Are you always looking for something to do around the house? Well, I am. Sometimes my wife tells me that I almost want something to break down, so I can fix it. My father was a handyman, he still is by the way. I watched him repair every single appliance we had at home. From toasters to blenders, to refrigerators and washing machines, my dad could do it all.
He was well-known in the neighborhood for that and the neighbors would knock on the door every now and then to bring him his projects. My dad didn’t care if it was a radio or even something more complicated than that. The only thing that he didn’t try to repair were computers. Computers were just starting at the time and not many people had one.
They were still the novelty, so none of them were breaking down yet. As soon as people started having problems with their computers, that’s when they would call me. I learned to repair computers pretty much the same way that he did many appliances, just by trying. The only difference is that at the time, my father had already majored in electronic engineering and I had not.
He encouraged me to try any project I felt like. “Never feel that any project is bigger than you, son. If you don’t know how to fix it now, you only need to learn how to.” So, I took that head-on mentality that my father had and learned to tweak computers in many ways. I found that for some reason, I felt quite comfortable with repairing computers.
At times, it was just a software issue. Actually, that was the problem most of the time. But other times the neighbors wanted to upgrade their computer, or they needed to learn to use a spreadsheet or a word processor (remember, we are talking about back in the day). Two generations were just in that technology transition between the electronic typewriter and today’s computer and I was in the middle of it.
We also did quite a lot of work on the family cars. There was always maintenance to be done or something to be tweaked. I learned many things that would come in handy with a classic car, not with today’s vehicles where everything is controlled by a central computer. I also helped some of my friends with their projects and we got to do some very interesting things.
When I saw what a couple did with an old truck they bought, I was blown away. They completely repurposed the interior and turned it into a fully-purposed home. It has everything you could need and it’s right there in the middle of the country with all the wildlife. Check out this wonderful project. I think the only thing they need is Internet access!
https://youtu.be/HxnDe-50pi0
