Do you own your things or do they own you?

[Thrillho]

Since, in general, Fight Club is a 'guy thing', and this subject name is a topic discussed heavily in this stereotypical 'guy movie'. I'm sure if the women started a 'Love Is All Around' thread, the guys could get in on it.

[leadchipmunk]

If you got a flat tire, could you change it on the roadside?

If your ceiling fan broke, could you determine if it was the ballast, a seized motor, or an bad wire connection?

Can you diagnose a dead power supply vs RAM, hard drive, or motherboard?

Can you fix a running toilet?

No, but only because my Jeep is lifted up and with oversized tires, and the stock jack isn't long enough to raise it enough. If I felt like carrying my 2 ton jack everywhere, then I would be able to. I'm not the best with the rest of a car, but can hold my own and if given enough time, could fix everything wrong with it outside of welding. It might not work the way it was originally supposed to, but it will work.

Yes, I could. I have installed one too, but never had to fix it.

I work in IT, so I have to do that on an almost daily basis.

I can, just not my own. My toilet has a counter that sits under 2 inches above the reservoir, so to get into it, I need to take the whole thing out.

As for the challenge, I do feel like taking something new apart (outside of what I need to do, and should be doing right now, at work) but I don't have anything that needs fixed.

[WizardTrip]

If you got a flat tire, could you change it on the roadside?

If your ceiling fan broke, could you determine if it was the ballast, a seized motor, or an bad wire connection?

Can you diagnose a dead power supply vs RAM, hard drive, or motherboard?

Can you fix a running toilet?

yes, yes, yes, yes

I own them! I don't like having to pay someone to fix something I can handle on my own. Here are some of the things I have / can do on my own.

Car related:

- Replace brake pads and rotors

- Replace battery

- Replace bad alternator

- Replace spark plugs / wires

- Replace belts / air filters / etc

- Change oil

- Change tires / Rotate tires

- Change out radio, speakers (install subwoofer), etc

Around the house:

- Install ceiling fans

- Install washer / dryer

- Install dishwasher (last one I did, got a little bit electrocuted...flipped off the wrong circuit breaker. That mistake will not happen again)

- Install garbage disposal

- Change out broken sewer pipes (that one wasn't fun!)

- Install better thermostat

- Mount Plasma over fireplace (not an easy task living in a high rise with aluminium studs vs wood studs)

- Paint rooms

- Install speakers by running wire through attic and in walls

- Networked my house by installing ethernet cable and ports in all rooms.

Electronics:

- Build my own computers (and made a few into hackintoshes) (even upgraded a CPU in a Mac Mini once)

- Replace an iPod 5th Gen hard drive with a 240GB drive, and replaced battery

- Replaced the back of my iPhone

- Install my own electronics (see above; Plasma, speaker system, etc)

- Fix / hack certain electronics (not great with a soldering iron, but can handle some basics)

[Waldo]

Since, in general, Fight Club is a 'guy thing', and this subject name is a topic discussed heavily in this stereotypical 'guy movie'. I'm sure if the women started a 'Love Is All Around' thread, the guys could get in on it.

Totally off topic but tangential to this post....

Baby names tend to go in fads, right now Twighlight names are all the rage. Tyler (which incidentally is my son's name) was a big time fad name about a decade ago, but it has died back a bit. I am conviced that Fight Club is the root of the Tyler fad, but my wife disagrees. But Fight Club is a very manly movie and Tyler is a very manly character in the movie.

[Rooks]

If you got a flat tire, could you change it on the roadside?

If your ceiling fan broke, could you determine if it was the ballast, a seized motor, or an bad wire connection?

Can you diagnose a dead power supply vs RAM, hard drive, or motherboard?

Can you fix a running toilet?

Yes, yes, yes, and yes.

I'm on board with your thinking. My wife and I have fixed so many things our selves. The internet is such a great resource for 90% of the crap that happens throughout the house.

I'm in the process of replacing the running gear on my 99 Ford Ranger with some 79 Bronco axles, and restoring my wife's 73 Super Beetle. Love working with tools.

