When in doubt, READ the instructions!

My Dad was a stickler for reading the directions... first. It's a very unusual practice, I know, but one I've tried to emulate in my adult life (we won't talk about my M-O as a kid). I've found that usually I save time if I just read the directions first... it keeps me from having to redo, rebuild, repair things that I might otherwise have messed up the first time.

While we all know the benefits of reading directions when we get something new (which is not to say we do it), it's also important to hold on to those directions for the times stuff breaks down. I know, I know... that's very unusual practice, too. Nowadays, we just trash stuff at the first little sign of trouble. However, more often than not a quick read of the troubleshooting section can quickly solve the problem.

So, I recommend all of you take a minute and read the directions. And with instructions for nearly every product made worldwide since 1900 now available on the internet, there's no excuse not to. Unless you want to avoid being like me, the person who everyone always says can usually fix whatever's broken, and who constantly has people asking, "Can you help me?" I usually say, "Well let me see..."

But deep down, I just want to scream, "READ THE FREAKING DIRECTIONS!!!"