------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine ------- Vol 3, Issue 1 Anyone who has a toddler running around the house knows how messy things can get. In our case, while Kaylie is a complete delight, (http://kaylie.cyberdatasolutionsllc.com) she is certainly no exception. It seems without fail, no matter how careful you are putting on the bib, some stray food particles (or even large chunks of banana) somehow find their way into her clothes. As such it is vitally important that we have access to good laundry facilities. So try to imagine our chagrin when we were preparing to head down to Texas for Christmas, the dryer started acting up. OK, it sounded like we were drying tennis shoes and maybe a bowling ball in there. So what were we to do? See the article below to find out. ---------------------------------------------------------------- In This Issue... ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Article: Mr. Fix-it 2. Shameless Self-Promotion 3. The Fine Print ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Article: Mr. Fix-it ---------------------------------------------------------------- Let me tell you about my brother. Andy (or A.J.) is a mechanical genius. He can fix almost anything. He remodeled his own basement. Messing around with his car is almost second nature. Broken appliances practically sit up and beg when he walks in the room. I suspect that the reason he has such mad skillz is that he got my helping of "Mr Fix-it" in addition to his own. I'm not completely hopeless -- I do know which end of the hammer to use to hit my thumb -- but cracking open a major appliance and attempting to make it work *better* afterward seems like an exercise in futility. So, when the dryer went out, the thought of actually trying to figure out what was wrong left me feeling kind of queasy. Fortunately, my inherent "frugality" made me realize that I should probably at least give it a whack. The upside would be a repair that would cost relatively little. The downside would mean a call to a professional. Of course, I would have to do that anyway, so, screwdriver in hand, away I went. After wrestling the dryer away from the wall, I spent a good amount of time trying to take off the back panel without much luck. I finally decided to call upon the wisdom of the 'Net for some assistance. After a few Google searches, I discovered that, instead of taking the nineteen screws out of the back of the dryer (which caused the machine to begin losing structural integrity in a bad way), I could remove the two screws in front. I found a number of sites which had some good general points. One or two of the parts suppliers had sections for user feedback, some of which were reports of their experiences. DoItYourself.com had an article or two, needless to say, but often the authors seemed to assume that I had knowledge either of technique or tool that I just didn't have. Then I discovered eHow (http://ehow.com). I've written before about EzineArticles.com, the site which allows you to write articles for anyone to use. eHow is a similar service, but with a specific mission to publish "How To" tutorials. Members of the community can write articles about whatever they know, and other members can rate or comment upon the success they've experienced following the instructions. I quickly found a tutorial on how to change the blower wheel on a Maytag washer (one of the most common problems with the Maytag, apparently). I followed the clearly delineated steps (with pictures!) and in an hour I had a dryer that was more silent than I remember it being in a long time. All that for about $30 (the cost of the replacement part). eHow has articles on how to fix appliances, to set up electronics, and to save your relationship. I even found an article on how to make your own bourbon -- not that I plan on making any, of course, but it was an interesting read. The quality of the articles does vary with the author, but the ratings system tends to help the cream float to the top. If you should find yourself with a small home project to get done and you think you might like to give it a try yourself before calling in the pros, you might want to give eHow a look. Whether or not you actually tackle the task, you might at least get a feel for the trouble involved. If nothing else, it will allow you to make a more informed decision on whether you want to call in a professional. If you do use eHow to help you accomplish some project around the house, I would love to hear about it. Drop me a line at: gpeters@cyberdatasolutionsllc.com. Copyright 2009, Greg Peters ---------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Shameless Self-Promotion ---------------------------------------------------------------- The "Clearing Up the Confusion" E-Zine is a production of Greg Peters, owner, chief cook, and bottlewasher of Cyber Data Solutions. CDS has been helping website designers develop better web presence for their clients for more than a decade. Visit us on the Web at www.cyberdatasolns.com to see how we can help your webmaster. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 3. The Fine Print ---------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: You can subscribe to the "Clearing Up The Confusion" E-zine at: http://www.cyberdatasolns.com/ezine Questions: If you have any questions, concerns or comments regarding the Clearing Up the Confusion E-zine, please email Greg Peters at: gpeters@cyberdatasolns.com This content may be forwarded in full, with copyright and contact information intact, without specific permission, when used only in a not for-profit format. If any other use is desired, permission in writing from Greg Peters is required, with notification to the original author. 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