HOW TO BE A MAN

HANDY TIP #8

2009-03-04T18:32:00.000-08:00

Don't waste your time while painting.

I hate edging and it will stop me from painting for years so instead of spending time wrapping tape around door frames and windows, I bought this little number at the hardware store.

- Adjustable guide wheels for fast, clean trimming
- For clean, sharp trim lines on walls, ceilings, doors, windows and mouldings USES:
- Painting interior and exterior window sash and storm sash, trimming, ceiling lines, baseboards, door frames, window frames and mouldings

HANDY TIP #7 - Clogged Toilets

2009-02-13T09:27:00.000-08:00

How to unclog a backed up up toilet.

First, some tips:
- Rubber or some sort of glove are recommended.
- Don't attempt with your best towels on the floor beside the toilet.
- DO NOT pour Drain-O or any other drain de-clogger into the watery mess, it will foam up and become even more disgusting.
- Prevention is key to avoiding a backed up toilet. Watch what you flush

1) Stop flushing the thing! It WILL overflow!
2) Buy a plunger
3) Stick the plunger in the grossness, aligning the suctiony part to the hole that the water goes into.
4) Push, SLOWLY down.
5) SLOWLY pull the plunger away from the hole, not coming out of the watery goop all the way.
6) Listen as the gunk releases, (sounds like a dog throwing up).
7) Repeat steps 3 to 6 until the water starts to move into the whole.
8) The grossness will probably drain into the hole. Say bye-bye!
9) If this does not work and you start to get vigorous with your pumping, call a plumber. You may have an "It".

HANDY TIP #6 - Changing Seasonal Tires

2009-01-30T16:35:00.000-08:00

OK, here's a good money saving manly tip:

If you have a second set of tires for winter driving, I suggest getting another set of rims (start calling Rec yards for 2nd hand ones - I got mine for $20 each. They don't have to be pretty because they'll be covered in snow and mud in the winter - plus you can always paint them). This way, you can take the rims and the tires to a shop and get the rubber put on once (about $65-ish) and you're done. When the seasons change and you want to swap tires, you can remove and add the other set yourself.

Each time I went to get my summer swapped for winter rubber and visa versa, I was paying about $70. That's twice/yr because you need to swap tires twice. Now, I just jack up my truck (if you're really lucky, you have a neighbor who has a hydrolic-lift) and change the tires myself, saving roughly $140.

PS-make sure you have the e-brake on AND blocks behind the two tires on the ground.

HANDY TIP #5 - Tool Buying

2009-01-25T15:33:00.000-08:00

A handy site for help in tool-buying...

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/powertoolprimer

HANDY TIP #4 - Save heat in your house

2009-01-25T15:25:00.000-08:00

Save the heat in your house...

1. Clear-caulk (any hardware store - $10) along the trim of all windows and doors. There are, in some cases, some pretty good gaps from where the trim meets the wall, letting air in.

2. Cover all windows with plastic window wrap (any hardware store - $30). HUGE difference. In the spring, peel the plastic wrap carefully off the windows and fold it for re-use next year. Label which window it goes on; this saves plastic, saves time (re-measuring every year) and saves $$$.

READER COMMENT

2009-01-25T15:14:00.000-08:00

I do not own any power tools. Or any tools other than a pair of scissors, a multibit screw driver, and some sort of tape. I still manage to fix things on my own. Real women fix things with their bare hands! Haha! Rrarr!

And ladies, don't feel bad if you don't know the names of tools either. Just because you don't know what that do-hickey with the thing-a-majig is, doesn't mean you can't figure it out and get the job done. I have fixed things like; a dishwasher, a lawnmower and a large closet door without knowing the names of parts or the tools required to fix them. Just get 'er dun!

PS - it is, however, beneficial to know the basic parts of a car. Mainly to avoid being screwed at the auto repair shop.

READER COMMENT

2009-01-23T21:00:00.000-08:00

A little tidbit for those of us who love stuff from IKEA...you DO NOT need a man to put these items together. I managed to put together a double sized dresser with 6 rolling drawers all on my own. P.S. You will probably get it put together properly on the first try and much faster as we tend to read those white pages called "instructions".

READER COMMENT

2009-01-22T16:07:00.000-08:00

I too own more tools than my man! It is partly due to the nature of my business, and partly due to my love of tools...I'm sure you can imagine the looks I get at tool stores that are typically crawling with men....I think it is a cross between lust, jealousy and confusion!

HANDY TIP #3 Chicken Harvesting

2009-01-22T11:36:00.000-08:00

CHICKEN HARVESTING

I can tell ya how to "harvest" a chicken, however, historically, that may have been the woman's job! Still... and I'm trying to learn a little electrical... cos I want the chicken house to be wired... by solar. Kind of a chicken theme here! Huge learning curve coming my way... and yeah, I know, I need a profile picture!!!

If you're looking to have chickens in town - within city limits... here's a site on how to do it!!! Check out "thecitychicken.com" ENJOY!!!

READER COMMENT

2009-01-22T11:29:00.001-08:00

It isn't much but Home Depot sells a book called "Home Improvement 1-2-3", which as long as you can read, you have pretty much eliminated the need to rely on a man. :)

HANDY TIP #2 Change Your Own Oil

2009-01-22T11:26:00.000-08:00

CHANGE YOUR OWN OIL!

It's extremely easy, it's one little old bolt girls!!! Oil pan can be found under the engine, it's the biggish pan like thing, and has one bolt on it. Get your oil pan (best to use one as it's wide and catches the mess, otherwise you might get messy), get a wrench and get rid of the bolt. It will take awhile to drain, giving you time for a coffee, get back under the vehicle... wipe off the bolt (don't want dirty oil to contaminate the clean oil) and put it back in. Your oil filter only needs to be done every other oil change... it's pretty easy on 'american' auto's, but trickier on imports (you'll likely need a special tool for those - but tools are fun)... then pour in the new oil! For a V6, you'll want 2 jugs of oil, for a V8 you'll need the big jug...

Have fun! And I've found that men like the smell of oil on a woman!!!

PS -Should also mention... get a Haynes manual for your truck.... takes you through step by step.

Another incredibly easy thing to do is change your fuel filter.... if you're going through too much gas and can't figure why - change your fuel filter, for me this was two bolts - a bit stinkier than oil, but HUGE money savings here....

Other things I've fixed is the shocks (relatively easy), oxygen sensors (not as much, but still worth it), changed the rad fluid (easy, easy), and truly 'grease your own nipples' - yes, sounds weird but will keep your vehicle in better shape and lubed up so larger problems don't arise....

HANDY TIP #1 Leaky Toilets

2009-01-21T11:10:00.000-08:00

GOT A LEAKY TOILET?

After my pipes froze this winter, I know more about my plumbing than I ever wanted to.

Leaky toilets can waste up too 500 gallons of water A DAY in extreme cases. Not only that, but in my case, the water was dripping into my pipes which caused water to slowly build up. When we had that real cold spell, it all froze along with everything else flushing down.

WANNA AVOID THIS?
I paid a plumber to come in and do one simple thing: change the Flapper. The Flapper is the rubber 'plug' that flips up when you flush and flops back down when the flushing's done and the toilet's filling up. if the flapper is warped by age or catches on the chain or has a bad seal, it will allow access water to drip through, therefore causing your toilet to think it's emptying and start filling up again. Hence the constant 'running' toilet.

Try this first. Changing the flapper is super easy and a cheap option I wish I would have known about before paying $84 to the plumber!

Fell free to write if I haven't explained this properly.