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Things fall apart
Nov. 14th, 2010 06:47 pmSometimes I feel like I'm surrounded by broken things: things I want to fix, but don't quite know how, or don't have the tools. I don't want to throw them away (or even recycle them — repair is better than recycling) but I never quite seem to have the time/energy to fix them, or if I have the time/energy then I don't have the tools to hand, and by the time I get to the point of working out what I need, the shop that sells the tools is closed, or it's too dark to do things outside, and ... basically, "for want of a nail, FAIL".
One strategy would be to plan better: to decide "this Sunday I am going to fix the Broken Doobrie, which means I will need a thingummy and a whatsit, so I have to buy the thingummy from Sprockets 'R' Us before Sunday, and borrow the whatsit from Fred when I see him on Saturday." But that would require knowing in advance that I'm not going to feel too tired and miserable on the Sunday in question to do anything more energetic than stay in bed reading Chalet School books; and at the moment I feel like I can't take awakeness for granted, let alone feeling-up-to-doing-things-ness. (I generally feel guilty about not "feeling up to" doing things, as though it's just a question of willpower; but for once I have an actual excuse, which is that it's hard work making a whole actual human being, and sometimes I will just have to sit down and rest.) The other strategy would be to make sure I have all the thingummies and whatsits in the house to start with so that when I do have the time and the energy I've already got the tools. This is probably less efficient (there are lots of tools I will probably only need very rarely, so the sensible thing to do would be to borrow them rather than spend money on them and then have them taking up space) but on the other hand might result in things actually getting mended, which would create more space (because things could either be used by us rather than stored in a 'things that need fixing' pile, or given away to be used by someone else) and save money.
What I'd really love is some kind of regular 'fixing things' drop-in session where people could get together and bring their broken objects and fix them together, sharing tools and workspace, actively helping each other learn how to fix things, or just being companionable while they fix their own things. I don't know how I'd go about organising such a thing, though (and I don't really have the time or energy at the moment). I fail at Big Society. But, in the meantime, here are some examples of the sort of things on my mental list of things-that-need-fixing:
( Scattert peaces of a broakin pot )
Advice welcome but not demanded/expected!
One strategy would be to plan better: to decide "this Sunday I am going to fix the Broken Doobrie, which means I will need a thingummy and a whatsit, so I have to buy the thingummy from Sprockets 'R' Us before Sunday, and borrow the whatsit from Fred when I see him on Saturday." But that would require knowing in advance that I'm not going to feel too tired and miserable on the Sunday in question to do anything more energetic than stay in bed reading Chalet School books; and at the moment I feel like I can't take awakeness for granted, let alone feeling-up-to-doing-things-ness. (I generally feel guilty about not "feeling up to" doing things, as though it's just a question of willpower; but for once I have an actual excuse, which is that it's hard work making a whole actual human being, and sometimes I will just have to sit down and rest.) The other strategy would be to make sure I have all the thingummies and whatsits in the house to start with so that when I do have the time and the energy I've already got the tools. This is probably less efficient (there are lots of tools I will probably only need very rarely, so the sensible thing to do would be to borrow them rather than spend money on them and then have them taking up space) but on the other hand might result in things actually getting mended, which would create more space (because things could either be used by us rather than stored in a 'things that need fixing' pile, or given away to be used by someone else) and save money.
What I'd really love is some kind of regular 'fixing things' drop-in session where people could get together and bring their broken objects and fix them together, sharing tools and workspace, actively helping each other learn how to fix things, or just being companionable while they fix their own things. I don't know how I'd go about organising such a thing, though (and I don't really have the time or energy at the moment). I fail at Big Society. But, in the meantime, here are some examples of the sort of things on my mental list of things-that-need-fixing:
( Scattert peaces of a broakin pot )
Advice welcome but not demanded/expected!
