Tree talk reminds me of the time we had a huge triple-trunked red oak fall after a bunch of rain and wind. Hurricane Isabel, IIRC. Anyway, it was laying into my backyard from my neighbors. The trunks were aligned vertically such that the topmost trunk's leafy canopy still extended maybe 25 feet in the air. After some deliberation and beer, the saws were fueled and the thing came down in pieces. We had lots of help. Probably lucky no one died.
A lot of stuff.
I have money. I don't have time. For a lot of things, it isn't worth my time to save the money. Oil changes get farmed out. Anything related to a drum brake gets farmed out. Since I rent I don't touch a thing in the house.
Cooking? I love to cook, so I cook a lot more than most people I know. I still eat out too much, but that is mostly due to the break-even for eating in vs. eating out is near where we are anyways--when we buy in small enough quantities for things to not go bad, we're paying enough that it isn't the savings it is for a family of 5. And yes, I eat left overs. So my eating habits aren't all that GRM.
When I moved, I loaded a Uhaul, drove it to my apartment, and paid movers $400 to schlep the stuff up 2 flights of stairs, around 2 180 corners (one on the stairs), and around a 90 corner, on the stairs. Worth. Every. Penny. Will do that exact thing again when we move again.
I do buy a LOT of stuff used off of craigslist though.
A few hours ago, I started refinishing a badly curb rashed wheel.
Then I decided to send it off to one of those places that refinishes alloy wheels because I knew that I'd have to order matching paint and that it would be expensive.
Then I ordered a nice used wheel off eBay for $83.
Loading and unloading moving trucks. I will never do it again. I rent the trucks and hire labor at both ends. The last move was $400 for both ends ($280 unload in DC and $120 load in Louisiana, Penske rental truck and U-Haul website for the labor, I just can't seem to beat U-Haul labor prices.) I could have done it completely hands off for about $300 more (called one of those moving companies, most were $1k+ too expensive but I had one that kept trying. If I only had 1 car to move instead of 2 I would have done it in a heart beat.)
Flight Service wrote: Loading and unloading moving trucks. I will never do it again. I rent the trucks and hire labor at both ends. The last move was $400 for both ends ($280 unload in DC and $120 load in Louisiana, Penske rental truck and U-Haul website for the labor, I just can't seem to beat U-Haul labor prices.) I could have done it completely hands off for about $300 more (called one of those moving companies, most were $1k+ too expensive but I had one that kept trying. If I only had 1 car to move instead of 2 I would have done it in a heart beat.)
Oh hell yes. When I was in my 20s, among my circle of friends, one of us seemed to move every year or so, and we'd all pitch in and help. Then about 5 years ago I helped a friend who was getting divorced move out of his house and into an apartment. Never again. I will gladly write a check for all future moves rather than subject my body to that punishment again.
It's taken me a while to gain the knowledge and lose the ego that had me trying to cut every nickel and do everything myself. These days, though, count me in the group that goes for maximum benefit for the cost. There are plenty of things I lack the skills to do quickly and well, and I pay people to do those. There are things I can do well, slowly, that I enjoy the satisfaction of performing myself and I do those. There are things that don't make much sense to do myself these days (oil changes on my wife's car) because they keep sending me a coupon for $19.99 and I can't even buy the materials to do it myself for that much money.
That said, I still like to tinker. I used to buy inexpensive fishing reels and destroy them completely in 2-3 years. It made sense to try out a few higher priced reel. I did so, liked it more and it is still going strong 8 years later. Wanting to get even more benefit, I then did a bit more research and found that on some models of Penn reels, some of the higher end components will swap directly into the mid-range reels. So, buying a full metal bodied reel and then getting the better drag washers, etc. and swapping them in is pretty much a no brainer.
Moving, definitely. After doing it twice, we paid to have it done the third time and I didn't regret it one bit. They were efficient and provided all the boxes and wrapping stuff.
I try to do most stuff around the house, but that is because I like the feeling of accomplishment when I'm done. Probably being younger than most (some) on here, it is surprising how many things you can learn how to do with a quick Google search and some time on YouTube.
I will DIY just about anything when it is substantially cheaper, and the fear of having to redo it and whatever else someone berkeleys up, outweigh the aggravation of doing it the first time.
For automotive, I have access to pretty much everything needed for normal repairs, I do my own alignments (on a shiny new machine), HVAC repairs, unfortunately electrical wizardry, and even upholstery.
I will not replace a clutch or rebuild a manual trans. berkeley that, I have the knowledge, tools, and am buddies with a very good transmission builder. Have no idea why but I hate doing them on my own cars, I will do them for friends but not me. The next major thing planned for the vette is a torque tube, diff, and trans rebuild and new clutch, and Im just going to drop that E36 M3 off with Jason at TDP and tell him to call me when its done.
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