As the man in the house, I am responsible for my family’s livelihood. As a result, I am constantly worried about every little thing and it has increasingly become an emotional stress for me. Even though I know everything will be fine, I still put my mind into stress cases.

When we drove 14 hours from Virginia to New Hampshire and back, I constantly worried that the cargo carrier on top of our minivan would pop open. All of our skis and helmets would fly out and would cause massive collisions, or worse, would kill other people. I slowed down my speed and prayed that we would make it to our destinations safely. Even though we had never experienced anything like that all these time we had traveled, and yet, the worry never left my mind.

As we were driving home last Sunday from skiing, my wife called and asked if I closed the outdoor faucet because she couldn’t turn it and the hose was frozen. Although I knew I had shut off the water, I didn’t disconnect the hose. I became a nervous wreck during the drive home. Thankfully the rain washed away the snow and the temperature increased; therefore, I was able to disconnect the hose from the faucet with some warm water.

On Monday, I found some water on the cover of the toilet seat in our basement and we hardly used that bathroom. I looked up at the ceiling and spotted a small hole. I touched the ceiling and it was wet. I broke off the drywall and found the water running along the beam. I tore off more drywall to see where the leak was coming from. It seemed to start from the outside. I suspect when the snow melted, the water seeped into our foundation and entered our basement. A leaking foundation would be a nightmare and I became extremely worried. I checked the outside foundation, but didn’t find any cracks or holes. I looked up YouTube videos to see how I could seal the foundation.

Yesterday, I went back down to check the leak area and the water was dripping. This time, the water seemed to come directly from the top floor because there was no snow or rain outside. I went upstairs and the dishwasher was running. I looked at the bottom of the Whirlpool dishwasher and spotted water dripping. I placed a small plate underneath to catch the water. I searched up YouTube and found several videos that showed similar issues. The worn-out dishwasher diverter seal grommet caused the leak. My wife placed an order on Amazon and it will arrive tomorrow. I hope that is the only issue. We’ll see what will happen when I replace that piece.

On one hand, I am increasingly feeling more comfortable with fixing things around the house. We don’t need professionals for these small issues. I also understand that they have overheads to pay; therefore, they would charge an arm and leg for something like these. On the other hand, the increase of constant worries is not good for my mental health. I am afraid that I will get a nervous breakdown over things that are unnecessary. I am just hoping that I can hold myself together.

I am doing my best to leave all my worries behind and just deal with issues as they come. Life is too short to worry about mundane things. I hope that my sons will be a better handyman than their father or they will make enough money to hire professional services to take care of everything so I won’t have to worry anymore and just live a peaceful life. Until then, I am just going to be a nervous wreck.

I started hearing an unusual grinding sound coming from my 2011 Toyota Sienna engine about six months ago. It was irritating, but I couldn’t figure out where exactly the noise was coming from. I ignored it by playing loud music. The noise had increased recently and I suspect it was from the alternator.

On Monday I took our minivan to Ourisman Toyota, which is close to our house, for an oil change. Because our minivan hit 150,000 miles, I suspect they were going to give me a list of recommendations, but they didn’t. They just changed the oil. I informed the advisor about the noise and he said they had to diagnose it for $160 in order to find out what went wrong. Although I didn’t want to do the diagnostic, the technician noted the noise was coming from the water pump.

I knew I had an issue on hand and it would cost a fortune to fix, but I didn’t know where to go. I didn’t want to take it to Phạm’s Auto Care Center because their price would be closed to the dealership. Then I remembered Merrifield Citgo an acquaintance recommended for good service and fair price.

I dropped off my minivan. The service advisor seemed nice. He told me that they would charge $50 to diagnose the problem. He confirmed that the water pump and the drive belt needed to be replaced. The cost was $750.

I checked back my record and discovered that the alternator was replaced in 2018 for $700. I wonder if C&G Specialty Auto Repair and Auto Body didn’t do a good job on it that caused the grinding.

