Mechanical

Yesterday, I successfully diagnosed and adjusted the timing on my (broken) sewing machine. And today I (quickly!) unjammed a chain on Noah's bicycle, so I'm feeling very mechanically inclined these days.

No, honestly, I owe the sewing machine success to the fact that there are so many sources online to offer advice. I know this has been possible for many decades now, but I still sometimes find it amazing that I can surf around the web and find the information that I need to do this stuff myself. Also, the information has become so good and thorough and tested!

Since I've been using my sewing machine a lot lately, I've become rather panicky about something happening to it. I only have one sewing machine. What if it breaks on the evening before I've promised to ship something to a customer?! My parents gave it to me for my birthday and Christmas some years ago. They don't sell this particular model anymore, but I think at the time it ran in the ballpark of $200-$300. A new, simpler, but sufficient, sewing machine could be purchased for about $80. Repairing the $200-$300 machine was going to be in the ballpark of $90, just to have someone look at it.

These are the type of numbers that really make you wonder: should you just endlessly purchase new cheap sewing machines when one breaks? (Icky disposable consumerism!) Should you pay even more money to repair the existing one and just hope it doesn't (ever) break again? Fixing it myself was definitely the best option but I was pretty nervous about it. I still remember my Dad swearing he would NEVER fix my mother's sewing machine after one bad attempt in my childhood.

I may have done this exact same dance when I fixed the sewing machine.

But, ah, Sweet Internet. You saved me. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Also, there's something to be said for a piece of machinery that is simple enough that you CAN fix it without fancy, expensive tools to assist.