LIVING IN A BROKEN DREAM: DULL PICTURE OF FUCKED LAMP ATTEMPTS TO ILLUSTRATE THE ANCIENT AND NOW DYING ART OF "FIXING STUFF"
The art of fixing stuff is dying.
A recent survey in the UK found that under 30s don't have a clue of how to fix stuff, and if something needs fixing in their homes then it's mum and dad they call.
Sewing, soldering, plumbing, screwing, woodwork and er, other diy skills that you need to fix stuff, are becoming dying arts.
Even worse, one in four of them don't know how to change a plug.
But E.R. believes this shows a growing trend.
The automation of our society and the microchip's ability to do our thinking for us means when something breaks these days, we throw it away.
Or we make a call and get mum or dad to fix it.
Or we make a call and get someone to come round and fix it, usually for a price higher than the price of the thing that was broken, and so encouraging us to chuck it away and buy another.
In turn this leaves a trail of broken stuff on dumps or in landfills, or at best used for scrap, and of course means something has to be made to take its place.
Unfortunately I am part of the problem, not the solution.
This lamp's been broken for weeks. E.R. laments it hasn't got a clue how to fix it, or the other broken lamp in the bedroom, and I've got a qualification in electronics. And it's only a lamp. And I'm 39, old enough to be one of these fix-it dads. How crap is that? (I do know how to change a plug though).
Maybe they teach you it at dad school, and I've never been.
The good news is though, that the guy who lives upstairs, his dad is coming round to fix the front door to the English Ranter office.
He obviously has been to dad school.
I wonder if I can just get him to look at this sodding lamp...
If you like pictures of broken stuff (weirdo), we've got a picture of a broken ashtray at english ranter's picture site, www.erlite.blogspot.com, which features the pictures of english ranter, without the boring politics.
posted by ENGLISH RANTER at Tuesday, April 11, 2006
5 Comments:
I fixed a lamp last year.
It was a bit fucked, so I literally took the whole thing apart, went and asked the man in the electrical-parts shop what I needed to make it work, took the new bits back home and put it all together again. I was very proud of myself. I had to shorten the cable and rewire shit and everything.
I'd kind of forgotten, so thanks for allowing me to bask in the glow of my genius (and lamp) again, if only momentarily.
Yes, though, it's a desperately sad state of affairs.
Excellent work *. There is definitely a pleasure in fixing stuff that far surpasses buying something new. It's just a bit more difficult!
The Psychotic Patriot says thanks for dropping by and leaving a kind comment. My girlfriend and I don't watch the tube (ever) so we're slightly less apt to want new stuff. She's a wonderful garage-sale shopper, and I do my composing on an old $50 Apple PowerMac. My eMac is second-hand. Methinks the "new" addiction causes the "throwaway" addiction, and the less new we see the less we want. So we'd be all over fixing something that broke, more like a fun project than an excuse to buy new.
Thanks again for dropping by!
James
how many ER does it take to change a lite bulb?(globe?)
Have you tried wiring it to a chair?
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