Mend and Make

 Evening! Pictured, the repair I started to make on our old Flymo this afternoon, after I realized that its declining ability to move forward occasionally was due to the front skirt of the thing having split, and leaking air. This thing owes us nowt, to say the least, having been bought some thirty years ago from a bloke in the village, second-hand for around a tenner. I've rectified cut mains cords, bent blades and switch issues over the years, and still it keeps going; and keep it going I will.

It's not that we can't afford to replace it, but why on earth consign something to the skip that can easily be fixed? Just doesn't make any sense: this is the bloke, after all, who kept a washing machine going at least ten years past its design life, with nothing more than simple hand tools and abrasive cloth, even skimming a scored motor commutator with said cloth, by hand: adding another five years use for no expense. We waste far too much stuff because people generally don't have the basic skills in tool-use, and it's fucking up the planet. We need a radical change in how we teach our children in such stuff, if we are to get through the next wilderness years that are inevitably coming for most of us.

I'm no mentalist backwoods' prepper, but I can repair most of my stuff, and even make new things or new tools that I don't have, from scratch: these kinds of basic skills and knowledge need to be passed on if we are to reverse the damage we are doing to the world and society, through our relentless cycle of binning otherwise usable stuff and buying unnecessary replacements. Most basic stuff is easily repairable, so just don't be afraid to try: ask your mates or Google whatever it is, and you'll find help somewhere. The result is not spending money you don't need to - more beer, wine and food! - and actually a great deal of personal satisfaction in your labours. Can't be bad, can it?