A Reality Check

A statement of Ignorance ?

I'm sixty this year, I spend time wondering how I arrived at this age so quickly, and why I haven't yet learned a fraction of what I'd like to know. I'm always the student, and never quite the teacher I'd like to be.

Everything is a snapshot in time, and this page is likely the same. This morning, I am thinking that all man kind can be divided into two groups, one believes in the free lunch, and the other group knows that someone, somewhere has to pay for that lunch. The later group knows the person who ate the lunch will likely pay a price for that lunch sooner or later, and it may be a high price in deed.

If we study these two groups closely, I think we find that the bulk of the DIYers fall mostly into one group. I think there are other traits that >often< follow these two  groups, and we know there is always exceptions, so we speak of trends here, not individuals.

Now you might be asking, what's this picture above all about? I might answer it is all about why I target DIYers as my audience, but.. it is also why most of my friends and ALL of my associates are DIYers, there are other traits these people often Possess.

Above is a picture of a taper lock bushing with a GIB key driven into it. For those who take even a moment to study how a taper lock works and how it is made, we note that the key way cut into both sides of the taper lock are parallel, this allows us to fit a common key so the taper lock is allowed to travel. If we drive a GIB key into this straight cut slot, we create some serious troubles for ourselves, as the GIB has it's own taper. The new DIYer confronted with something he doesn't understand will use his critical thinking skills, and he is never quite confident he >fully< understands what's going on, he'll research, he'll ask his friends, he'll network. The non DIYer will sometimes reach for his largest hammer, after all, how hard could it be? He'll attempt to beat the part into submission. If it doesn't work perfectly when he is done, then it will likely be someone else at fault.

Some of the excuses? You should have told me that a square peg should not be pounded into a round hole! Why didn't you include the common sense in the kit you sold me, so I could put this Generator set together properly?

Yes! this picture is worth all of 10,000 words and demonstrates a lack of understanding of simple mechanical principles, it also tells of a lack of effort to understand what is going on before proceeding. We all should be thankful that this was not part of the steering system on a transit bus, BUT it is part of a generator with high mass flywheels, and these relics of the past are the same as munitions in the wrong hands!

This way of thinking has little to do with intelligence, I think it is more philosophy, and a lack of critical thinking. Similar decisions are made in board rooms of corporations,  some of these people in power who have never had a bit of grease or oil on their hands ask, "how hard could it be?". It reminds me of the way some people view mechanical engineers, to them, it's just another grease monkey, who needs them?

I have a page that highlights a few products I consider disasters, had they even asked one DIYer, or added one person with a little life experience to the design team, the product would have been far different, (my opinion of course).

   In conclusion, there are public forums out there where all kinds of people post, some make reference to their Vendors as the source of all their problems, and there are those people in public forums who will only fan the fires of controversy. In some of these forums, any effort to point out the errors in a person's posts is unwelcome, and even frowned upon, we all need to be responsible and do our own 'due diligence' to separate the wheat from the chaff.

God, thank you for the DIYers in my life, they make good friends, customers and associates, they take responsibility for their own actions, and most understand their limitations. It is a sad note that DIYers are a dying breed, we don't know what the future holds, cheap energy is likely one of the reasons we live in a throw away society, if energy prices escalate, it may have an impact on product design, it may bring back more durable goods designed to last and to be rebuilt, and it may encourage the current generation and future generations to know the difference between a wrench and a screw driver? Present day DIYers have always known, you can have time or money, but seldom both, they do their own brake jobs on the family auto so they can afford something else, it's one of the reasons we became DIYers, maybe our numbers will grow?

George B.       

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