One reason repair/maintenance/DIY home handyman stuff is such a yakshave is that you have to deal with vast amounts of reality detail for even the smallest, cheapest things, which is why unless you have other motives, it is almost always radically cheaper to replace than repair.
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And this includes replacing an abstraction level above repair level (ie, you replace the whole rather than the part)... the effective cost difference is so radical, that it's cheaper to replace a $100 thing for a $1 broken part, rather than replace the part, let alone repair it
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Like, this apparently simple repair job of what's probably a $0.50 wholesale part of a whole worth like $100 had me scrounging around for a clamp, looking up superglue drying times, spend 20 minutes doing a tiny jigsaw puzzle...
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...and it's possibly still not enough. What I've done so far is within what I already know. and now it looks like I'll have to learn about nylon thread weights, how to tie a whipping knot, bobbins, possibly how to apply epoxy/lacquer... none of which I've done before.
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Venkatesh Rao Retweeted Venkatesh Rao
Repair I'm talking abouthttps://twitter.com/vgr/status/1295088861077331968 …
Venkatesh Rao added,
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So far, I've spent $0, 1 hour, and learned nothing. But if I do the whole thing
@DavidRalin suggests in the replies to make it a solid fix, I'll probably end up spending $20, and 2 hours more. In the process I'll acquire a new skill, and $18 worth of inventory for future repairs.1 reply 0 retweets 12 likesShow this thread -
Plan B would be to play phone tag with the manufacturer for an hour, and maybe pay $6 to get just the part. I'd learn the much less valuable lesson of how good a company's customer service is. Plan C would be to replace the whole thing. A 2 minute, $100 task.
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Incredibly, the incentives are radically stacked to make that last option the financially rational one unless you're extremely cash poor/time rich by US standards.
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Almost all my home repair/diy attempts stall out at "right idea, wrong materials/tools" and a choice between Plan C (replace the thing) and Plan A (more yakshave than I have time for and accumulate more skills/inventory than I want to)
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