Welcome Aboard

Let's face it - there's ALWAYS something better to do than DIY, maybe you've just not found it yet. My basic point here is that, unless you are a particularly gifted type, there will be someone out there who can do it better than you. A plumber or a plasterer perhaps. Someone who's trained to do the job and has oodles of experience when it comes to replacing a tap or fitting a shower, or other daunting task.

Now don't misunderstand me, I'm not a lazy fellow. It's just that I'm talented in other areas. I run a small business and have also got a "proper job", and if I work a few more hours doing what I do best, I can make enough spondies to pay a professional to do in hours what would have taken me days.

I speak from bitter experience - a day to replace a mixer tap in the kitchen that went on to drip for weeks before mysteriously stopping, for example. This started me thinking - Get Someone In (GSI) rather than DIY has to be the way forward for technical stuff.

Of course it doesn't always go smoothly - the bathroom was recently replaced by a trained plumber (2 return trips to stop a leak) and an experienced floorer (1 repeat trip to get the job done properly), but at least they came back and had the skills required to sort it out.

Noisy Chipboard Floor Boards drive me insane. OK, they're good when naughty men break in in the middle of the night, but apart from that they serve only to drive one INSANE. Blame it on cr@ppy modern building techniques if you like - I blame in on the greed of the developers - but before you start feeding a hose from the exhaust pipe into the cabin of your car in a quiet country lane (not recommended to those with diesel vehicles), STOP - it can be easily sorted out. Weary of explaining my tried and tested technique to distraught home owners I have made a Fix Creaky Chipboard Floor Boards page complete with pictures and step by step instructions. This is my gift to reluctant DIYers everywhere.

The Panasonic NV-GS27 Mini-DV Camcorder is a splendid thing - I know coz I've got one. The weird thing is that Panasonic don't really want you to buy it; they'd rather you bought one of its bling encrusted relatives. I explain how to save pots of cash and avoid chavdom on the Panasonic NV-GS27 Camcorder review page.

Surfing The Web - the tit who coined this phrase needs a sound thrashing. The browsing of internet sites whilst sitting, semi-comatose in front of a glaring computer screen, in no way resembles the experience of tucking into the pocket of one of natures home made marvels. I know this to be true. I graduated to a proper stand up surfboard in 1981 after spending most of my childhood summer holidays rigid with cold after hours of fun on a plywood belly board. I still surf, though not as often as I should, and am in a position to confirm personally, to you, that there is no similarity whatsoever between surfing and the World Wide Web. Please NEVER use the expression "Surfing the Web", it is reserved exclusively for those with NO FIRKIN IDEA what they're talking about.

And When I'm Not Ranting? I enjoy Mountain Biking on Dartmoor, Surfing in North Devon, Designing Websites, losing at Chess to my 12 year old son, thrashing Punk guitar with my 10 year old son, stuffing Chocolate (pref. Green & Blacks or Cadbury's), quaffing not unreasonable quantities of Cider, watching tele, taking photos, and strolling through the Devon countryside with my lush missus and some good chums*.

Those are a few of the reasons I'm a Reluctant DIYer.

* Attempting to undertake these activities at the same time in unsuitable footwear is in no way endorsed or encouraged, although any photographic evidence may be treated confidentially. Ish.