I fixed the dryer.

I fixed the dryer. It’s not a fancy dryer.

I see it like tossing crumpled paper into the trash can from afar; if I make it, cool! If I don’t make it, no harm because I would have gone to take the trash over there anyway.

More often than not, the risk/reward is that if you do nothing or fail it is going to be the same result. Yet, if you do something and succeed you are going to make a positive gain. So, the only real risk is that you might have a positive result. In the case of the dryer, I wasn’t going to break it more.

Can you think of any recent situation where that might have been true for you now that you can see it in your rearview?

So, here’s the thing I’ve learned over time about appliances and myself. Appliances are electrical and mechanical, and over time they have become more electrical than mechanical. What does that mean, it means that circuit boards run the show. In the case of a dryer, there are very few mechanical parts. Even though I don’t have a fancy one, it still relies on two circuit boards, however. How do I know this? Because I use the internet. The amount of information available to us is astounding! I generally look up a few sources, see the overlap, and act accordingly. I do this with recipes, too.

What I know about myself is that I love to learn and figure stuff out and take great pride in my ability to do so. Plus, I saved like $700 on buying a new dryer because I took a chance.

The dryer’s short story is that several months ago its drum would not stop tumbling when the power was off, and the door was closed. So, I used “The Google,” as I call it. It seemed like a circuit board issue, one that was easily accessible from the top by unscrewing five screws. I bought one online for $120.

The board arrived and the dryer magically fixed itself.

I returned it.

If you’ve never seen a circuit board just know that if it is dead, it is dead. However, replacing it generally means a couple of screws and a few plugs. Really simple.

This past week, a few months after the first incident, it happened again. This time it stopped heating during the drying cycle, too. I thought, it can’t act dead, then live again, then die again…maybe something is loose. So, I unscrewed those five screws and pushed on the plugs that connect the circuit board to the machine. And wouldn’t you know it, I heard a tiny “click” noise.

I shut the dryer door and it didn’t tumble like there was a ghost in the machine anymore! #Winning

Then, I threw in a towel for five minutes and it got warm. #WinningAgain

I put those five screws back in.

Now, might it die forever sometime soon? Sure. It might also live on for years. But for now, I didn’t toss a perfectly good appliance and throw away money, and I’m pretty pleased I resolved the issue.

If I did nothing it was broken anyway. If I tried something that didn’t work, it would still be broken. Then I would have chosen to investigate a repair or a new purchase. The worst-case scenario was already taking place, trying to figure out and resolve the problem could only improve it.

On a side note, I also know my boundaries: things that involve compressors and refrigeration are a no-fly zone for me.

To feel accomplished, you need to start small and know your boundaries. I didn’t start by disassembling large, full items. I started with little things when I was young. I have also gotten myself in over my head, too. But, over time I learned how to ask for help or plan better.

Next time you tell yourself you don’t know how; you are probably right. But ask yourself if you have the ability to know If only you were a little braver. If you just started to run, you probably wouldn’t sign up for your first marathon in a month. You’d start with a mile or a 5k. Baby steps and bumps are normal and how we learn.