My friend, Pooja, was recently stranded on the highway for over an hour, because she could not find anyone to help her. She called her husband on her mobile, and he rushed to her rescue, from where he was located, more than an hour away.
"Why couldn't you just do it yourself," I asked. "Because, I don't know how to change a flat tire, I never thought it would happen to me."
She is probably not alone. There are so many drivers out there on the road, who have enough skills to keep the car on the road, but if it comes to changing a punctured tire, they would have no clue as to where to start.
Another friend of mine, Swati, called me frantically one day. Her husband had gone out of town, and the gas in the cylinder had run out while she was cooking, so could I please come over and help her change the cylinder?
Abhijit, yet another friend, who had high ambitions of cooking up a romantic dinner and stirring up the perfect cocktail to surprise his wife (candles and all) had no idea on how to lay the table or even make a decent cup of tea.
Contrary to what you're thinking by now, I have not opened a centre for distressed and helpless individuals. But then I like helping people. Especially, if help means just forwarding them useful URLs that could give Pooja a few pointers on changing a flat tire, teach Swati how to change the gas cylinder and help Abhijit shake up a delicious strawberry margarita.
A site that promises to teach you "How to do just about everything" -- eHow -- lives up to its promise. Starting from how to manage your money better, show you how to change your radiator fluid and use Feng Shui to set up your garden, it also offers expert advice on cars, computers, food, finance, personal finance, pets, relationships and a host of other topics.
The site is well designed, neat and easy to navigate, and also boasts over 15,000 'How-To' solutions. Another site along the same lines is DIY, especially useful if you looking to decorate your house, improve interiors, or get help with fixing electricity connections. It has sections dedicated to the bathroom, garden, kitchen and covers all aspects including building material, electricals, lighting, flooring, hardware, painting, decorating, plumbing, tiles, wallpaper etc.
Besides recommending products for every section, it also has 'advice' and 'inspiration'. For example, if you are looking at the bathroom section, you will get 'advice' on how to fix a bath and wash basin (depending upon your skill level), and 'inspiration' on the right colour scheme, lighting and accessories to brighten up the room. Also available are articles on 'how you can make the bathroom fun' and 'bathroom makeover on a budget' - enough to make sure that you do not run out of ideas for a while.
On a slightly different track is DIY Search which aims to create a DIY community on the Web. So, DIY'ers can access this site and communicate with others like minded individual. Find links to sites related to arts, music, humanities, e-zines/ zines, publishing, small business and web resources.
If you want to fix the ceiling fan, design your kitchen, build some extra storage space or fix the paint peeling off the wall, the Home Depot
site can come to your rescue. It is basically designed for people who like doing things around the house and garden and want to pick up some handy tips on how to be a better handyman.
Another site that provides learning, appropriately called Learn2.com, has divided its site to target three different groups -corporate, consumer and everyday user. While sections for the corporate and consumer feature software, business communication, learning and education packages (these have to be ordered online), the everyday section was what I found interesting.
The descriptive 5-step, well designed and visually supported 'Learn2 Give a Manicure' showed me how I can avoid paying the 100 bucks I spend every month, trying improve my nails, while the 'Learn2 Choose a Pager' has a 7-step guide on how and why you can opt for this device (yes, people still use it).
There are hundreds of sites that offer help on every conceivable topic you would probably need help with, in this lifetime. However, the sites mentioned above were found to be very useful, both in terms of navigation and information, and also stood out because of their neat design. So, the next time someone calls asking for help, you know where you can tell them to go!
More Do It Yourself Links
Do-It-Yourself
Home Improvements
Home Doctor
About Home Repair
Ubuild - Birdhouses to Dreamhouses
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