September 2025 – CatsGamesWhatever

Becoming A Jack Of All Trades 003 – September 2025

September was a bit of a milestone month as it marked the first time since I started to learn about home improvement that I actually got paid for something I did. A client of my mom’s asked her to ask me if I could fix her vacuum cleaner. This is the vacuum:

A Hoover Constellation Eight Sixty Nine – A beauty

The client owns a Hoover Constellation Eight Sixty Nine that she received as a wedding gift that stopped working. I didn’t actually know if I could get it working again but agreed to take a look at it. It turned out that the plug of the cord had become brittle with age and had snapped.

I explained the fault to her and we came to an agreement that I would replace the plug and buy her new vacuum bags (as I discovered hers was filled to the top as well). She ended up giving me $50 for the hardware I needed.

The new old stock bags I bought off ebay

Once I got the replacement plug I installed it and the vacuum worked again. The vacuum bags are currently stuck in limbo since Canada Post has gone on strike while they were in transit so that will have to wait a bit. I tried giving back her change but she insisted I keep the rest for my effort which was appreciated but not expected in any way. The net amount I ended up keeping was $18.26.

Besides that I surprised myself by earning a total of $29.25 from canning this month. I didn’t think that I had raised that much but I guess it adds up.

The Tools

With the unexpected boost of the vacuum repair money I purchased an automatic wire stripper and a digital multimeter from Aliexpress.

The wire stripper is extremely useful as it’s a complete pain in the ass to strip a wire properly with a knife. Equally the multimeter is just as useful in its own way for other projects.

The third thing I purchased was a bit of a luxury item. I bought 2 bags of 50 plastic food prep gloves from Dollarama. Canning is dirty and these gloves save me from having grubby hands when I’m out and about.

The fourth and fifth things I bought this month was a speculative buy. They are a Snap On ignition tune up set and 4 Snap On nail punch/chisels.

The Snap-On ignition tune up set and the punches

I paid $12.50 for the wrench set and $3.00 for the punches from a thrift store.

I don’t have a need for the tools right now but I’ve heard that Snap-On is a well regarded and expensive brand. I’m going to try to flip them on eBay and if I make any money I’ll put that towards other tools I do need. Worst case scenario is if I don’t sell them I’ll just clean them up and keep them.

The last thing I bought this month was a pair of G8 LED bulbs from Amazon.

I found an articulated desk lamp in the trash earlier this month. It’s one of those desk lamps with a swing arm that you can put into almost any position. It looks like one of those Pixar lamps they always have in their opening animations on movies. Anyway, it had a halogen bulb in it that had burnt out and I replaced it with an LED version since it will run at 3W vs halogen at 20W with the same or better light output. It was more expensive per unit than ordering a 10 pack of halogen bulbs but I figured I will make it up with the energy savings over time. It’s actually very convenient that I found a lamp because now that I’ve taken out the AC for the year I have my workspace back and the old lamp I had on the desk has been moved to another part of the house so I had nothing to replace it with.

Financial Summary for September 2025

Revenue

Amount carried over from previous month: $10.09
Cans/Bottles: $29.25
Working Money: $18.26

Total Amount: $57.59

Expenses

Wire Strippers: $8.84
Digital Multimeter: $7.99
Poly Gloves $2.88
Snap on Ignition Wrench Set: $12.50
Snap on Punches: $3.00
G8 LED bulbs x 2: $8.04

Total Expenses: $44.24

Summary

September went better than expected. I have hope that every month will be as positive as this one but I’m not naive.

This and That September 2025

September has been busy. Work has started back in earnest so the days pass fast. A few things have happened to me this month that I thought were worth mentioning for the blog.

My electric razor broke at the beginning of the month. I had written about buying it at a thrift store back in December 2024 (HERE). It was a Remington Titanium R450 and I had been using it a little under a year. I had hoped that the blades would dull so I could test whether it was possible to hone them to get more life out of the shave head but alas it was not to be. One of the posts that held a gear to one of the 3 rotary mechanisms broke.

The way the razor was designed the black lever moves the gear so it drives the clipper when you press the button on the back of the razor. The problem is that over time the movement wears the post and it eventually breaks. Mostly due to plastic on plastic wear but also partly because the plastic had become brittle with age. I tried gluing it back but because of how thin the plastic had become any force whatsoever just snapped the post again at the break.

