Increase in DIY - there is hope for humanity?

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"B&Q owner Kingfisher has seen its half-year profits increase by more than a third, saying it was benefiting from a "renewed consumer interest" in DIY."

If the claim is correct, I sense a small amount of hope for humanity. Could the general trend of people becoming more helpless be reversing?

Or will A&E just get busier...

Reply to
Tim S
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Not so long ago, B&Q claimed they were making a pitch for the female shoppers of "fashionable home decoration" items. I haven't seen any pink screwdrivers though ...

Sorry, it's spend... spend... spend.

Could

More machines are being purchased to do manual jobs, sometimes over the top for the matter in hand and the capacity of the individual to use it safely.

{{ insert ALDI/LIDL chainsaw thread here }}

If ye have children, get 'em through medical school. They will be busy.

Reply to
Adrian C

Adrian C coughed up some electrons that declared:

That's true.

I'm trying to persuade them to be GPs - loads of money for sitting in a small comfortable room all day. OK, there are downsides - like having to look at Old Mrs Jones' interesting lumps.

Reply to
Tim S

Maybe not in B&Q but...

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Reply to
Tim Downie

I suspect the latter! Followed by lots more 'Part-P'-type legislation limiting what you can legally do without the appropriate 'qualifications'!

How do you fancy having to pass a test before you can use your angle grinder?

Reply to
Roger Mills

Don't stand between a man and his tools:

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great crowd to see live BTW.

Chris

Reply to
Chris J Dixon

Maybe connected with the rise in unemployment, giving more people who now can't afford to "get someone in" and/or no have no excuse for not rounding that toit.

Chris

Reply to
chrisj.doran

Roger Mills coughed up some electrons that declared:

Probably result in a better "success" statistic

which will then be filed in the bottom drawer like most other civil service stats...

Reply to
Tim S

snipped-for-privacy@proemail.co.uk coughed up some electrons that declared:

Honeeee!... Now you're not busy being a corporate CFO, how about that new cellar?

Sure, there's a great 12" angle grinder for 12.99 at B&Q.

Reply to
Tim S

Indeed! excellent value and how true - don't know if their boogie wonderland is on youtube but ...

N
Reply to
The Nomad

I don't think it's a case of being helpless, but more a case of being able to pay, so they do (and then using the time saved for something else).

I do far less diy than I used to, I now pay a man to do things for me that I used to do myself.

tim

Reply to
tim.....

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When our daughter moved into a shared flat, we bought her a set of tools with pink or purple handles (not the ones in your link), so that they'd be readily distinguishable from those of her male flatmates. They're very good tools, but a bit 'fluffy-looking', so less likely to be absorbed into someone else's toolbox. Turns out, not only was she the only one with any tools, she was the only one who knew how to use them, having grown up in a home where both parents actually possess practical skills.

Reply to
S Viemeister

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A great crowd to see live BTW.

Yes!

Reply to
Ian White

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How did you keep that from the National Society for the Political Correctness of Children?

Reply to
PeterC

...

I've seen all kinds of tools in pink - with every sale a donation goes towards breast cancer research. ...

I agree. I can't understand the need to buy new things all the time, just because of fashion or by being sold - sorry, persuaded - because the new model of whatever is superior to the old one even when the old one still does its job.

Mary If a chair keeps your bum off the floor you don't need a new one.

Reply to
oldhenwife

I thought we balanced things fairly well - teaching her 'boy' skills, but giving her girly-coloured tools to do it with...

Reply to
S Viemeister

clips, he was at a friend's funeral recently and had to use a stick as well as lean on his companion's arm. He read a piece from Cymbeline, his voice too was frail and faltering.

Sic transit gloria mundi ...

Mary

Reply to
oldhenwife

Yes, when one of our sons joined the RAF he was the only newbie who could iron his own shirts and press his trousers - even the girls couldn't do it. And that was 25 years ago.

Mary

Reply to
oldhenwife

...

We recently got a reputable firm in to do a job which would have taken us weeks to do. They made such a mess of it that we'll never, ever, employ anyone else again. We're still finding things which need to be re-done, many weeks afterwards. And that's without their damaging the structure of a house wall - which we insisted was rebuilt. We didn't pay the price asked but that's no compensation.

Mary

Reply to
oldhenwife

snipped-for-privacy@googlemail.com coughed up some electrons that declared:

That's been my experience with general builders - milage may vary, bizarrly even within the same job.

I've found employing single trade specialists more reliable, eg plasterer. They tend to know their art. A good generalist may be very good, but the truely good know when to admit they don't "do" specialism X Y and Z and recommend you find someone else for that bit.

Cheers

Tim

Reply to
Tim S

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