without the manual.
Now a days I can still fix pretty much anything but I like looking up the yt videos and refreshing my memory on something I have not done in awhile. Back in the day my Dad and I would go to the local owned Hardware store for whatever was needed and talk up the owner for awhile about life and what project we had going on which kind of was like a yt refresher vid.
There are so many fantastic channels that will just walk a person through just about anything. It's a very valuable resource. I can also see how problem solving has taken a bit of a backseat but kind of replaced with a higher floor with easier access to basic knowledge, I guess.
Naive-Garlic2021@reddit
I had a dad like that but I had zero interest in learning from him (to my regret). And not much aptitude, either, for what he usually worked on (TVs, lawn mower, even fixed my laptop!). But the mindset was drilled into us, and thanks to YouTube and some sheer determination, we fix a lot of our own stuff and do our own house projects.
TravelerMSY@reddit
I’m with the school of youtube. It’s been a game changer in DIY.
But I do see what you’re saying. There are people, not necessarily just younger ones, that watch YouTube to learn how to fix things, but they never actually retain any wisdom from it.
tommyalanson@reddit
I fixed my garbage disposal yesterday! With a little help from Google.
I don’t mind the videos/Google links - before then I had a shop manual for my car, so I got to where I could do most stuff on the car - but it gave me confidence to know I could do something and you gain troubleshooting skills and come to an understanding of how things work.
However, my millennial neighbors? They don’t fix shit. They don’t mow their lawns, wash their own cars, nothing.
I’ll be wrenching on my wife’s car on a Sunday and it’s like an alien appeared or something. I bet these people own a hammer at most.
I wonder how my local hardware store will stay in business when our generation dies out.
Kodiak01@reddit
Were you a Haynes or Chilton person?
tommyalanson@reddit
Haynes!
Kodiak01@reddit
I always found their books easier to use as well. Less technical, but explained things well.
Krazy_Kat_Lady_2025@reddit
I get it OP. That's how my dad taught me too. Look at it, see if you can figure it out. If it's already broken you're not going to make it worse. LOL I get total satisfaction out of repairing things myself or knowing how to help somebody else. Knowledge is power.
That doesn't mean I don't hire people to do things. There are things I've done that I will never do again because I either suck at them, like tiling, or the project sucked, like popcorn ceiling scraping!
My husband was not raised this way and he is constantly amazed when he comes home and finds I have repaired something even if it's minor like the heating element in our dryer. Or new grommets for the fan blades on his office ceiling fan instead of a whole new fan.
YouTube can be a FANTASTIC source of how to do something. I've used it many times. But I'm glad that I was raised to assess and think through projects & repairs myself and not be dependent on others unless I CHOOSE to be. Has saved me a lot of money both in repairs and not being scammed in my life, especially as a female of the species. 🙋🏼♀️
WingZombie@reddit (OP)
I do believe that it is important to know when it’s time to hire and expert
Krazy_Kat_Lady_2025@reddit
Absolutely! I'm not working on anything that could potentially be harmful to me or anyone else or I could make worse and more costly in the long run. And I don't tackle anything I don't think I'm capable of because I don't want someone else having to come in and clean up behind me. But being capable and unafraid to tackle problems is an excellent skill to have!
Top-Establishment918@reddit
I’m a genX fix everything guy. And when you tube showed up I was like ahhhhhh. Wish I had it sooner!
Mindless-Baker-7757@reddit
With YouTube these day I think not looking into an issue and finding out how hard it might be to fix it is silly.
VisualEyez33@reddit
My grandparents that lived through the great depression were a bigger influence on my upbringing than my parents. I still have most of my grandfather's hand tools and I use them. I'm sitting at a desk that I built, in a house with curtains that I made from discount store bed sheets on a sewing machine that is about 75 years old.
He didn't need to, but would cut new treads in his rockport walking shoes with a hacksaw in order to get another year out of them. Same with many other thrifty habits. So, that kind of thinking has been my foundation, but when you throw youtube tutorials on every diy topic under the sun in there, there's very little I won't attempt to fix/build/redesign/etc myself. Except electricity. I don't mess with AC mains power stuff.
These days, I can design new wood projects in a free online CAD drawing app and get it cut on a CNC router at a local maker space and everything fits together like Legos if I did all my measurements correctly. Which I think is a pretty awesome set of capabilities that I didn't have growing up.
