Waffles are a pretty easy recipe. Why don’t you make waffles for her?Originally Posted by Mel Fulks
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Waffles are a pretty easy recipe. Why don’t you make waffles for her?
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For pancake sand probably waffles the trick is to let it sit after mixing. Even overnight in the fridge. As you mix it gets lumpy and acts like a non Newtonian fluid so it is hard to mix properly.
Bill D.
PS: Many mixes made today are add water only no need for eggs etc. easy for camping but my wife has convinced me quesideas are even easier and tasty.
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A friends TV croaked. After a year of seeing it sitting hall, and grandson saying "I know someone who can fix it," she told me to take it to the recycle center. Took it into shop and a quick inspection showed a capacitor that looked like it was pregnant. Quick search of ebay, and for $0.59 shipped I had replacement cap in hand. Actually it was $1.18 as I had to order two to get free shipping. Less than 15 minutes and set was again playing. That was two years ago, and set is still playing. First of the week replaced bios battery in my note book. The usually last about a year, so last time I ordered five, which cost me only a few more cents than just one. About a month ago was at dumpster, when a guy was throwing away one of those little Senco compressors. Said it wouldn't build up air. He gave it to me. Brought it home,. plugged it in and heard air leaking from regulator. Went to parts box and got out a $5 HF regulator with gauge and replaced defective one. Sweet!
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Yep, people who aren't afraid to 'look under the hood' can get a lot of good things for a little labor. (Most of them actually enjoy the labor a bit.)
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
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We generally don't pay anyone for doing repairs. Did once on a VCR though. I like the satisfaction of bringing something back to life. Worst thing ever was a chainsaw in pieces in a burlap bag. Took about four hours to fix it. I have a book on chainsaws that showed parts breakdown, which definitely helped. Probably one of the best things my dad did for me as kid was to give me a B&S 1.0 HP motor that came off a Bendex washing machine. Washing machines were gas powered at one time, as not everybody had electricity. He told me "take it apart and figure out why it doesn't run, and he would buy the needed parts." I did, and he did. As a kid, I built my own crystal radios, using a "blue razor blade, and a sewing pin" for the crystal. Wound the coil around an Alkaseltzer bottle. Currently, I'm waiting for parts to come in to fix my 30+ year old Senco nailer, plus a defrost timer to fix fridge.. Thank God for ebay, as they are my "go to" for parts. Also currently installing two heat pumps in house. God Blessed me with talents, instead of money. Sons both own their own repair businesses, one doing home repairs, and other doing heavy equipment.
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Check and see if there is a 'Tools R US' store nearby. My local one still has a service counter and repairs tools.
Rick Potter
DIY journeyman,
FWW wannabe.
AKA Village Idiot.
I followed a van through several traffic lights today. His License plate was MRFIXIT. I couldn't see the side of his van so I don't know what he fixes.
Lee Schierer
USNA '71
Go Navy!
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I got my start in electronics because my dad ran a TV repair shop. I learned to fix TVs from five years old. In fifth grade I started my first business, fixing tape players and portable radios for a flat fee of like $5 (felt like millions at that age and time/economy). Basically fixing what was then being called "cheap disposable Japanese electronics" that were not worth adult salaries to fix. But for me, nothing was better than four hours in the shop with a scope and soldering iron figuring stuff out. That experience has led to me basically fixing absolutely everything I ever need to, and I just don't go to repair shops or have repair people come to the house. TV repair shops on the corner are gone, but they still exist. They are big on-call companies that send a tech who basically just replaces a board, or swaps in a whole refurb TV.
On power tools, Dewalt is basically making "forever" tools now, but mostly only if you work in the trades. It's just not economical to deal with one customer at a time for repairs. But a friend who does road construction work gets a Dewalt truck a couple times a month who brings fixed tools, and takes all the broken tools. They never buy new. They just pay a flat repair fee per unit.
It is very expensive to deal with individual customers. Part of it is the nature of the time it takes to deal with a one-off, and part is just the fact that there are so many bad customers who cause problems and eat up time. So it's not just the time to fix the tool, it's the time to deal with the paperwork and person.
