When My Equipment Fails

Balloon Dog made from duct tape
Duct tape fixes everything

I am like a child with a new toy who has no batteries in the house.   Frustration, anxiety, and bewilderment rage through my brain. Instantly, MacGuyver channels me and I become Long Island Medium with all the answers.

Duct tape fixes everything[/caption]

Over the past couple months; I have replaced two car tires, an iron, a computer monitor, and countless other things that I had to patch up with a spare something or another. I am not a hoarder, my wife would say I am a pack rat, but all I try to keep are important things that I may need later.

I still have two electric pumps and an old, worn out balloon apron.  I have a simple rule, if I can replace it in 24 hours or can get the part at a local hardware store; there is no need for me to store the part. If replacing something with a more efficient model and the old one still works – the old one it now becomes my emergency backup.

Tips for Not Hoarding

  1. Discard multiples – Keeping every balloon apron, bag, or case does improve your skills. If still good, pass on to a beginner and let them enjoy it as much as you did.
  2. Toss Out Old Balloons – If you have not used up that open bag of balloons in 2-years you are never going too.  Toss them, you will feel better and so will your spouse.
  3. Clean Out Training Material – Do you still own that Dick and Jane book that taught you how to read?  If you have mastered what was in the book, toss it. You are never going to use it again.  Eliminate the clutter for new more advance material. Besides YouTube has it all, unclutter your shelves with things you can find online.

Replacement is exactly that, replacing it. Ninety-nine percent of the time discarding the old is best for everyone.  I have learned there is a MacGuyver in all of us and if we need something fixed immediately we will find a way.  Consider this, by the time we find the replacement part in the clutter, hours, days and month later, you have bought a replacement and be on your way.

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