I’ve been running into some trouble here and there.  Nothing major, just normal things that tend to break every now and again.  I am of the mindset that I can do anything and I have proven this to myself thru the years.  I can install sprinklers, I can finish basements (framing, plumbing, electrical), I can work on cars.

Lately I’ve come to realize that I just don’t have the time.

In order to fix something you have to have the tools, the knowledge and the time to do it.  The clutch went out on my Honda before we left for vacation. I’ve never done a clutch before so I figured I’d give it a shot.  Saturday morning (one of the only days I get off) I woke up early and got started.  I was taking parts off and making pretty good progress.  Then I came to a point where I couldn’t reach a bolt.  It was a bolt that held the engine onto the transmission.

I tried several different approaches to get to it.  I even took the whole other side of the engine bay out, the tire, the hub and the axle.  Still just couldn’t get a good angle on it.  There just wasn’t enough room. What I needed was an impact wrench.  Well I decided that spending Saturday morning on my back under my car wrestling with a stupid bolt that I needed to spend at least $100 for the right tool to get it out with…just wasn’t worth it.  I put it back together and drove it to the shop.  Went to Puerto Rico and when I came back it was done.  Well…that was easy.

We got a call from one of our renters and the toilet is leaking a bit around the base.  ugh…WeIl I put the toilet on and because the tile had moved the toilet up about 1/2″ it has always been in the back of my mind.  I put a new wax seal on and it appeared to be working fine.

Well here comes one of those decisions.  Should I do it myself and save money?  Again I would find myself spending Saturday morning struggling with bolts, trying to figure out how to cut cast iron and run a new collar to fit with the toilet.  Since I wasn’t entirely sure how this would work out I called to get a quote.  $300 to put all new piping under the floor and seal up the toilet to the floor.  Hmmmm.   Sounds like a deal to me.

I guess I pick and choose my battles depending on what the task is.  I have a lot of work ahead of me this spring.  I need to finish up the landscaping in the back yard at another place.  I need to finish my framing job at another.  I just have too much on my plate without adding to it.  The landscaping I am 100% about the work that needs to be done.  The framing is the same, I know exactly what I need to do.  The plumbing at this older house I would spend a lot of time just researching and trying to find out what needs to be done.  Let alone finding the 1 bolt I need a special tool for.

I would rather put in some extra time at my job doing something I am good at, then under a house frustrated.  Plus we have to clean our house, go shopping, tend to our other small business, run misc errands all on my day off.  Sometimes you just can’t do everything yourself.