Whaaattt?

Off topic, but I find the practise of employing someone to do something for you rather interesting.

I'm somewhat capable of building and fixing things (OK, occasionally to alarming or hilarious results ) and was brought up thinking that getting someone to do it would be wasteful and a shameful sign of lack of basic skills.

Nowadays I think it's worth considering also the economy side of things. Handymen and window cleaners need to make an honest living, so I as a regularly paid office rat actually should support their trade.

So I do consider jobs that are less fun and more effort, and when appropriate, pay someone to do it. Local Checkatrade site is easy to use to get in proper people avoiding cowboys.

(And on the plus side, a job done by a person who gives a proper invoice probably makes my insurance company less troublesome should my newly installed washing machine cause a water leak.)

I also keep firmly telling my elderly Dad to swallow his pride and get someone to do things for him, it's hard going trying to change his mindset though.

 

I work on the premise that there are some things I'm good at ... and many I am not! I am happy to pay someone else to do the things I don't have the skills or tools or back flexibility to tackle.

If I hate doing something, but can actually do it, I save my money. Window cleaning springs to mind. Well, all cleaning really.

 

I've always hated anything to do with cars regarding maintenance, cars are for driving not taking to pieces and then wondering why they dont go, which was the weekend ritual around here at weekends years ago, so never got into that.
But I always tried my hand at a fair bit of building type stuff.

Bad back, bad knees mean most of that has had to stop, it just takes me too long these days.

 

I lived in London from age 22 to 29 and didn't need to drive but then OH and I bought a house in Harrow with no transprot link to the office so I learned to drive and then went on a car maintenance course to save money. I learned to do a 13000 mile service but drew the line at brake pads and wheel changes, deeming those to be jobs for a "man who can". Keen petrol head friends in the office helped me tweak the timing and colour tune it so I could beat fancy sports cars away from the lights.

Haven't been under a bonnet in decades tho, except to check oil and add water to the windscreen bottle. It's all computerised and I can't even see where the spark plugs are now.

I do basic DIY too - shelves, painting and decorating, furniture renovation, erecting fences and trellis - and, whilst OH was away for 3 days this week, I took advantage and replaced a sheet of corrugated iron and some coping tiles that blew off the roof of our open sided garage in a gale. OH has ignored it for months and I knew if we tackled it together we'd end up getting divorced. DIY is not his forte tho he's good at leccy and digging planting holes for trees.