HANDY MANNY

My mother was a great exemplar to her children. I remember when I was younger, or when she was younger she used to climb the roof of the house to patch a leak, or repair the TV or radio when it's faulty, or cement a broken pavement, ...We rarely got someone to do it. So when I got my apartment I bought me a Black and Decker's Drill set! So I fixed all our window railings, shelves for the bathroom, and hung up all the pictures and frames! It was definitely cost savings, but also a good feeling that you got it done yourself. My husband though thrifty and macho in all ways for some reason does not seem to be part of this. His idea of DIY is when we purchase the DIY furnitures he fixes them (sigh...). One of our kitchen tap has been leaking. So I went to the hardware shop and the friendly guy at the shop gave me a tutorial on how to do the whole works, from cutting the pipe, the glue, the extension and then to replace it with a new tap head. Okay it may sound difficult, but actually with some guidance and also with some commonsense..Wallah we fixed it. Yes I mentioned 'We' because I forced hubby into it. And guess what in 1/2 hour it is fixed. And guess how much the plumber asked me for it? Not including the price of the materials (about RM60 in total, for the tap(this depends china, malaysia or italy made; never get china made or else you have to do it all over again in a month, the tape, the glue, the flexi rod, and some small valve), and RM80 for workmanship or he can give small discount and charge me RM60! Can you believe that? Meaning we would have spent about RM140 - RM160 for this work and we did it with only RM60, and the better part of it is we learnt how to do it and able to use the skill again.So next time you have a leak or a need for a fix, go to the friendly hardware shop and find out on how to DIY or call me and I will do it...for lesser then what the plumber will charge. With cost of living increasing these skills will come in truly handy.