The Buckets by Greg Cravens for April 30, 2020

Now you DO know what’s wrong.

It’s what we men do best.

In the past (40+ years ago) most appliances were slid together, then screwed or simply secured by levers, screws or bolts and springs. Glue was considered dishonest, as the inability to service an item made it obvious that the producer considered it as nothing lasting – a throw-away junk. Producers countered by almost ridiculous warranties: mostly replacement within years, no question asked. It worked as most consumers didn’t use the junk for long anyway – and those that had a failing apparatus often didn’t want the same crap again.

Over time the screws became smaller and smaller, often with obscure screwheads. And now everything is glued. Often with glue of ridiculous strength, that renders opening the shell of any item impossible, as the content wouldn’t withstand the forces necessary or the cutting tool needed. Even toasters, hairdryers or pressing irons, that are nothing of delicate nature aren’t accessible anymore.

As a kid I had hours of fun with broken items of that kind and usually I fixed them with very little effort. The toaster I fixed sometime around 1975 still works.

I love to do that!!!

I had a Dell like that. It took some prying and snapping, but I got it good.

hmmm…yay?

As I was instructed in the Navy – either fix it or fix it where no one else can fix it!

It’s by design.. manufacturers don’t want anyone fixing stuff.. forcing you to buy new is how they stay in business.

I have to keep that line in mind for my next repair project…the roof.

That’s my Mr. Fixit method, I fixit good.

There’s an old system administration adage: Mark the suspected bad disk with a hammer.

Appliances such as toasters are so inexpensive these days it is hardly worth the time to try to fix them.

Yeah! That’s right! Who’s the man? You’re the man!