A Man Ought to be Able to Fix his Stuff

(Adam here)

Over the last two years or so I have taken to learning how to fix our stuff.  This all began when the lawn tractor broke and I was stuck driving in a circle.  While I could guarantee a nicely manicured circle of grass out in the yard, the remaining acre-and-three-quarters (or so) would become something of an accidental nature preserve.  As much as I would enjoy this, the landlord likes it better if the grass is regularly trimmed.  Thus, I had to fix one of my machines (read: toys).  Something that inspired me in this direction is a book my friend Erik gave me, entitled Shop Class as Soulcraft.

Then I realized I could probably manage changing the oil in the cars, which eventually progressed to changing brakes (yes, pads and rotors, too - if you've never done this, let me assure you it is not difficult at all). My next foray into automotive repairs was when the radiator on our beloved van "Bessie" went the way of all the Earth.  Thankfully our neighbor Doug is an expert at automotive repair, while also being uncommonly generous with his time.

Bessie

She's actually not a truck, but she doesn't know that...

"There's a radiator-shaped hole in my heart," said Bessie.

Doug helps me move the fittings from the old radiator to the new one

For my next trick, I decided I was tired of driving around with my hand applying slight clockwise pressure to the key in the ignition switch so that the engine wouldn't stall whilst driving.  In other words, like so many other first-generation Odyssey vans, Bessie needed a new ignition switch.

In case you ever wondered what the inside of the dashboard looks like on a '95 Odyssey...

My most recent patients have been our computers.  For Jenny's birthday, she received (among other things, I assure you) 4GB of RAM for her MacBook Pro, which has greatly increased its overall speed.  Installing was ridiculously easy.  You just take the case off the back of the computer, and the RAM slots are pretty much staring you right in the face, next to the battery.

However, the real test came when the hard drive in my iMac bit the dust (or, more aptly, started tasting the dust, and I didn't feel like waiting for it to turn into an all-out emergency), in the midst of some frantic work on my research.  Replacing the drive was a bit of a job - not difficult, per se, but more involved.

That big thing I'm holding up is actually the screen.

In case you ever wondered what the inside of an iMac looked like...

Hooray!  I didn't blow up my computer!

Let's see, what can I fix next?
In my new job I'll be fixing all kinds of things, but you'll just have to wait and hear more about that later.

Now I'm off to "fix" my chapter, so I can get on the next stage of my research!