DIY handyman headaches.

[Kingcreek]

It should have been so simple.

Drill hole in top of kitchen cabinet for power supply for security camera. Plug into existing outlet for over range microwave.
1/2 of double outlet is dead. Locate breaker and dead the circuit.
Remove outlet cover and loosen outlet and see that bridge is missing. ?
Locate new outlet amongst electrical stuff.
Outlet box was relocated when outside vent was installed and wires are only just long enough. I don’t want to remove the oven and range so I’m working on a 4’ ladder and reaching into a cramped cabinet with wires that are too short.
Finally everything is in and works. I clean up the sawdust and blood 🩸 from inside and top of cabinet and put the stuff back in cabinet. Take up the moving blanket and reinstall knobs on range/oven.
Only 2 hours to plug in a camera!

[WLJ]

I would be on my third trip to Lowes or Home Depot by now

[230RN]

I laughed.  I cried.  I've seen Murphy's Law applied to Murphy's Law applied to Murphy's Law applied to Murphy's Law applied to Murphy's Law too many times.

Worst is when you need a tool to fix that tool itself.

Terry, 230RN

[Kingcreek]

I would be on my third trip to Lowes or Home Depot by now

I have lived that experience.
 I live out in the secluded rural countryside. A trip to Menards is a minimum of an hour and a gallon or 2 of gas round trip. So if I need one, I buy 3 and add to my inventory for next time. I have buckets and boxes of all things electric and plumbing related. Screws and nails and bolts of all sizes.

[HankB]

I would be on my third trip to Lowes or Home Depot by now

I can relate . . .usually one store or the other will have what I need to complete a project. Checking inventory on-line usually lets me know which store I should go to, but on-line checks are not much more believable than anything else on the internet.

When I lived up in Minnesota and had a project, I knew I'd have to go to both Menards and Knox no matter what - each store would have 95%of what I needed, and if I was lucky, the 95% one store had would include the 5% the other store didn't have. (No local Home Depot or Lowe's back then.)

I normally have what I need for minor electrical work, but as for minor plumbing . . . I always seem to have two sizes on hand when it comes to something simple like a gasket or O-ring: too big and too small.

[MillCreek]

I would be on my third trip to Lowes or Home Depot by now

My brother from another mother.

[K Frame]

A pigtail is your friend in that situation.

[JTHunter]

A pigtail is your friend in that situation.

Exactly.
A short length of wire "nutted" to the short pieces gives you room to work.  Just be sure there is enough room in the junction/gang box for the extra wire length & nuts.

[Perd Hapley]

I almost did a Very Bad Thing yesterday. I had to replace 2 belts on my wife's car (it has 2 belts, instead of a serpentine). Had to remove the right front wheel to get to them. I finished up (thought I) about 5.30 pm. Hours later, as I'm getting ready for bed, I'm standing in the shower and realized I never tightened the bolts that hold the alternator in place, and keep tension on one of the belts. Then I realized I had never tightened the lug nuts on the wheel.   

Could have been an interesting Sunday morning...

[Cliffh]

I have lived that experience.
I live out in the secluded rural countryside. A trip to Menards is a minimum of an hour and a gallon or 2 of gas round trip. So if I need one, I buy 3 and add to my inventory for next time. I have buckets and boxes of all things electric and plumbing related. Screws and nails and bolts of all sizes.

And if I use one, next trip I'll buy at least 2, if not 3.  Have to keep the inventory level up.

[230RN]

If it was less than ten bucks, I would buy two of them.  The problem is nowadays nothing is less than ten bucks.

[Kingcreek]

If it was less than ten bucks, I would buy two of them.  The problem is nowadays bothing is less than ten bucks.

The vast quantity of parts purchased on those previous trips is part of my portfolio. If they take me to a nursing home or assisted senior living place there’s gonna be a pretty good estate sale. I’ll hate to miss it.

[K Frame]

I've done the "let's jump into a situation and then make multiple trips to the home store."

I don't like doing that.

So, before I start a project, I go through every possible stopping point and pitfall I can imagine based on what I'm doing. While doing so, I make lists of stuff that I would need to get to resolve said pitfalls.

Inspection and partial disassembly of what I'm going to be working on can be a big help in getting through that.

And I buy that stuff. If I don't use it, depending on what it is, I'll keep it or return it.

I've got a pretty good record of not having to make multiple trips to the home store because of that.

And I've got a decent stock of spares.

[Bogie]

Perd, just be like my customers - come in the store and scream at me that the belt made the wheel fall off when the engine died.

[Perd Hapley]

Perd, just be like my customers - come in the store and scream at me that the belt made the wheel fall off when the engine died.

Oh. I knew I was doing something wrong.

[WLJ]

You could always claim MAGA ultra extreme right wing white supremacists loosen them over night. MSNBC and CNN would be at your door in minutes and you could be signing a 10 million dollar book deal by afternoon.
Oh and be sure to put a hangman noose in a tree to make it extra believable. MAGAs always keep hangman nooses with them for just in case

[Brad Johnson]

No detcord?

Brad

[Tuco]

It isn't so much the headaches anymore.  Im able to avoid projects that might result in common headaches like:
1. Breaking something I can't fix with the current stable of tools
2. Opening something that gets too big to button down quickly and lets in the weather or shuts down utilities
3. Might go sideways and make me dip into PTO
4. Involves things that might kill me.

No. It's not the headaches that get me down.  It is the backaches and the trick knee and the sore hands. Those are what I dread.

[grampster]

Everything said above, squared times 3.  I just paid the plumber who just left who did a minor job for me in a half hour while I sipped my coffeve and read my book.

[230RN]

Everything said above, squared times 3.  I just paid the plumber who just left who did a minor job for me in a half hour while I sipped my coffeve and read my book.

I noticed that since I no longer do many manual jobbies (apartment dweller) that my  hands have become soft enough so when I do undertake little tasks I usually incur a minor injury that would never have happened years ago.  The only strenuous "work" I've done was two years ago I helped the plumber move my couch out of the way to replace a zone valve.  When he repaired my garbage disposal, I sat on that very couch doodling around on the net.