The cost for fixing and maintaining these cars are incredibly pricey. I despise owning cars. I wish I could do away with them. I have been thinking about Tesla simply for the low cost of maintenance. Someone once told me that when there’s an issue with an electric car, you simply reset the computer. If that’s true, I am all for it.

Nevertheless, here’s the breakdown of the cost from Merrifield Citgo:

• Water pump ($184)
• Anti-freeze coolant ($40)
• Drive belt ($18)
• Labor ($396)

The final cost is $716

I was roped into the intermediate maintenance package from Priority Toyota. It concluded the following services:

• Change engine oil, up to 5 quarts, and filter
• Add BE Advanced Formula MOA Oil Treatment
• Rotate tires, adjust tire pressure and check tire wear
• Replace engine air filter
• Replace cabin air filter
• Treat HVAC with BG Frigi Fresh
• 4-wheel brake inspection and measurement Top off under hood fluids
• Perform multi-point vehicle inspection
• Review maintenance action plan

The cost was $160, which was reasonable. Then they recommended:

• 4 new tires ($1,000)
• Replace windshield wiper blades ($65)
• Brake fluid service ($145)
• Mass air flow sensor service ($80)
• Throttle body service ($115)
• Evap service ($97)

So they recommended $1,502 worth of services. My wife bought the wiper blades from Costco and I replaced them in 10 minutes. I am not sure if the rest of the recommended services are necessary, therefore, I refused them for now.

Today I washed all the windows for the first time after living in this house for 12 years. I started at 10 am and finished around 6 pm. Removing the windows was easier than I expected. I was also surprised that the windows weren’t as dirty as I thought.

Although washing windows was such a mundane task, it felt good to accomplish something. I still don’t like doing home maintenance, but I can’t afford hiring someone else to do it. A man knocked on my door and gave me a quote for $2,800 to fix my driveway. I am not going to spend almost three grants just to park my cars. I’ll patch it up myself. So that will be my next project.

Now that the kids aren’t into ice skating anymore, I might as well spend more time maintaining our home. I still enjoy rollerblading in skate parks. I am not sure if I will continue ice skating lessons. Will see.

I hardly use our master bathroom’s shower, which is a Moentrol (pull-and-push) valve. Last week, I was shocked to see my oldest Đạo pulled the handle. The entire faceplate was yanked from the wall and snapped back in. I tried to tightened up the faceplate, but it was still lifted off every time someone pulled the handle. I imagined the pipe would burst if it being pulled over time, but my wife ensured me that she had used it for over a decade without any problem. Still, I wanted to be safe than be sorry. I don’t want to deal with water pouring all over the house. That’s my fear. I kept thinking about it and the night before and I lost sleep over it. I am an over-thinker.

Yesterday I woke up early, but didn’t go to the skatepark like usual. Instead, I went to Home Depot to pick up Danco’s one-handle valve trim kit for Moen’s shower faucet. I watched a YouTube video and it seemed straightforward to replace the trim kit. The best part was that I didn’t have to shut off the main water because I only replaced the trim, not the valve.

The Danco’s trim kit had everything that I needed for the replacement. It comes with both a clear plastic and a lever handle. I went for the level handle. The instruction that came with the kit was easy to follow, but the Bilt app has 3D modelings and interactive features to guide me through the process.

I am glad I was able to replace it, but I need to stop overthinking or over-stressing on such a minor issue. Being the man in the house, I feel the burden to keep everyone safe and sound. As a result, I got stressed out over tiny issues related to water and electricity.

Parts

Danco’s one-handle valve trim kit for Moen’s shower faucet: $45

Not sure how it happened, but our bathtub has two huge chips. Something hard must have been dropped on the tub.

I picked up a tube of Super Glue’s Porcelain Chip Fix to patch it up. The Fix is only available in white and our bathtub is a beige color. As long as the chipped areas won’t rust, I don’t care. Our bathtub is pretty old anyway, but it is still in good condition. Replacing the entire tub, which is way out of my ability, is unnecessary.