ZenRage@reddit
Fixing things is a learned skill and after decades I realize just how much you learn by doing.
That doing is increasingly rare for exactly the reasons you outlined.
e.g. When I opened up my mom's washing machine controls and found distinct components connected with spade connectors and a wiring diagram I was SO HAPPY that it would be a "jumper things out until it works" kind of simple diagnostic. BUT no one else in the house (BIL, mom, nephew, son, daughter) knew WTF that meant so I had to teach everyone that the wiring diagram indirectly shows the logic and how to check every switch.... (We found it in 3 minutes and had a replacement installed a week later.)
MaximumJones@reddit
Thanks to YouTube I can fix most things myself.
Langwidere17@reddit
I remember the first time I tried a dryer repair with YouTube support. I kept telling myself it's already broken. If I have to hire an expert they can fix whatever I mess up.
My 10yo daughter got really into it and ended up doing all the work. Now she's about to graduate from an engineering school. It's good to share the learning opportunities.
Tinyberzerker@reddit
I was partially raised by my silent grandparents and they knew stuff lol. My dad can barely screw in a light bulb. Grandad had no grandsons, so us girls learned carpentry (his trade). Thrust my kid in to manual labor; tree needs to be cut, here's a chainsaw and some safety rules. Figure it out. Oil change? Do it yourself. He went on a road trip recently with 4 friends and was the only one who knew how to put on a spare.
aburena2@reddit
Same! I was using power tools at 13. But the biggest lesson my father game me was shoe shining. Gave big dividends when I enlisted and continued to do so in my career. Another thing I’d like to add. We have so much more information at our fingertips. So much easier to look things up, troubleshoot and repair. Many times I saved hundreds of dollars in vehicle repair costs by looking things up.
CommissionFeisty9843@reddit
I grew up the same. My dad never called a repairman for anything. We just figured it out. Cars were a little different, enough busted knuckles and dad would take a car to a garage if need be but anything else we fixed.
Hefewiezen1@reddit
I love fixing stuff. I can’t stand how the stuff made today just sucks. Plastic, cheaply made capacitors. Half this crap isn’t worth it. Unless I can upgrade the part that broke.
adventuressgrrl@reddit
The enshitification of everything - done on purpose so we’ll spend more money.
marigolds6@reddit
To be fair, an awful lot of products are now built in a way to prevent basic troubleshooting, and despite amazon, 3d printing, etc, part availability gets very scarce for anything more than 5 years old due to constant design changes.
The YouTube guides are good, and many do walk you through basic troubleshooting. I especially appreciate guides that make it more clear when you are going to need a professional.
Unknown_Geek027@reddit
And many products are designed for lowest cost with the inability to replace parts. I use web research to determine if a product can be fixed at all, to find a source and cost of parts, and to determine whether it's something I can do myself watching the videos. In some cases, the answer is that an item is not repairable, period.
We have become a disposable society.
demona2002@reddit
Remember when we had to rely on paper maps? Or the horse and buggy? Or 2 tin cans and a string?
Same-Inflation@reddit
My dad was like that but often he ended up spending as much on repairing something as he would replacing it because it required a specialty tool or the parts required came in a set or once he cracked a motor open I necessitated buying a bunch of extra seals. Also a lot of today’s items are glued or snapped together as a sealed unit and once opened you can’t screw them back together.
Things are built to be disposable so there often aren’t spare parts available that fit the specific model needing repair. It’s the business strategy and younger people today have no exposure to anything else.
marigolds6@reddit
The Harbor Freight rule is surprisingly great for this.
If you need a speciality tool, buy it at harbor freight for cheap. If you use it until it breaks, buy a quality version of it. I've found a bigger problem is parts being discontinued relatively quickly. My 20 year old car's tire size was discontinued by all but a few discount brands (and the manufacture years on those are getting steadily older, so I suspect they are just selling back inventory). The rear window wiper blade and air filters were discontinued as well (have to cut down your own refills from larger ones), and apparently oil filters are next.
This particular problem drives me nuts. As 3-D scanning and printing continues to advance, though, this becomes less of an issue (at least for plastic pieces).
ONROSREPUS@reddit
I always try to repair before replacing. It was just the way I was raised as well. Plus I am a cheap ass.
