Frugal and Energy Efficient Living

You may be more knowledgeable than my dad, LOL.

I have the basics - I have a second-hand drill from my dad and a bunch of cheap bits I bought. I have a small hammer, a mini-level, a stud finder, a tape measure, many screwdrivers, a small adjustable wrench and some pliers.

On my immediate wishlist are a wrench set (LOL my adjustable wrench is so small I couldn't even adjust my daughter's bike seat, a neighbor helped me out with that), a socket set and a mallet. I'm not sure what else I need...

Good idea about the manuals...although most are online right now, which is helpful. I will confess I don't usually read the manuals until I need to, LOL. I have had recent experiences with really shitty manuals though. I mean, really, talk about a useless booklet for some things.

The best experience recently ( ) was that I broke the glass plate (the part that rotates) in my brand new microwave and try as I might, I could not match the model number with any parts place online. I was like, WTF? So I called Whirlpool and told them the model and get this - the model number didn't exist. The customer service rep was totally condescending, "Can you read it to me slowly? Are you sure you read it right? Are you sure it's a B and not an 8?" I had to get rude. "I know how to read letters and numbers, thank you, would you like me to take a picture with my phone and send it to you?"

We found a similar model number....turns out they added an extra letter to the model number (the model number ON the microwave was the same as on the box AND on the manual, so it was clearly not a printing error for just the microwave). Their error. I managed to get the right part because we took a chance that there was an extra letter. Can you imagine how many people and repair people are going to be in for a rude awakening in a little bit when these appliances start needing repairs? Sorry for the rant...but a lot of do-it-yourself-ers are going to be in for a surprise when they cannot find the right model number. grr.