My ill fated attempt to glue the broken post back in place

It would be an easy fix if Remington sold replacement pieces for their products but these rotary shavers were not meant to be serviced. It’s one more example of planned obsolescence. Part of me wanted to keep the now broken razor for pieces so that I could fix the same or a similar model if I eventually came across another broken one. Realistically however this is a dangerous attitude to adopt as you can quickly become a hoarder without realizing it. Most things have value to someone somewhere sometime but you have to be able to make decisions given the constraints (space) you live with. Sometimes garbage is just garbage.

So I just ended up cutting out the batteries to recycle and binned the razor. At least I understand the fault, why it happened and how it did. Failure can be useful if you can learn from it. I have a backup rotary razor that I purchased from a thrift store in March 2025 (HERE) that I could be using but have gone with another alternative for the time being which I will discuss in a future entry.

Since I started reading again this summer I’ve been trying to keep doing it but I only managed to read 1 novel in September. It was Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King.

I enjoy reading Stephen King but was disappointed by Mr. Mercedes. I didn’t realize that it wasn’t his usual supernatural horror fare and was a more realistic “detective” type story. It wasn’t bad by any means but I don’t usually read detective type books. If I ever find the sequels I’ll read them as well just because it’s Stephen King.

I also managed to completely break my first trash picker this month hauling some chandeliers out of a dumpster.

I had already broken the claw part of the picker and had repaired it but the weight of the light fixtures bent the aluminum body and snapped the jaw again. It’s my fault for using the tool in a way that it wasn’t meant to be but I am still utterly disappointed by the quality of all the trash pickers you can buy online. I realize the only way I’ll ever get something of quality to use is by making one myself. Until then I’ll muddle by using what’s available to purchase.

I realize that I haven’t documented much of what I find or fix in the trash. I don’t because it can sometimes take time to get to a final conclusion and I didn’t feel like any money I made in this fashion would be appropriate to be included in my Becoming A Jack Of All Trades posts. Maybe I should though? It’s something I’ll have to consider.

Becoming A Jack Of All Trades 002 – August 2025

August was another decent month but it’s the last I have extra time to do scrounging on my errands since my semi vacation is now over. I did get lucky however and found a large plastic water bottle that normally goes on a water dispenser in a recycling bin behind an office building. These are worth $10 empty at the grocery store so it was a nice boost in addition to the cans I scavenged.

Found in a recycling dumpster behind an office building.

With that boon I managed to raise a total of $37.30 for August.

The Tools

I’ve been doing work without proper safety equipment and I figured that although the risks have been minimal so far I had better smarten up before something bad happens. The first thing I bought this month was a set of 50 masks for $2.00 from the thrift store.

Now that nobody cares about COVID anymore PPE has come way down in price. I remember all the anti mask bullshit that was floating around during the pandemic. You can debate all the nuance about freedom wearing them and their effectiveness but it’s my first hand experience that they work. Don’t believe me then look at the scientific studies. Sure they aren’t N95 but they don’t need to be since I’m not spending all day in a COVID ward.

The second thing I bought was work gloves off of Amazon for $5.75. The gloves work extremely well and have great grip. I should have owned a pair long ago.

The extra cat hair clinging to them was free

The third thing I bought was some 3M safety glasses that go over my own prescription ones from Amazon for $3.01.

The fourth thing I bought was a magnetic pickup tool from Aliexpress for $3.79. Aluminum cans aren’t very magnetic but it’s the rest of the metal stuff that can often be found in the garbage that makes this tool come in useful.

The fifth thing I bought was a magnetic bowl from Walmart for $4.00. Do almost anything related to electronics and you’ll want one of these things when it comes to disassembly. I’ve found often it’s either this or a headache most of the time so I opted to just buy one.

The last thing I bought this month was a Picquic multi bit screwdriver from Amazon for $12.25. I needed a Schrader Valve bit to help someone and didn’t have one on my current screwdriver. It turned out that factoring in time there was only like a $2 difference between ordering a whole screwdriver on Amazon with the bit and just the bit itself at the hardware stores near me.

It’s blue transparent handle is so pretty.

I didn’t really need a whole other screwdriver but can you ever have too many? I’m conflicted whether I made the right choice but it’s done now.

Financial Summary for August 2025

Revenue

Amount Carried Over From Previous Month: $3.16
Cans/Bottles: $37.30

Total: $40.46

Expenses

50 Facemasks $2.00
Work Gloves $5.75
3M Safety Glasses $3.01
Magnetic Pick-Up Tool $3.79
Magnetic Bowl $4.00
Picquic Multi Bit Screwdriver $12.25

Total Expenses: $30.80

Summary

It wasn’t a flashy month but I bought a bunch of stuff that I needed.