[Porsche-O-Phile]

I actually have quite a bit in common with Supe here... I utterly H-A-T-E paying someone to do something for me. I can't stand it. I find the notion revolting and offensive and on the rare occasions that I do it, I always have the bitter taste in my mouth afterwards that comes from feeling like one has been ripped off, used and taken advantage of - even if I've paid a "fair" market rate price. I'm an odd duck I suppose - a lot of people don't "get" me and wonder why I spend so much time doing stuff by myself that I should "just hire someone to do" - yard work, house improvement stuff, fixing cars, bikes and motorcycles, building my own computers, moving, etc.

Perhaps it's the way I was raised, or perhaps it's my constant need for a challenge and a feeling of accomplishment in something. I get ZERO satisfaction out of taking (for example) a car to the mechanics, forking over money and getting it back "fixed"* By contrast, even though it might be "inefficient" or "illogical", I get a lot of satisfaction out of diagnosing the problem, figuring out the solution and implementing it. And (perhaps more importantly) I TRUST it.

This is something I've noticed with virtually any service you hire out - the quality sucks, almost universally. I'm a detail-oriented person and although I can understand that someone hired to do a job is going to slam it out in the interest of packing their schedule and getting onto the next job in order to maximize revenue, I think this model/methodology has gotten way out of whack - there's literally NO quality in anything anymore, from restaurant service to hiring a plumber or an electrician, to body shops to car mechanics to landscapers - you name it. It's all just fast and cheap and who gives a f*ck. It irritates the living hell out of me and just galvanizes my resolve to do things myself, properly, with the appropriate level of care, concern and pride in workmanship to appreciate something when it's done, and to trust it will work and last a long time.

I could give examples by the hundreds of "half-assed / half-fasst" stuff I've run into both in my personal life and professional life on job sites. Un-be-freekin-lievable stuff. We've become a society obsessed with the "having", the end product and have completely devalued the effort it takes to get there. A "big house" that's a complete POS, built poorly with crap materials that will fall apart in five years is somehow valued and looked upon with envy in our society but an 80 year old house (like mine) that's built like a Sherman tank, with craft and care evident is somehow looked upon by most (other than the oddballs like me) as being "outdated". Same with our 911s. Most people wonder why people like us spend time "fixing up those old clunkers" and don't run out and get a plastic and soulless McCamry or McNissan or McPrius. Maybe it's because some of us actually value the care, craft, design and thought that goes into things that aren't stamped out by the bazillions as cheaply as possible, with no concern that they'll break or fall apart in 1/10 of the time as a precursor.

I intend to raise my kids to value the things they have (as I do) by caring for them, putting the time and effort into researching purchases before they're made, maintaining them (not just buying a "service contract" rip off) and being THOUGHTFUL about what they consume and use. I also intend to train them to understand how things work, why they work, what can make them fail and how to prevent it or repair it. I guess I'm "weird".

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* "fixed" means functional, but certainly not done to the same quality of workmanship and/or care that I'd put into it