Home Repairs

I get a real sense of satisfaction...almost a runners high, if you will...when I get "home to dos" crossed off my list. Partly because I rarely know how to solve them going in, and partly because it seems like there's never a fast fix.

But I'm doing pretty good lately.

When we turned on the furnace, the blower (aka "fan") seemed to be malfunctioning. When the furnace would turn off, the blower would still blow. I kind of put off calling for help, thinking it might be something that could just fix itself on its own -- or that I'd figure out a solution.

It was very gratifying to learn it WAS something...some timer mechanism that was busted. The part was a mere $25 and the total fix job was less than $150. Thrilled to pay it as I now have worry-free heat!

The same day that was fixed, the dishwasher started to leak. But I've learned to not rush to call a repairman on clothes and dishwashers. We've been wrong two or three times before. Alas, waiting was the right call, as the leak seems to have sealed itself and it hasn't been a problem sense. Saved the cost of a house call.

I've struggled with our wireless router ever since we got the Mac updated at my office. So I bought a new Apple router (the other one was Linksys) because the old one had had its issues other times, too. It didn't solve it at first, but after calling Apple, and being told to unplug everything for 2 minutes and restarting, it worked perfectly! Did we need the new router? Maybe, maybe not, but I have worry-free wireless now, and that's worth it!

One of our newly installed toilets "runs" every 15 minutes or so. I bit the bullet and am having the plumber come back to install a new flapper. Having it run is like a Chinese water torture (thinking of wasted money and water), so it's worth my piece of mind as I know I'm not capable of simple plumbing repairs, despite what people say.

Lastly, the tire light came on in the car this weekend. Often, I assume it's probably a mistake and forget about it. But I've learned from experience and arranged for the service station to immediately check it out....only $22 later, we have a screw removed and a tire patched.

Yea! Like I said up front, it's a great feeling to get these off my list!