String17@reddit
Same. Same
SpongyBarnacle@reddit
Also same, plus I was blessed with enough foresight to know/envision that technology was going to accelerate past me at some point, so do it while I could. For a while my skills kept up, until life changed a few years ago and I no longer worked directly with the stuff in the field.
I still get occasional phone calls from my colleagues when dealing with older equipment (we have a fair amount) asking if, as one guy put it, I "happen to remember how to talk dirty to it."
bobj33@reddit
I see this as a good thing. There are things that I would have needed to hire a professional to fix but now I can find a guide or video and do it myself.
Special_Cranberry679@reddit
YouTube is definitely my friend when it comes to fixing stuff, except I draw the line at plumbing and electrical, except for little items like installing a light fixture.
Saves me a lot of money for sure.
throw_away__25@reddit
I grew up watching my father fix everything around the house. I started fixing things when I was a small kid. I thought it was normal and it was how everyone did it. I grew up is rural Northern California, and all of our neighbors were ranchers and property owners so that was how it was done.
If something breaks I will usually have a go at repairing it, and most times I can fix it. I have completely remodeled my house, and I do all of my car repairs.
I figured out a long time ago, I am happiest when I have a transmission torn apart in the garage or in the crawl space under the house fixing a drain line.
Firstcounselor@reddit
I replaced my alternator over the weekend. It reminded me of when I was in my early 20s and my alternator went out. Instead of buying a new one for around $100, I rebuilt it myself for $8 in parts. Thinking back, I’m amazed I was able to do this without YouTube or any tutorials. I just figured it out.
I’m really glad I was raised with a DIY father. I can’t even fathom how much I’ve saved over the years, but I’d guess enough that I can now pay someone to rebuild our deck lol…
Complex_Ad775@reddit
Lives were simpler back then. Stuff do stick around longer, and we tend to repair long before replace.
Many of today’s items require way fewer work hours to replace now than before. Think about an appliance, a fridge or washing machine. We replace rather than repair because it is way more cost affective in most cases. That’s just my take.
KuchDaddy@reddit
I'm the same way.
I will say that the existence of the internet has helped me to fix things I would not have otherwise been able to.
Connir@reddit
Came here to say the same. I will more often than not attempt to fix it myself, but am very happy to have the internet and AI to help.
While replacing some rollers in my dryer the other day I pulled on a wire harness by accident and unplugged it, having no idea where it even went.
I was happy that instead of rooting around and digging through the manual, ChatGPT was able to ID the harness in a few seconds, tell me what it was, where it plugged in, and that it had no polarity.
I could've eventually figured that out, but my troubleshooting time was cut down tremendously.
emover1@reddit
Im the same way and actively include my kids in my projects so they can learn to be self sufficient as well.
We save huge amounts of money because of this.
Sometimes when Im out for walks and/or drives i will find things and bring them home and repair them. We either them ourselves , sell them on marketplace or give them away to people that can use it. Last year i made a bunch of extra cash and we used half of it towards an outing with the kids and the other half we used to buy food to donate to a food program at our kids school that sends food home with kids from underprivileged families . At Christmas time We gave them 20 full Christmas dinners to give away. All with free money from repairing and selling other people’s garbage.
Correct-Condition-99@reddit
I will try to repair every time. If it's broken already, i can't make it worse. That said, so many products are built to be disposable these days, and new parts don't even exist for then.
Vandilbg@reddit
Working in tech for decades, some people got it and some don't. Always been like that and it's innate so dont bother trying to teach it. If they dont have a mind that works like that they never will.
Cptnmisfortune@reddit
My husband is a millennial but he fixes EVERYTHING. There are very few things over the years that he has not been able to fix or get running again. He has also taught our kids car repairs etc.
actuallyno60@reddit
My parents are Silent generation, but my dad was also a landlord with a few two-flats, so he knew how to fix anything. Thanks to him, I rarely pay to have anything fixed. I learned from the best. Besides normal house stuff like plumbing and electrical, I've replaced parts in just about every appliance in my home.
Moveyourbloominass@reddit
My Pops couldn't fix shit. Running family joke of duck tape and WD-40. However, all 6 of his kids are quite handy. My 2 brothers can build anything & fix just about anything. We are all self-taught. I'm the repairer in my marriage. I've replaced dryer drums, toilets, snaked, fence building and I do nearly all my own car repairs. I like tinkering and I love figuring out how things work/processes. If I run into trouble, I just give my awesome brother a holler. I believe it starts off as a money saver, but then hooks those of us that like it. Unfortunately, none of my 3 children, have the tinkering hands, yet.
