Another lesson is: learning how to do things yourself is underrated.
A little while ago, my shower started to make a horrible grinding whenever I’d set the water to a certain (comfortable) temperature. It sounded like a semi truck was idling inside the wall. If I adjusted the water to be a little colder (and thus more uncomfortable), the noise went away. If I adjusted the water to be a bit hotter (and even more uncomfortable), the noise also went away. I researched the problem and found out that my initial suspicion was correct. The issue was that the valve was worn in that particular position, and was chattering. So I looked at some YouTube videos and online tutorials about how to replace this valve, drove down to Home Depot, bought the replacement, and spent a little over an hour in the afternoon performing the replacement. Problem solved.
I could have tried hiring a professional. Most likely, it would have taken them at least a couple days to set up the initial appointment (given that this wasn’t an emergency situation). Then they would have shown up, possibly misdiagnosed the problem, possibly not had the correct part, etc, etc and I would have had to spend even more time with second opinions, follow-up appointments, etc. Instead, by completely ignoring any thoughts of Ricardian comparative advantage, I was able to get my shower back to a fully operational status the very same day.
Similarly, last winter, when my furnace failed, I was able to look at the blinking light, look up the error code in the manual, and determine that the flame sensor needed replacement. I was able to order a new one online and I had my furnace back up and running in two days, during a cold snap when HVAC technicians were backlogged for over a week.
Even when I determined that the problem was not fixable by myself (like when my hot water heater needed replacing last year), I still found the process of researching the issue valuable, because it allowed me to make a better problem report to the technician, give clear answers when asked what kind of replacement I needed, and have necessary measurements of clearances, etc on hand so that there were no surprises when it came time for the replacement to be carried out.
The lesson I’ve learned from owning a house is that my first question shouldn’t be, “Who do I call to fix this?” It should be, “Can I learn to fix this myself?” In every case I’ve learned to fix or renovate something myself, the results have been at least on par with what a professional would have done, and it’s taken far less time because I haven’t had to deal with the overhead of managing principal-agent problems.
Yeah, that’s a good approach. I remember finding out a cracked water pipe after a somewhat careless tech replaced a washing machine. I could have complained and spent time arranging a visit, after arguing about who broke it and maybe issuing some veil threats, but buying a blow torch and some solder ended up a much quicker and more painless solution. Also, fun playing with fire!
Another lesson is: learning how to do things yourself is underrated.
A little while ago, my shower started to make a horrible grinding whenever I’d set the water to a certain (comfortable) temperature. It sounded like a semi truck was idling inside the wall. If I adjusted the water to be a little colder (and thus more uncomfortable), the noise went away. If I adjusted the water to be a bit hotter (and even more uncomfortable), the noise also went away. I researched the problem and found out that my initial suspicion was correct. The issue was that the valve was worn in that particular position, and was chattering. So I looked at some YouTube videos and online tutorials about how to replace this valve, drove down to Home Depot, bought the replacement, and spent a little over an hour in the afternoon performing the replacement. Problem solved.
I could have tried hiring a professional. Most likely, it would have taken them at least a couple days to set up the initial appointment (given that this wasn’t an emergency situation). Then they would have shown up, possibly misdiagnosed the problem, possibly not had the correct part, etc, etc and I would have had to spend even more time with second opinions, follow-up appointments, etc. Instead, by completely ignoring any thoughts of Ricardian comparative advantage, I was able to get my shower back to a fully operational status the very same day.
Similarly, last winter, when my furnace failed, I was able to look at the blinking light, look up the error code in the manual, and determine that the flame sensor needed replacement. I was able to order a new one online and I had my furnace back up and running in two days, during a cold snap when HVAC technicians were backlogged for over a week.
Even when I determined that the problem was not fixable by myself (like when my hot water heater needed replacing last year), I still found the process of researching the issue valuable, because it allowed me to make a better problem report to the technician, give clear answers when asked what kind of replacement I needed, and have necessary measurements of clearances, etc on hand so that there were no surprises when it came time for the replacement to be carried out.
The lesson I’ve learned from owning a house is that my first question shouldn’t be, “Who do I call to fix this?” It should be, “Can I learn to fix this myself?” In every case I’ve learned to fix or renovate something myself, the results have been at least on par with what a professional would have done, and it’s taken far less time because I haven’t had to deal with the overhead of managing principal-agent problems.
Yeah, that’s a good approach. I remember finding out a cracked water pipe after a somewhat careless tech replaced a washing machine. I could have complained and spent time arranging a visit, after arguing about who broke it and maybe issuing some veil threats, but buying a blow torch and some solder ended up a much quicker and more painless solution. Also, fun playing with fire!
This is a great example of the lessons in https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/tTWL6rkfEuQN9ivxj/leaky-delegation-you-are-not-a-commodity