my boyfriend does this with *everything*. there isn't anything that guy can't fix. broken microwave? he'll try to fix it -- an endeavor that will take hours and cost some in parts -- before he'd buy a replacement. meanwhile, i'm like "Waaaaaaaaaah. But i want to watch a movie with you and you're banging around with the microwave. if you figure your time's worth $20/hr, it's cheaper to buy a new cheapo model at Walmart for $49/hr! Come watch a movie!"
:)
He just took a dryer he found, converted it from natural gas to propane, all for a few bucks and a few hours. Saved us $300. I'm a little concerned when the thing cycles on and off, sounds like a small airplane taking off, but hey, on rainy day like today, I can throw my wet laundry in and have clothes in time for an interview if I need.
And it's not just fixing things, but hacking. Taking an AC compressor from a Dodge van andconverting it to be a comventional air compressor so he can run his pneumatic tools with a more powerful compressor.
Oh, and microwave oven transformers. You know what they are good for? You can mod them and turn them into an AC/DC stick welder with TIG capabilities. Now geeks: just fuck off with yer old snobby geek selves. Can you do THAT? hmmmmmm? [1]
But no one expects *anyone* to have this level of behind the scenes knowledge of cars (don't et me started on his knowledge of cars), microwaves, washing machines, HVAC systems, VCRs, or dish washers. And everyoneis perfectly fine with that. It's only with computing technologies that anyone *dares* suggest that people get their shit together and actually learn how the dryer works and how they could fix it and mod it.
This is basically why I laugh at you guys. Ordinary working people have done this crap for years in another field. When you drive by their homes, though, you tend to mutter: "white trash".
A ps. on the Gimp Business. That's why I don't use Gimp. It was a waste of my time since I'd be dead in the water without the ability to easily use Pantone, Spot Colore, and CMYK, not to mention the rest. Gimp was basically built for the hobbyist mostly displaying work on the web or willing to hit and miss on the print color. When you are working with entities that need an exact pantone for their brand identity, though, you can't afford to dick around.
[1] yes, the garage, once nice and neat and a place for me to refinish furniture and build things, is now this massive scene dedicated to "weird science". The only thing he's missing is a bushy mane of hair that looks like he stuck his finger in a light socket.