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B&D industrial tools carry same warranty. Repair costs no more than half of the current selling price of comp tool. Tried to get my 40 year old B&D angle grinder fixed under such plan. Tech told me "No parts available, so they would sell me a Dewalt for about 1.5 times the current street price." Went home, and looked up needed parts. Checked current production model Dewalt, and parts were the EXACT same. Only the case was a different color. Called service center to see if parts were available. They had two of three in stock, and could have the other the next day. Seems they are either too lazy, or sorry to do their job. One day when it's raining, will call and check on parts availability, and then take grinder back in. Years ago, at same service center (B&D then) took a 7" angle grinder in to get a replacement bearing. The tag is attached so that laying grinder on it's back wears tag off, so without model number they couldn't be of help. I was working in Norfolk, so took grinder with me. Went to the B&D service center there, and when I walked in the door, tech asked me which I needed, bearing, or brushes. He said they had over 5000 of same grinder on lease at ship yard in Hampton Roads, and these two parts were most common failure item. So it depends upon someone knowing what they are doing, or willing to do what they are supposed to.
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On my Skill 77's, I replaced the cord with a piece of SJO cable and plug. The new cord is 10' long, so I can rip a sheet of plywood without having to deal with the cord.. In my shop, I have a partial spool of SJO cord that I bought from local salvage yard, so replacing cord is easy. Remember the 77 uses torx screws.
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Last Monday I was in repair mode. One of our Gardenia oscillating sprinklers quit oscillating, odd because my experience with Gardenia products is they are expensive but last almost forever. We had one that I swear lasted 20 years, this one is about 5 years old. Opened it up and a couple of O rings had failed (this sprinkler was left in place 24/7 for the last few years so maybe the sun baked it). Replaced the O rings and it's back in service. Then turned my attention to a Simple Human soap dispenser which broke. We have several of these, the type that hang on the wall and you pump out the soap (or shampoo, conditioner etc.), by pulling a lever arm toward you. So far 2 have broken the same way after 4 or 5 years. The lever arm snapped in the middle. I glued the 2 halves back together with CA glue and then reinforced the joint with 5 min epoxy and some scraps of fiber glass cloth. Probably stronger than the original arm. I had contacted the company on their website to ask if they could supply a replacement arm, got a response from them from the UK within 48 hours saying they had forwarded my request to the US office as they were closer to me (in Canada). That was 2 weeks ago and no response from the US office. I feel sorry for people who don't have at least some basic DIY skills to make simple repairs.
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When I was a kid, too many years ago, it was pretty common for boys to take things apart and figure out how they worked. This leads to being able to fix things. Today, how many kids have any interest in picking up a tool? There are not enough.
There is now a lack of skilled folks in many trades and it will get worse. This will create a large demand and career opportunities. It is a great alternative to college but means getting your hands dirty.
[OP]
Member
And that is why there are so many native born "basement dwellers" and so many immigrants in the trades. Had a relative who was working part time at McDonalds and living in his parent's basement at age 32. Told him about some warehouse jobs that paid $18 plus and hour and they would train for forklift certificate. He replied that he could never work in a warehouse. His Mother overhead him and told him he had 15 days to vacate unless he started paying rent. He is now a fork lift driver, has a new car and is looking into buying a house. Suddenly his politics have become more conservative too.
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He is likely in the phone book under Mr Fix It.
Or maybe Google:
MRFIXIT.png
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Member
It's not a warranty or half price deal. It's a service agreement where Dewalt just continually has refurb tools sitting at the site. Every time someone needs a tool, they take one from the "good" bin and toss their existing one into the "bad" bin. They are charged for each tool as they use it, on a flat fee that's not really related to the tool cost, but the overall cost of refurbishing (same every time). Nobody has to do anything or worry about parts or whatever.
Also this way employees are assigned a tool one time, and they can exchange it any time. But at the end each employee is assigned one tool of X model and responsible for having it. This has helped with theft or just mysterious disappearances.
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