So glad to hear that was a simple fix. If you ever get a leak in the radiator find a giant box of black pepper and pour it in the radiator. That should stop the leak.

I did that with my mother's car and she kept it three more years.

Some things easily fixed give a reprieve from those things not so easily fixed for whatever reason. Gives one a sense of being able to relax for a little bit.

Douglasn, What great insight in what you just said!

Dadda, You NEVER cease to amaze me. Oh how I wish I could carry you around in my back pocket sometimes. I have ZERO knowledge of skill in the mechanical ares of my life :)

I currently have a fuse out in my car that controls the radio/clock panel. Two bathroom ceiling fans that are dead. A garbage disposal that vibrates causing my undersink pipe to disconnect and a washing machine that won't drain unless I drain the hose in a bucket so gravity can help the failing pump.
All of these things are so minor!!!
I use them as silly examples of all of the little things that you, my friend could fix in a heart beat :)

Trisha, you as well!! A giant farm/property all by yourself and......pepper in a radiator... :)

Momand3, that is funny to think of me ... and I wish it came "easy". I remember when I started working on my car ... actually, my ex-MIL was supposed to take me to get a belt changed ... she never showed and I had to do it myself. There have been times I have been screaming, crying and cursing the N and his whole family out in the garage. Something that sounds so easy becomes impossible with rusted on parts, not having the "right" tool and etc ... I would have been mortified, had anyone overheard.

Mostly my "smarts" come from a shop manual and youtube videos, plus a big dose of true knowledge that if I don't swim, I will sink.

I remember having taken N to emergency room in March, 2009. As usual, he was B8tching and acting like "flu" which meant waiting on him ... actually, though he was having a major heart attack. After the initial shock, I came back to the house to find the basement flooded .... the sump surrounded by water. It was full of rocks. Really sucked ... I had to cut the electric, take that thing apart and bail water out of the basement in huge tote boxes ... then I had to go to the school and get our daughters and tell them what was going on ... I remember sitting on the basement steps and crying my heart out. I didn't eat for 4 days ... and he went on a vent for a week or so when he wasn't getting better, then more surgery. Later, all I heard about was "his stress". When I tried to point out that though different, we had been stressed by the experience too ... well, no that just wasn't so.

Anyway, the "marriage" failed, but the screen I installed into the piping has kept the sump running trouble free for the past five years. When I fixed the shower drain last weekend, I couldn't help it ... I danced around the house and I told my daughters their father made a BAD DECISION ... that I was of more value than a wallet full of money ... and it is true, in a lot of respects. I doubt wed have come this far, had I not been able to figure out things that I previously have never dealt with.

My daughter showed me how she used some wire loops to hang a curtain rod on the window last week, because I had forgotten to give her the hardware ... she is taking a page from the book and I am glad of it!!

Douglan: you are SO RIGHT. I can remember laying my head on a pillow on my bead, 2003, and RELAXING. Falling asleep, relaxed. That made such an impression on me, because it was when I was first gathering my strength to fight against the things I was being subjected to, post divorce.

I've been saying for months that I am exhausted, from stress, but if I went to a doctor, I'd end up with a handful of antidepressants. What good are pills (or a therapist) in dealing with practical matters? They can help you (at least therapist; though for some, pills might help symptoms) find your confidence or other good qualities, but we all NEED to be able to rest and recoup from stresses ... and some, logically, are more than a person can take without help.

Trisha: I never heard that about pepper ... it makes me curious to know how/why it works ... I will never get to the day there's nothing to be curious about, at least. That is good to know ... I am getting ready to help my daughter stock her trunk with some tools, now that weather is changing and we can find things. I can go to what we call the "ferret store" for a cheap box of pepper!