Thread: In Control, Of Nothing,,,,,,,

I was told as a child, "The older you get son, the wiser you will be." The first big lie told to me.

With the aid of YouTube & GOOGLE,, I can do anything,,, I lied to myself.

My latest examples of the above,,,,,,

3 weeks ago, my CZ-82 goes double action only,,, not a problem,, a Gunsmith I will be. Three days of trying to get the sear & sear spring under the auto safety, has left me with a bag gun & a dislike for CZ-82's.

2 weeks ago I decide my hot water heater needs replacing,,,, not a problem,,,I take measurements, photographs, research brands etc. ,,, I head to Home Depot to get it. Find it & start to pull it out to roll to register,,, then I notice the one next to it looks the same, but is 8 more gallons,. I get it instead. Fight it up 2 flights of stairs. But, I get smart & call a plumber to install it. He shows today, sets up, we open the box & he says, "You bought the wrong one,it's too big." He was right,,
He goes to Home Depot & gets the right one, the one I looked at first. He installs it. I load the other one back into the car & take it back. I arrive, but have lost my receipt. I get store credit minus $20.00 for it.

At 9 pm tonight, I notice my A/C is blowing warm air & the fan outside is not turning,,, not a problem,,,I saw the A/C tech. fix it last time,,, he replaced a round thing attached to the side of the outside unit. I run to GOOGLE & YouTube & determined that round thing is a capacitor. I learn that it must be "discharged". I learn that & start looking for my tools & multi-meter. It's 9:25 now ,,,, I race into the darkness with my son in tow & a flashlight. I pull the capacitor & fuses. It's 9:40 now,,, we jump in the car & head to Home Depot,,, they sell the fuses, but not the capacitor. I curse all the way home,,,,
I put the old capacitor back on & head upstairs to turn the electricity back on. I go to turn off the A/C so it does not burn something else out & I see that the switch on the A/C thermostat is turned to "FAN ONLY" (never used this option in 18 years) I switch it to "AUTO" & the cold air begins to flow,,, I run outside & the fan is spinning.

It's been a long day,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I can't seem to press the "LIKE" button enough on this one. Awesome!

The only thing that has put my mind at ease tonight is that, I going to see Mad Max tomorrow,,,,all that violence will calm the beast inside.

I watched youtube videos to learn how to take the carburetor off my law mower and clean it. Videos can be helpful but you're likely to miss something because a particular video might leave out a key step. I guess it's like shaving videos.

Anyway, tomorrow I will be taking the carb off the mower again to get a spot I missed.

Hey, don't be so hard on yourself.

You fixed that A/C all by yourself, champ!!!

Sarcasm that cuts like a knife,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

John, I see that the curse of the double whammy got you. The Damned if I Do and Damned if I Don't. I've learned that often, on getting it right, has led to a hell of a lot of things suddenly going wrong. Thankfully, I now just meekly call my landlord (my son) and bemoan the fact that I am an inept schmoo and could he please save his father from ongoing household hell?

Good for you John, don't feel bad, you did well.

I went to replace the water saver, the little screen that is supposed to screw onto the faucet, mine had been squirting sideways for awhile. Figured I could do this, grabbed some big pliers, and proceeded to tear the faucet off the top of the sink....wife stood there with arms crossed, shaking her head, telling me she's told me over and over not to touch her tools.

You on the other hand, achieved Victory!

I have had a lot of jobs. I have a variety of skills. One of the skills that I have that I value the most is knowing what I don't know. It helps me from trying go beyond my present skill set and knowledge. It has taken me some time to figure this one out. I don't know has helped me decide to call the people I know that have the answers. I did not arrive at this spot by accident. I have messed up a lot of stuff. Sometimes the best lessons are the ones that hit the dust bin, or cost a lot of money, or make you feel rather stupid. The middle one doesn't always sting as deeply as the other two. As long as at the end of the day you can say I learned something, the day was not a complete loss.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

I was told as a child, "The older you get son, the wiser you will be." The first big lie told to me.

With the aid of YouTube & GOOGLE,, I can do anything,,, I lied to myself.

My latest examples of the above,,,,,,

3 weeks ago, my CZ-82 goes double action only,,, not a problem,, a Gunsmith I will be. Three days of trying to get the sear & sear spring under the auto safety, has left me with a bag gun & a dislike for CZ-82's.

2 weeks ago I decide my hot water heater needs replacing,,,, not a problem,,,I take measurements, photographs, research brands etc. ,,, I head to Home Depot to get it. Find it & start to pull it out to roll to register,,, then I notice the one next to it looks the same, but is 8 more gallons,. I get it instead. Fight it up 2 flights of stairs. But, I get smart & call a plumber to install it. He shows today, sets up, we open the box & he says, "You bought the wrong one,it's too big." He was right,,
He goes to Home Depot & gets the right one, the one I looked at first. He installs it. I load the other one back into the car & take it back. I arrive, but have lost my receipt. I get store credit minus $20.00 for it.

At 9 pm tonight, I notice my A/C is blowing warm air & the fan outside is not turning,,, not a problem,,,I saw the A/C tech. fix it last time,,, he replaced a round thing attached to the side of the outside unit. I run to GOOGLE & YouTube & determined that round thing is a capacitor. I learn that it must be "discharged". I learn that & start looking for my tools & multi-meter. It's 9:25 now ,,,, I race into the darkness with my son in tow & a flashlight. I pull the capacitor & fuses. It's 9:40 now,,, we jump in the car & head to Home Depot,,, they sell the fuses, but not the capacitor. I curse all the way home,,,,
I put the old capacitor back on & head upstairs to turn the electricity back on. I go to turn off the A/C so it does not burn something else out & I see that the switch on the A/C thermostat is turned to "FAN ONLY" (never used this option in 18 years) I switch it to "AUTO" & the cold air begins to flow,,, I run outside & the fan is spinning.

It's been a long day,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Shouldn't laugh....... but I did. You got one thing right, it happens in threes.