Monday, November 7, 2011

What it’s like to repair a set of blinds by yourself.


This weekend, I saved myself roughly $75 by repairing a set of blinds all by myself.

And when I say blinds, these were no ordinary blinds. Nay! These mammoth slats were eight feet across if they were an inch. And unwieldy suckers, too. Many a man’s spirit had been tangled and choked to death by the terrible taut threads that raised and lowered the mighty contraption, like the boom holding a sail on a ship in a storm. But one of these ropes had frayed and snapped with over use, like a diabetic clerk at a candy factory. The machine had thrown a cog. And the dream of blocking or diffusing light with the turn of a wrist was nary a memory.

Three paths lay before me:
1.     Custom order a new set of blinds for $150
2.     Hire a repair person to come out and repair the blinds for $70 plus materials
3.     Do the job myself

Most people would choose 1 or 2. But I’m not most people. My parents* instilled in me an unwavering belief in my ability to figure out and solve a problem, given enough time and resources.

In this case, I hopped on the Internet, ordered some 1.4mm nylon cord, lived a fulfilling life until the cord arrived, stripped out the broken cord, threaded the new cord through the slats, tied off both ends and finished in about a half hour total. If we factor in materials ($7) and time ($70), I saved $150 by not replacing the blinds and $75 by fixing them myself. Add to that the feeling of accomplishment ($314,767) and a job well done ($685, 233) and I’d say that “what it’s like” feels like a million bucks.

*That Dad Guy and That Mom Lady