Oddbean new post about login | logout It boggles my mind how much time and money folks waste due to an aversion to Reading The Fucking Manual. Over the weekend I fixed my vehicle's broken A/C for $30 by watching a 4 minute YouTube video & buying a recharge kit. Later discovered a neighbor had the same issue recently and paid a mechanic $400 for the convenience. Today I fixed a broken $150 Nespresso machine by once again spending 5 minutes researching common issues and finding a way to resolve an airlocked machine using nothing more than a Ziploc bag.
Wait, whut, reading the instructions? Nah.
Not enough RTFM culture. Love it in the bitcoin dev scene. No one has time to explain it so go read the docs/code and FAFO.
We don't need schooling. Anything you wanna learn can be found for free on YouTube. It still amazes me that we are in the age of information, yet so many are stupid.
Can you come over and fix my nespresso machine please 🤙
YouTube has done wonders for my DIY capabilities. Haha
People like to stay dumb, broke and lazy
One of my pet peeves is people not reading the manual... Having said that, there is SO MUCH legal "filler" nowadays it's frustrating.... Go back and look at a car manual say from the 30's or 40's - no fluff, just get down to business and describe how to fix the thing...no warnings about how swallowing the parts would be bad for you... Simpler times....
By my logic, that means you have $550 to dump into more Bitcoin today! Congratulations!🎈
Not to mention, your neighbor actually paid ~$800 because that’s how much he had to earn before taxes. DIY is the way.
Sounds like neither issue was resolved with the actual product manual, but i get the point. Maybe ai should be making us all experts in fixing shit without having to become "prompt engineers"
The past 30-40 years has been a cultural push towards go to college so that you don't have to work with your hands. It's not just about reading the manual it's about thinking that you should even be attempting to fix anything in the first place. I went from working at an online travel company remotely and renting to buying a trap house for 25K and renovating it with no where near the amount of tools I own now. I could do that because my parents built the house I grew up in and did house projects over the years. If you know it's possible and have some familiarity you're more willing to do it. If you grew up and your parents never touched a tool and told you if you didn't go to college you'd end up like the plumber fixing your toilet flap for $150 bucks then you've got a pretty skewed view of the world.
Car got an engine warning light, Lots of advice saying you’ll need to take it to a mechanic to get it diagnosed etc. possibly would cost a couple hundred to diagnose and fix. Bought a £10 reader from Amazon and the issue was a something to do with the fuel cap not on property. Lovely job.
I had the same issue with a truck a decade ago. My OBF reader has paid for itself many times over!
I have mine to my little brother as he is an apprentice HGV mechanic and will get much more use out of it than me.
I think main benefit of going to a mechanic is the multipoint inspection. If you’re not good with cars, you need someone to find out if something needs to be fixed before the car breaks down on you.
More likely to get told a pack of lies and to end up fixing things that don’t need fixin’. And yah yah I know I know “your mechanic is trustworthy”. Funny how everyone says that but I’ve only met a few honest mechanics in my long life. And yes I know how to tell an honest mechanic from a dishonest one. Been hard-core wrenching for more decades than most here have been alive.
So what’s the solution? Become a mechanic?
I wish I had a solution for you fren. Maybe we can come up with one together? Meanwhile just gonna have to rely on your judgement like you’ve been doing. Sorry 😞 Oh 💡…but there is this… go to a busy shop as they’re less likely to have to make shit up.
Except that the incentive to always find something wrong is just too great for mechanics.
Charm.li Free factory service manuals for cars. Not involved or getting amy sort of kick back, just a big fan and thought people commenting on this post might be interested.
You are not the common folk Jameson.
Let's hope the mechanics are buying Bitcoin and saving for a future where business slows down! 😁
I broke a ribbon cable on my dji mavic drone. they wanted $450 to fix it. turns out it's somewhat common problem. bought the part from china for $7. had to follow a video in Russian but got it fixed in under 2 hours. plus 3 weeks for shipping
That’s awesome! I spent 1hour on yt how to fix my EPB (electric park brake) on my car. Saved a lot of money.
A customer brings their car to a mechanic because it isn't working properly. The mechanic inspects the car, identifies the problem, and replaces a small part, which costs only $0.40. When the customer receives the bill for $100, they are outraged and question the high cost. The mechanic explains that the charge is not just for the part, but for knowing which part to replace.
Looks like the universe is testing my resolve, as I went to take my motorcycle for a ride and it's dead as a doornail despite being fine a few weeks ago. 😬 nostr:nevent1qqsrh2l3ngs4zzlgnq8ke396q9jr5lcy6999atacrmuckt4sa9wtmkqpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduhsyg8h9rv7decysdvwwzfs7h9xfvyhwuxe38xds6z5lescak5u3gupqcpsgqqqqqqs2k7e63
Hah. Fixed a dead €5000 plasma TV once by doing diagnostic and buying a high voltage block for €50 in some garage in Russia. It was out of warranty and the part impossible to find in Europe.