Sea-Oven-7560@reddit
My dad was not handy, in fact he was horrible at fixing stuff. What he was good at was reading and learning and that is something he instilled in me. My uncles on the other hand were master tradesmen and they built buildings, so when I was old enough to work I went to work or them and did every miserable job on the trades there was and I hate that kind of work, nothing worse than being cold, wet and having some asshat throwing bricks at you because you didn't move fast enough. Now that I'm older I can pretty much fix anything or figure out how to fix it but I'm also getting to the point where I don't want to fix it. Do I want to spend my Saturday afternoon swapping out my water heater or do I want to pay someone $200 to do it, it's often a toss up.
TC_Stock@reddit
Southpark had great episode about this
MasterAlchemi@reddit
Years ago I had a 3yo vacuum cleaner that started making all sorts of terrible noise. I took it in to a repair shop who told me it was worn out and I should buy new. I thanked them for their opinion and went home. I took it apart myself and found the drive belt was messed up from long hair (which resembled my wife’s by odd coincidence). After removing the hair it ran great again.
I’m a “do what the manual says” kind of guy and simply undoing random screws to get at a part isn’t in my nature, so I’m actually happy I figured out what to do on my own.
I don’t fix much but I’ve gotten pretty good at toilet repairs over the years.
Astronaut6735@reddit
I fix anything I can. I put a new drain pump in my dishwasher for 1/3 the cost of paying someone else to, and probably 1/10th the cost of a new dishwasher. I recently diagnosed my HVAC problem to the control board (bad relay), and replaced that for $65. Unless it takes specialized skills or expensive tools, I'll do it myself. YouTube has been a huge help for learning. I'm also very frugal, shopping for discounts, buying used, not replacing things, etc.
That said, life is unaffordable for young people, and it isn't because they buy a new $1000 phone every few years.
fastcatdog@reddit
I fix everything 👍. You want to see something absolutely disgusting watch - Buy now:the shopping conspiracy on Netflix.
Deaner_dub@reddit
I’m not an engineer and fixing my furnace and washing machine, using a voltmeter even, is terrifically satisfying.
It’s also frustrating and stressful… until it works.
fastcatdog@reddit
That moment it works is so nice 😃😃😃👍👍👍✅✅
WingZombie@reddit (OP)
I’ve seen it. It’s very disheartening
fastcatdog@reddit
Yeah it’s overwhelming, we need an anti consumption revolution.
vexed_and_perplexed@reddit
Stuff made today has planned obsolescence. I only recently had to get rid of the dryer that came with my house (Whirlpool from 1977). I’d fixed it countless times: drum belt, multiple heating elements. That thing was a tank and it was all mechanical so you could just take out the old part replace it with a new one. Did the same thing with a regulator switch on my 35 year old oven. When I make minor fixes on things in my house people are amazed. Like people, I bought a part (when available), unscrewed the old part, screwed in the new part. Sometimes it’s just that easy.
It’s sad, it’s all cheap plastic shit now. And no more “Bob’s Appliance repair” etc any more to fix things that can be fixed.
Continuum_Design@reddit
I found this to be dead accurate on our dishwasher. It started about half the time and you had to really mash the buttons. Turns out the control board was on top of the unit, with no heat shield or cover. All that heat and steam was going to destroy it. By design.
Read the error code, found parts and overnighted them. Wife wasn’t happy the price but I said it was a fraction of new with a 30 day return. Twenty minutes later the dishwasher was back up and running.
eclectic-up-north@reddit
Absolutey, but... many things aren't repairable now, or you lose warrantee. People have had to fight for right-to-repair laws.
But I agree, we don't tinker enough.
WingZombie@reddit (OP)
Most of the time I just figured that I am the #Warranty. I also find that many things are more repairable than they first appear. You just have to be a little more creative.
CraftLass@reddit
Warranties end so quickly, too. For a big ticket item I will use the crap out of free repairs and replacements while they exist, but then my partner or I are fixing it or it won't get fixed.
Some stuff now is truly unfixable by design but usually you just gotta figure out how it is sealed up and make that happen again after a repair, right? ;) And then you learn to watch for that stuff. Repairability is a top criterion for me in shopping now, wherever possible.
