Our Hometown Contribution to the Jobs Program

[MineralMan]

We had a big power outage here a couple of weeks ago. During the outage, I went to the garage to get out my generator. So, I pulled the garage door opener release to let me raise the door manually. Well, that was the end of my garage door. It has been on its last legs for some time, but I've kept it working. So, when I raised the door, one of the cables from the drum for the torsion spring broke. I had fixed that same cable a couple of years ago, in the middle of Winter, and noticed a number of other problems with it.

Last straws being last straws, I made a call to a well-reviewed local garage door company. The new door was installed today. The job that would have taken me at least all day to do was done in a couple of hours, and with no skinned knuckles on my part. So, there's a new, white, American-made steel garage door in place now, installed by local workers. It's much quieter, looks far better than my old rotting wooden one, and should be around for many years to come. The total cost was less than I expected, too.

It's a small contribution, but a contribution nevertheless.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Sometimes it makes the most sense to hire somebody to do such things.

In my case that's almost always true because I am old, creaky, not handy, and capable of only the simplest repairs although I have lots and lots of tools, including a table saw that frightens me. Since my house is 132 years old there's always something that needs fixing or replacing, so I do contribute to the local economy in my own small way. Next up: floor refinishing if the estimate doesn't come in too high. Then I need a new stove hood and fence repairs. And no doubt something else will come up...

[MineralMan]

3. In my younger years, I always did such jobs myself.

I have the skills and the tools. However, after installing 100+ feet of chain link fence by myself, I decided that I'd make that my last big DIY project. Garage doors are not difficult to install, but they're fiddly and awkward for a one-person job. The torsion spring part is potentially a little dangerous, if you don't follow the correct procedures.

However, for this old geezer, it would have taken all day to do, and I'd still have to dispose of the heavy old garage door panels, and that's a challenge when all you have is a couple of compact cars. Hiring someone to do all of that just made a lot of sense to me for this job.

There are many jobs I have done, like re-roofing a house, that I would not even think about doing at my age now. I know how to do them. I'm probably capable of doing them, still, but I'm not going to risk it any longer. Let the young guys do it. I'm happy to pay them their wages, along with some profit for the company that employs them.

I've built a house from the ground up, all by myself, so I know all of the skills and techniques. I just don't feel like doing it any more. I don't work on my own cars any longer, either. I'm done with that stuff, I think.

[Wellstone ruled]

2. Most likely made in Chaska.

What a difference,easy to close manually. Never have to paint. And your Dollars will turn seven times after today.

[MineralMan]

4. Probably. It's hooked up to the old opener, but if I need

to open it manually, it will be lots easier. And you're right. Every dollar you spend on something like that moves through the community very quickly. Looks a lot better, too. It's all good.

[Wellstone ruled]

5. Face it,that old wooden one weighed a ton.

Hopefully your Autos did not take a hit when the Cable let go. We had to have the Hood fixed on our truck when ours let go.

[MineralMan]

6. No car damage. Right now, there's no room for a car.

Some of my wife's late mother's stuff is in there, waiting to be gone through. We'll have cars back in there by Winter.

[Wellstone ruled]

7. Aw Gee.

We had the Minnesota over sized Garage for that 24x40.