[Lizifer]

Funnily enough, Tyler is one of my personal (psychotic) heroes, and I regularly remind myself that I am not my khakis (literally, actually, since I kinda don't mind wearing 'em).

Yes, no, kinda, yes. The motor one, I leave to The Manflesh, 'cos motors are his things. Other than that, I have a 'village' of friends and specialists - we all have our skillsets and share freely amongst one another (one might sew, another welds, one does textile work, someone is a car specialist, and so on). I may not know it, but I have resources to get 'er done.

[Kyzel]

If you got a flat tire, could you change it on the roadside?

- Yes, my father made sure I was able to do that before I even got my driver's license

If your ceiling fan broke, could you determine if it was the ballast, a seized motor, or an bad wire connection?

- Haven't had one die on me, but I think I probably could.

Can you diagnose a dead power supply vs RAM, hard drive, or motherboard?

- Absolutely! Been putting together my own computers since I was 10, which meant I was the to-go "tech" whenever somebody in the family or friends had computer problems.

Can you fix a running toilet?

- Yes.

My husband has the "consumerist" mentality that reminds me of Brave New World's "ending is better than mending," so I'm usually the one who fixes stuff (or tries to), he'd just rather buy a new one than bother. I'm more frugal and I like challenges I guess

[Ryan Sannar]

Whenever I have a problem I just punch it in the face!

But in all reality, eagle scout, I have to know how to do this stuff.

Besides tinkering is fun.

Taking up blacksmithry next.

[leadchipmunk]

Taking up blacksmithry next.

Got a friend that plays around with blacksmithing, he loves it. Goes to a few blacksmith festivals a year too.

[Red1263]

Whenever I have a problem I just punch it in the face!

Take THAT Nail!

Take THAT unclean room!

Take THAT Pile of used needles....... uh oh...

[Georges]

Goes to a few blacksmith festivals a year too.

I did not know that there was such a thing.

/floored

[Oogiem]

You know what I've always wanted to learn to do? Weld. My grandfather was a blacksmith back in the old days and then a welder when he moved to North America. I've always admired metal work. Where the heck would I learn this though?

I can do a tolerable stick weld but hubby can do all sorts of welding and also has a plasma cutter. Locally there is a community college that holds classes. Also, go to any welding supply shop and they will often run classes to teach you. Or failing that contact the local FFA and talk to their metalworking project teachers. If you want to learn there are lots of places that will teach you.

[Oogiem]

And on a more general note, I was also looking at this form a philosophy perspective. While I'm not very good with cars or electronic hardware I can do things like field dress deer, produce clothing from scratch and other important life skills.

I think the bigger issue is whether you own the things you have and use them in a way that provides you with both necessities and pleasure or whether you buy things just to have them with no mindfulness about them and their use. Kinda hard to explain but I don't see a problem with buying the latest greatest stuff if it is necessary for you or gives you great pleasure but buying it just because someone else is without acknowledging that it's a choice is bad.

[shortstuff]

So I can't do any of those things, but I do know how to change a tire, if I ever had to (I just haven't needed to), I know how to get the tube out of a push / motor bike, patch up a hole, and put the tube back in, I know how to check the air pressure of tires, the oil in my car, and how to and where to fill up the oil (just don't ask what kind of oil I need becuase I will just say car oil) if need, how to check the spark plug of a motorbike to see if it needs cleaning, and how to pull the (what we call) little motorbike apart, just not too sure how to put it back together.

Those things might be on the basic side of things, but being a 19 year old girl, caring more about if it's running/working/useable, and more often than not getting dad to fix it if needed, I think I'm not doing too badly

[silverpeacock]

I don't care if it is a mans topic or not... Yes (I taught 2 boyfriends how to change tires), probably, no, and yes (apartment maintenance is useless, so I fix everything myself here)

Mum also taught me to wire speakers, Dad taught me how to use powertools (not to mention that I was the best in my department with them). I refuse to throw anything that isn't completely dead away, because I am fairly sure that I can fix it... I'm also a silversmith. I can solder (with a torch, not a soldering iron) with the best of them.

