[Tim Hancock]

Other than tire mounting/balancing (someday I WILL have my own machines), In the last 15 years I have only paid for any type of service repair a few times.

I paid a relative to re-shingle our house (he needed the money although I had prior roofing experience).

I paid a couple times to have my airplane's avionics repaired (it is not legal for me to fix them myself and I do not have the manuals/test equipment to do the job).

I paid a neighbor to dig up a plugged tile with his backhoe.

I (my wife) paid a carpet installer.

I am proud of the fact that I have fixed/maintained/built/restored everything else myself which includes an old house on 9 acres, multiple airplanes, cars, tractors, motorcycles, ATVs, etc etc. I could not afford to have 1/10 of what I own free and clear if I was not a DIY person.

There will always be people like me who enjoy the challenge of fixing/restoring stuff, but the DIY mentality is long gone for the majority of Americans who are no longer learning basic mechanical skills at their jobs. IMO, the main reason for this is that companies have been over regulated by OSHA, EPA, labor laws etc to the point that they can no longer use manual labor to manufacture goods, so they go overseas, automate or go out of business. I see no end in sight to this trend.