my mother was a seamstress and my father an auto mechanic....
my dad would always repair stff rather than throw it out and buy new....
my mother was determined that her children would be independant, and each of us would be self sufficient, not needing a husband/wife to take care of us, we should be able to have the knowledge to do it ALL, there was 7 of us, 4 boys and 3 girls....the 2 oldest boys disappoint her the most, they live my dad's old school, the husband works/earns the paycheck and the wife takes care of the children and the home, now that their divorced, they can't fend for themselves, and my mother gets on them for not learning what she wanted them to know.....
I have streetsmarts and knowledge of things you can't imagine, or better yet common sense, some things get by me, but when a problem come up, the gears start turning and I have to figure out how to fix it....I'm told by many that I look like and remind them of Adam of the show MythBuster's....I can rig some things up that boggle the mind, I even fixed my BF tv with a twist tie from bread, after the repair man said it couldn't be fixed, that tv lasted 8 years.....curiosity gets the best of me.....
did I mention I can vegetables and fruits.....make cakes from scratch....and I have a great bread recipe that's mixed in a food processor in 60 seconds.... also have a old fashioned ice cream maker hooked up to a drill, that crank will kill your arm, and the list goes on....I have a 93 Taurus SHO...with a few computer chip changes, have increased horse power 29% on an already powerful Yamaha motor, and the boosted power occurs at 3300 rpm instead of 3900....it can be done.....and you guys can do this stuff too.....
work smarter.....not harder......but keep thinking
I have my house wired for sound....speakers everywhere....inside and out....even the bathroom and laundry....even volume thruout...3 recievers linked to one master.....Can your stereo make the lights in your house flicker?....ask my local fire dept...they been here 3 times, I am not kidding....only because someone called thinking my house was on fire....it happens!
for effect...purchase rope lights from Lowes and install them under and above your kitchen cabinets...linked to a simple lamp timer...or for a night lite down the baseboard of a hallway and staircase....
save wrappers from butter in freezer...use to grease cookie sheets or cake pans, and then throw away...........
save plastic containers from the deli or chinese food....they come in 3 sizes....all use the same lid...store, freeze, microwave in them....they don't cost you anything....disposable...and if you send food home with someone, no loss if you don't get them back....and you always have a matched set that stacks neatly, either full or empty....think about it!
ideas are endless.......does your sink sprayer pull out 10 feet?....I can water plants, fill the dog bowl, fill a bucket on the floor, reach a pot on the stove.....
you guys have got to have ideas to share.....