[Sambalina]

I'm pleased to see so many capable people on NF!

I like to fix things too. I'd always hang out with my dad when he had to fix things to see how it was done. Now that I live in a different hemisphere, I just google the problem and learn how to fix it.

Dripping tap? Fixed!

Blocked drain? Fixed!

Stuck lock? Fixed!

Running toilet? Fixed!

I've always been the only girl I know with a tool bag/set (haha, thanks to my mum for that - Christmas present ).

I do like a capable man, but I want them to show me how to do it too!

[azsf]

i had a good bit of fun figuring out how toilets work last year, and then fixing that. can change a car tyre, but that's about it for mechanics. i built my last desktop, but i suck at diagnosing hardware issues (and don't have any other systems to swap out parts with atm). i've installed power sockets and made internet cables tho. so yeh, win some lose some

while it's definitely good to be able to fix and repair your appliances, one thing to remember is that for a lot of people it's actually illegal to go tampering with the utilities in their house. i lived in a large apartment complex last year, and besides the switch box and changing lightbulbs you cannot mess around with the electrical systems. basically because you'd be screwing around with 36 or so other units systems at the same time. same thing applied to most of the plumbing. even a regular rental will take issue if you start putting a nail in the wall to hang some art, let alone busting through a wall to work on the pipes.

[67alecto]

while it's definitely good to be able to fix and repair your appliances, one thing to remember is that for a lot of people it's actually illegal to go tampering with the utilities in their house. i lived in a large apartment complex last year, and besides the switch box and changing lightbulbs you cannot mess around with the electrical systems. basically because you'd be screwing around with 36 or so other units systems at the same time. same thing applied to most of the plumbing. even a regular rental will take issue if you start putting a nail in the wall to hang some art, let alone busting through a wall to work on the pipes.

Well, you definitely don't own the things if you're renting an apartment...

[Manicman]

I don't like depending on other people at all. Because either when you need them they're not there or they screw it up. (Yeah I've got trust issues)

On the other side I love learning new things. I make it a point to learn something new each day. Previously I've worked general contracting, plumbing and electrical so home repair is a non-issue. My dad never even bothered to teach me how to change my own oil. Learned how to do that but wanted to do more with a car. So I actually bought a project car, next thing I know I'm rebuilding the engine in the driveway, build an ECU from scratch (the computer that runs the engine), turbo it and make it into a drag car.

Got bored a few months back and now have a business selling home-made soap.

[The Barefoot Ninja]

I live by the motto of "If I don't know how to fix it, you're damn sure I'll figure it out". That's how I fixed my dryer, my dishwasher, my ceiling fan, my air conditioner, my computer, and most recently (as in today) how to replace the alternator on my truck. I get very frustrated with people who say "I don't know how" when the information is widely available (Hello, Interwebz!), or "I can't", when they've never even tried. I flat out refuse to help anyone who says, "Can't you just do it for me?". Call me whatever you want, but I don't do handouts.

[WarriorAmy]

I can TOTALLY change my own tyre. I can even stay fairly clean while doing it.

[Artinum]

I love to have a go at fixing anything, but I will exercise caution for electrical stuff and extreme caution if it involves both electricity and water. Then I'd rather get a professional.

[Laney]

So big question here is why is this a men's only topic?

True story. There are very few pieces of technology in my apartment that I would not take apart. Limited to my nook and my phone (warranty reasons). I know how to change my oil, headlights, and basic car things. I'm a level 75 tailor, but I have an apartment so I can't kick down any walls like I want to...

[Evicious]

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[cob]

Does weapon maintenance count? I can take apart all my airsoft/laser tag guns and reassemble them as well as my knives and Shinai (bamboo sword). I can pretty well take apart and reassemble a computer. I've built a couple in my day and I replace parts on mine but, That also means I have no warranty, as you mentioned.

Guitar Electronics I installed myself. Now, th answer your four questions

Yes, with ease

The what now?

Yes

sometimes... pretty sure it's random that my toilet knowledge happens to address the problem.