On Doing It Oneself

by CKR

I think that this storm has left even more snow than last week’s. It’s slowing down and getting lighter. I just get warm all over thinking about all the seeds I’ve left around the yard and all the plants that are already there. I went to the native plant nursery toward the end of the season and bought a bunch of specials, tucked them in here and there. Last year I found out which could take the drought. This year I’ll find out which don’t mind being buried for too long.

Update (2 pm): Ugh. It's still snowing. I just cleared the steps one more time. I'll deal with it tomorrow.

I worked with a guy once who said that he wanted to hire only do-it-yourselfers for managers. I think about that as I struggle with the snowblower or scrape the steps for the second time because I started before the snow ended.

There are things you learn through doing things yourself that you don’t learn any other way, he said.

My father started me young as his chief typewriter stripper and reassembler for reconditioning IBM keystroke typewriters. I removed the case and all rubber and plastic parts before the guts of the machine was dunked in solvent, and then reassembled the beasts, replacing parts as needed.

I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands and digging in the dirt. I like having machines work properly for me. So I agree thoroughly with my colleague.

With the snowblower, I’ve learned that

The height to which the snow blows depends on how much snow you’re feeding it and how fast you’re feeding the snow.

It’s easier to clear an incipient clog than a full-up one. Learn the symptoms of an incipient clog.

You don’t have to clear every ounce of snow. The sun is your friend.

The snow that you leave will turn into ice if the sun doesn’t come out.

When you’re tired, stop.

There’s nothing wrong with doing it a second time.

Learn to live with inconveniences like snow on eyeglasses.

Hot chocolate is good.

There are others; this is just a sample. Some are generalizable and some aren’t. That’s another thing you can learn. Some conflict with others according to conditions. You have to learn to judge the conditions and live with it if you get it wrong.

Another lesson that’s very important and quite generalizable is that you may get to a point where going ahead is the only option, but difficult. I recall replacing a toilet seat with metal bolts. The bolts were corroded. I got one off, but the second allowed the nut to go only so far. The toilet was pretty much unusable at that point because the nut no longer backed down either, and I couldn’t get the seat replaced on the toilet. I didn’t have a bolt cutter, and I think it was a day when stores were closed. I managed to hack through it with a hacksaw that wasn’t really intended for such work. You learn to improvise.

Brush-cutting has the look of do-it-yourself, but all you have to do is whack away (brrrrt, brrrt!) for a while. If you’re doing it alone, you might find that the chain saw has inconveniently run out of gasoline or that the pickup truck has inconveniently decided not to start. Hauling the cut brush is pretty unpleasant, too, but that may or may not be a necessary part of the operation. I’ll bet he even has someone start the saw for him. And I’m sure someone else brings the lunch and lemonade.