I am sitting next to one of two fabulous $400 lamps we got from a dumpster and fixed for $7 as I type. There are extra perks to learning to DIY repairs!
Monkeynutz_Johnson@reddit
My dad would and could fix anything it seemed. My mom would throw something out and buy new if something wasn't working up to her standards. It was a real strain on the psyche being pulled in two directions at once. Because my mom worked wherever we went, I started quietly fixing things while she was out. We had a vacuum cleaner that I took apart and cleaned, replaced bearings, belt and other wear parts. It lasted until a year after I moved out before it needed another cleaning and she got a new one. My dad taught me to work on cars when he was home. I always drive some old project car now, it's a good way to conjure up his memory.
Accurate-Survey6985@reddit
No you're not being a grumpy old man.
Weirdest part?
Now that my father is gone and I attempt to fix something that shouldn't be "disposable", my elderly mother won't have any of it. Likes to replace etc.
Half of the fun was figuring out something simple that was wrong with it. Almost to see how long you could keep it for.
Did a spice grinder not long ago and that thing is as old as me.
Zealousideal-Panda23@reddit
Your life almost exactly parallels mine. My parents grew up in the Depression. Their families were poor.
I was one of 8 kids. We grew up lower middle class.
I learned to to fix my bike, fix lawnmowers, and a million other things. I appreciate it now.
Zestyclose-Smell-788@reddit
Yep. "Welp.. take it apart, and start poking around and see if we can find the problem."
Diving in, with no clear plan, but ready to take on whatever you find (within reason). Had a few failures along the way but probably a 90%+ success rate fixing everything from appliances to bicycles to cars
Hot_Rock@reddit
I’ve pulled engines and transmissions. Rewired and replumbed my house to code, refinished my hardwood floors, repaired drywall. All out of forced necessity. If I couldn’t fix my stuff it probably wouldn’t get fixed on my budget.
Brownie-0109@reddit
This is also common for poor families
f700es@reddit
Just replaced my 10 year old dryer timer assembly. Dryer works fine just the knob on the timer broke. $40 from Amazon and 5 minutes to switch. I'm also an engineer so I like shit like this.😉
Jas62021@reddit
I had Silent Gen parents as well.
My dad built all the closets and doors in our house and even took out a wall. Plus he did the plumbing work. And one of my Silent Gen uncles is a car guy. So I grew up with tools and being taught how to do stuff.
I still manage to do basic car repairs on our cars. And have dragged my Boomer raised husband into some major house repairs and projects.
Slowing down on the DIY projects a bit because of age now. But we are still doing the lighter lifting stuff
WingZombie@reddit (OP)
I screwed up bad once when I was 15 and my punishment was that I had to spend part of my summer in the crawlspace of the house re-plumbing everything because we had some plumbing issues. Of course my father was right next to me the entire time, teaching me these skills but I remember really hating that job.
MarcusAurelius68@reddit
At a previous house I owned I needed to resurface the wood deck. I got ridiculous quotes and thought “I could do this myself”. Got a few extra tools and took my time.
The UPS driver asked me when delivering some tools - “are you comfortable doing this?”
My answer: “No, but I will be when I’m done.”
NPC261939@reddit
I love fixing stuff and putting it back to work. I worked in a mower shop when I was younger and got pretty good at fixing small engines. I used to take curbside mowers and trimmers, repair them, and then sell them. Pretty sure I sold a few guys their old stuff right back to them.
CommissarCiaphisCain@reddit
My parents were pretty much paycheck to paycheck, so things had to be fixed to make them last.
I’ve been more fortunate but still fix/maintain things myself. Especially our cars. The savings over shops that charge $200/hr in labor are significant
Robviously-duh@reddit
spent my youth taking anything and everything that was broken that I could get my hands on completely apart... then trying to get them working again.. sometimes it actually worked.. I am so glad my son had the same inclination growing up...
HypergolicHyperbola@reddit
I had a similar experience in small town Kansas. My dad is Silent Generation too. One thing I remember was that on trips to larger towns or cities we almost always were stopping by a place to buy parts for something. Auto parts, appliance parts, electronics parts, etc. To this day, I will try to fix something before throwing it away. I find that even things designed to be disposable can often be repaired and maintained with a bit of work. Sadly, so many things are now cheaply made and my repair efforts keep them running, but are really a waste of valuable time.