Another day, another home maintenance.

Parts

• Super Glue’s Porcelain Chip Fix: $5
• Sandpaper: $5
• Scott Blue tapes: $5

Total cost: $15

Update (July 28, 2021)

Super Glue’s Porcelain Chip Fix didn’t work too well because the chips were huge and deep. I had to take it off and my wife patched them up with WaterWeld instead. The formulated epoxy putty is quite tough. She covered the chips a bit thinker than the surface. As a result, we have to sand it down. It takes quite a bit of time to sand. I think we’re good to go now. I still wanted to find out the culprit who caused this damage.

Parts

• WaterWeld Epoxy Putty: $5
• Sandpapers and hand sander: $10

We had a Korky fill valve that made incredibly loud, screeching noise every time one of us flushed the toilet. The sound got louder and louder to the point where I could not stand anymore. I will never buy another Korky fill valve again. I picked up Fluidmaster’s Universal High Performance All-in-One Toilet Repair Kit instead for $32.

The job took me an hour and a half instead of ten minutes or less as the product has claimed. I am not a handyman at all. What took the most time was detaching the tank from the bowl. The screws were tight and rusted; therefore, they were hard to come out. The rest was straightforward and there was no leak. I hated working with water because I always worried about the leaks. This job turned out well.

A few weeks ago, the kitchen faucet hose leaked when I pulled the sprayer. I just needed to replace the hose, which was simple to do. We have a pulldown Moen faucet. My wife ordered the Replacement Hose kit for Moen Kitchen Faucets (Pulldown 150259) from Amazon for $20. Here’s the video I followed.

Yesterday, my wife pulled the fan string and broke the chain. I had to open up the fan’s box to fix the three-speed switch. Although this video walked through the entire process, the reassemble part was difficult to follow. It took me over an hour just to get it right. Since my switches were clear plastic, I used the light switch as a reference to put all the pieces together. If you want a quicker solution, just order a new switch for $8.

My 2011 Toyota Sienna’s windshield had a long crack along the wipers. I was not sure how or when it started to crack. I just noticed it a couple of days ago. I googled for an auto glass repair shop around my area. Windshield City caught my attention because of the positive reviews. I was still skeptical; therefore, I called Ourisman Toyota Collision Center for recommendation. The manager said they often contracted out to Windshield City.

I called Windshield City for an estimate and made an appointment for 3 pm today. I came into the shop, dropped off the car, rollerbladed around the blocks for a bit, came back, and got a brand new glass an hour later. I only interacted with Lindsay Rose, the office manager, and that was it.

The entire job cost $300, which included labor and after-market glass. I am very happy with the service and highly recommend it.

On April 15, 2021, I drove to my sister-in-law’s house to pick up her son to go ice skating with us. As I backed out of her driveway, I felt an impact. Her neighbor across the street also backed out and we collided. The edge of his bumper hit the side of my bumper. His car was fine, but my minivan was damaged. We called our insurance and settled the coverage.

I took my minivan to Ourisman Toyota Collision Center to get it fixed. They did a good job of replacing the bumper and the sliding gate in the back for $3,500 (covered by insurance). The downside was that they took almost three weeks. We didn’t have rental in our insurance policy. Fortunately, my wife and I both work from home; therefore, we could get by with our other minivan. Still, there were times that we both needed to be out.

In addition, I asked them to look at the scratches on the sliding door that were unrelated to the collision and to give me an estimate so I could pay out of my own pocket. They said that they would take care of them without additional cost. When I picked up my minivan, they did nothing to the scratches.

I talked to David Martin, the production manager, and he said that he would order the protectors and schedule a specialist to replace the projectors. He said that the cost would be less than $100. I agreed to the service. I am not sure if he would follow through with it or just an empty promise.