self-supporting, self-sustaining and local interdependence will come to mean We Can Fix It

[Katie]

http://www.ifixit.com/

http://http://static.ifixit.net/static/images/manifesto/ifixit_mani...

http://http://www.ifixit.com/Manifesto

and there is this

http://www.youtube.com/user/iFixitYourself

well done tutorials

[Katie]

very funny David. you started my morning with a laugh.


Celt, i'm hoping that the reskilling school which Cindi L. (and several others) are working on will soon be teaching and spreading repair and how-to skills throughout the county. a fine way to spend a weekend -- at a re-skilling workshop, in my opinion.

[David MacLeod]

And of course, you can't forget "There, I Fixed It":
http://thereifixedit.failblog.org/

[Celt M. Schira]

Yes... with some caveats. The first one is safety. Absolutely, take the time to understand electrical safety below opening up anything. Know where the stored energy is in the system (electrical capacitors and fields, hydraulic or pneumatic tanks, mechanical energy in springs or potential energy.) Always have the proper personal protective equipment for the job (PPE.) Use lockout/tagout, which may be as simple as turning off a breaker and putting a sign on the panelboard so your housemate doesn't turn it back on.
Second, good ruddy luck with repair parts. Putting our manufacturing in China has affected the availability of parts. We are at the end of a long supply line and the effects of the financial crisis are playing out in weird and unexpected ways in the parts bins.