Don't laugh......

[Kathy Ellen]

Seriously, I would have been the best "handywoman" alive if only I listened to my Dad...........except he drove us kidlets crazy. He had little education growing up in poverty in Donegal, Ireland, but he was a genius....This man knew how to fix and figure out anything to do from building ships, bridges, tunnels and building houses.



But, of course, I was the little brat so disinterested in learning about wiring a home, paving a driveway, building a fireplace, yada...yada....yada....



But somewhere in that little, secret room in the back of my brain some memories still linger there.......Everytime I say I can't fix something, I think about how my Dad would solve the problem...it works many times for me.



There's a picture of my Dad when he was a parade marshall leading the Donegal parade years ago at the bottom of the post. You can click a few times on the pic to make it bigger.



I am just so tired dealing with mega stores like Lowes and Home Depot and trying to figure out how to order products without sounding stupid....



I was so upset today as I feel that I've wasted 2 weeks trying to order products for my home.....window, medicine cabinet, double kitchen sink....simple things....The clerks ignore my presence at the counter and talk down to me.



I put a stop to that today and asserted myself big time. The store had called and told me that the labor would cost $99 for my window. When I arrived to pay and order the window, the price for the installation was $400. Needless to say I was dumfounded:eek: I was calm, told them off, cancelled my other orders and made a complaint to management saying that they've lost me as a customer. Upon arrival home, the store called full of apologies and are installing the window for free...I was happy;)



So, don't laugh, but I've decided to learn how to do some easy stuff myself like change the old door knobs and plates and towel racks. So I took measurements and pictures of everything I'm replacing, unscrewed all door knobs and plates, and painted some doors.



I even bought a drill...now I have to learn how to use it. I think Sears has night lessons on how to use tools that I will look into. Wish me luck on my journey:yh_rotfl I'm gonna need it;):D I will move on to bigger things....



Well...Here's some of the stuff I'll be trying to install plus my towel racks and my pampered toe stuff so my toenails look pretty.



As the Flopster always says.....you have to have some girly stuff:p

[Oscar Namechange]

What a fantastic pic of your dad kathy. He looks so proud and I bet you were proud of him big time?

I know what you mean.... I some-times ask myself what my dad would do or what he would say and then I remember him always telling me to stand up for what I believe in and have no regrets. I've remembered that so much in my life along with another saying of his 'better to be a good runner up than a coward'.

I'm so pleased your getting there with the house Kathy. I know how hard it is. My house was a tip two years ago and pete was so frustrated recovering from cancer and radical open surgery. When we had the new patio laid, he was so frustrated at having to pay all that money to a firm when he could have done it himself in two days.

Be wary though kathy. I had a long career in sales and know the tricks of the trade in home improvement. Always tell them you have 2 other quotes or you have seen another product in another store at a lower price. They should always come down a bit for you.

Keep us up-dated won't you? :-6

[Odie]

as Oscar said what a fantastic picture of you dad!



doing things on our own is not easy and it takes time to learn.

good luck on your projects!

hey, if I can do things now, so can you!:guitarist:guitarist

[Nomad]

Kathy Ellen;1225334 wrote: Seriously, I would have been the best "handywoman" alive if only I listened to my Dad...........except he drove us kidlets crazy. He had little education growing up in poverty in Donegal, Ireland, but he was a genius....This man knew how to fix and figure out anything to do from building ships, bridges, tunnels and building houses.



But, of course, I was the little brat so disinterested in learning about wiring a home, paving a driveway, building a fireplace, yada...yada....yada....



But somewhere in that little, secret room in the back of my brain some memories still linger there.......Everytime I say I can't fix something, I think about how my Dad would solve the problem...it works many times for me.



There's a picture of my Dad when he was a parade marshall leading the Donegal parade years ago at the bottom of the post. You can click a few times on the pic to make it bigger.



I am just so tired dealing with mega stores like Lowes and Home Depot and trying to figure out how to order products without sounding stupid....



I was so upset today as I feel that I've wasted 2 weeks trying to order products for my home.....window, medicine cabinet, double kitchen sink....simple things....The clerks ignore my presence at the counter and talk down to me.



