The Little Things

[Luke Howett Fitzhugh]

As usual, I was telling a friend about how much I enjoyed working around my house. Doing small things when they pop up makes home life more enjoyable.

As an example, I saw that their kitchen faucet splashed the water around more than it should. They were amazed at how nice the water ran (and didn't splash on the counter) after we replaced the aerator ($3). It's something that most people don't think about doing. It was the hard water that caused the problem and gunked up the old aerator, so I suspected that we would have to do the same thing to the vegetable sprayer. Yep. $5 later, they could finally spray their broccoli without wetting their shirts at the same time.

Flaky light switches, loose doorknobs, droopy curtain rods, missing weather stripping, etc. There are lots of little jobs that many homeowners never think about doing, but which are easy and inexpensive to do. These little things make a big impact.

Luke

PS: Little fixes also make great favors for those elderly neighbors to show them how much you like having them around.

[deke]

Luke, quit cluttering the environment with your fixes.

Next time you have calcium buildup use some vinegar to soak the parts in and then finish off with a stiff brush. That method will keep your gas guzzling vehicle off the road in your search for parts and the landfill will not be filled those perfectly good parts.

[Luke Howett Fitzhugh]

Hmm, your attitude is improving, Deke! That vinegar would probably have done the trick. My only saving excuse is that they wanted to replace the whole faucet.

Now I have to live with having unnecessarily placed a walnut-sized aerator into the landfill. I don't know how I will sleep at night.

Luke

[deke]

Wanted a new faucet?

Tell them what I told my kids when they were little, "Sh** in one hand and want in the other and see which gets full fastest."

[Luke Howett Fitzhugh]

That kind of quote doesn't work so well on adults with their own money. The only way to convince them not to waste the money was to show them a solution that cost less.

Luke