"You waste money by trying not to waste money."
My Taiwanese father is building a storage house himsef. The whole assembling set was $1,300. My Taiwanese mon insisted on not buying such stuff and asking a carpenter to build one, which should last long. He didn't listen. I have been helping him with it from yesterday. Today, I helped him for 5-6 hours in total.
I like to see people trying to do themselves without paying more than necessary as long as they follow the process to be followed. However, in his case, it is not the case. He is just assembling the storage house, really light, made of thin metal panels, on no ground work. He is just building it on pieces of wood, without any spiles to the ground on the soil where tree roots are seen.
When he screws on a part, the whole building moves.
He seems to mis-read the manual often. I pointed out what I thought wrong several times.
I am sure the storage will be blown away by the wind or tornados to hit their house or a house nextdoor if it is left as it is.
My Taiwanese mom says, even when she finds something wrong with his car, he will not have it checked soon by mechanics. So, he always ends up paying a lot of money for repair, which could have been a little if he took his car to be checked at the early stage.
My Taiwanese mom and I went for a walk by a lake after dinner.
Today's dinner:(Top) Garlic sprout and five-spice powder tofu stir-fried
(Middle) Sauteed trout fillets
(Bottom) Salad
and fish soup from yesterday
I think there is a balance between doing something yourself and having someone else do it...
ReplyDeleteIf we had someone else always do things for us, we'd never learn. If he builds a bad shed thing and it blows away, he'll learn to either get better at it or have a more skilled person do it.
I think when doing things for ourselves, we should not skimp on materials or try an easy way and know our limits, also not being afraid to ask for help.
It's becoming something of a DIY age, but planning and careful consideration (and perhaps second opinions) are still valid.
He will learn a lot if his project fails, even if it means spending more money and hiring a professional, or going back to the drawing board.
-CP