I put a stop to that today and asserted myself big time. The store had called and told me that the labor would cost $99 for my window. When I arrived to pay and order the window, the price for the installation was $400. Needless to say I was dumfounded:eek: I was calm, told them off, cancelled my other orders and made a complaint to management saying that they've lost me as a customer. Upon arrival home, the store called full of apologies and are installing the window for free...I was happy;)



So, don't laugh, but I've decided to learn how to do some easy stuff myself like change the old door knobs and plates and towel racks. So I took measurements and pictures of everything I'm replacing, unscrewed all door knobs and plates, and painted some doors.



I even bought a drill...now I have to learn how to use it. I think Sears has night lessons on how to use tools that I will look into. Wish me luck on my journey:yh_rotfl I'm gonna need it;):D I will move on to bigger things....



Well...Here's some of the stuff I'll be trying to install plus my towel racks and my pampered toe stuff so my toenails look pretty.



As the Flopster always says.....you have to have some girly stuff:p




Home Depot frequently offers classes free of charge on many household projects. I believe you can even look online to find out what your nearest store is offering.

[Sunshine]

Love the photo of your Dad Kathy. Quite a handsome fellow.

Good luck on all your projects. I have had to learn to do many things here myself as well. I get a lot of help with just using on line instructions and some things that my husband taught me. He did most of the fix it projects but had me help so I could learn too. I am so thankful for that now.

[cars]

Nice pix of your proud Dad KE, he did the parade proud too!



Nomad is right, the Depot does have free "how to" classes for it's customers. You might also look "on line" for info for a project you're going to tackle. Usually you can find step by step illustrated instructions. Or maybe even invest in a DIY illustrated handyman's book. (will pay for itself)

Well, anyway good luck, and you'll do just fine, cause you have a desire to "do it yourself" attitude, & that's more then half the battle to start with!

[fuzzywuzzy]

Kathy Ellen;1225334 wrote: Seriously, I would have been the best "handywoman" alive if only I listened to my Dad...........except he drove us kidlets crazy. He had little education growing up in poverty in Donegal, Ireland, but he was a genius....This man knew how to fix and figure out anything to do from building ships, bridges, tunnels and building houses.



But, of course, I was the little brat so disinterested in learning about wiring a home, paving a driveway, building a fireplace, yada...yada....yada....



But somewhere in that little, secret room in the back of my brain some memories still linger there.......Everytime I say I can't fix something, I think about how my Dad would solve the problem...it works many times for me.



There's a picture of my Dad when he was a parade marshall leading the Donegal parade years ago at the bottom of the post. You can click a few times on the pic to make it bigger.



I am just so tired dealing with mega stores like Lowes and Home Depot and trying to figure out how to order products without sounding stupid....



I was so upset today as I feel that I've wasted 2 weeks trying to order products for my home.....window, medicine cabinet, double kitchen sink....simple things....The clerks ignore my presence at the counter and talk down to me.



I put a stop to that today and asserted myself big time. The store had called and told me that the labor would cost $99 for my window. When I arrived to pay and order the window, the price for the installation was $400. Needless to say I was dumfounded:eek: I was calm, told them off, cancelled my other orders and made a complaint to management saying that they've lost me as a customer. Upon arrival home, the store called full of apologies and are installing the window for free...I was happy;)



So, don't laugh, but I've decided to learn how to do some easy stuff myself like change the old door knobs and plates and towel racks. So I took measurements and pictures of everything I'm replacing, unscrewed all door knobs and plates, and painted some doors.



I even bought a drill...now I have to learn how to use it. I think Sears has night lessons on how to use tools that I will look into. Wish me luck on my journey:yh_rotfl I'm gonna need it;):D I will move on to bigger things....



Well...Here's some of the stuff I'll be trying to install plus my towel racks and my pampered toe stuff so my toenails look pretty.



As the Flopster always says.....you have to have some girly stuff:p


awwwhhh Kathy I knew we'd be kindred spirits one day. You'll eventually find it's really easy .

[Hugh Janus]

Have a look at this site. It's pretty good and you may find it helpful.

diy help, hints and tips from Ultimate Handyman

On a slight twist to females doing thing things for themselves. I once gave my mother a key remover, "a natty little thing to pull the keys from your keyboard, so you can clean them." I received a rather frantic phone call a few days later. "I need your help. I used that key remover to pull the keys off so I could wash them, trouble is, I pulled them all off and now I don't know where they fit back onto the keyboard!" I suppose it was my fault really. I should have told her to just do them one by one...:-5