W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, August 5, 2026

DIY – do it yourself. I am not handy; I can fix simple things. But when it comes to repairing the clothes dryer, I tremble at the thought.

A couple weeks ago, I was doing laundry and I noticed the dryer wasn’t drying clothes, it was tumbling, but it wasn’t getting hot. I thought the problem might have been the vent tube was clogged. That is something I can do and feel confident about. I tried cleaning that, but it wasn’t. It was clean.

Last fall, our daughter replaced the heating element, and it appeared the replacement had failed.

I called her – she’s at the lake – and asked when she would be home. She told me she was planning to be at the lake with the dogs until after Labor Day, but she told me,

“Dad, you can do it.”

So, she ordered the replacement heating element, and I came home with the part last week. I warned her I wasn’t going to try the repair until I had a FULL day to do it. I planned to replace the exterior dryer cover as well.

Sunday night she asked when I was going to do the repair and I said,

Monday.

I had watched the repair video and figured it would take me at least two hours. The only tools I needed was Phillips head screwdriver and a pair of pliers.

I started late Monday morning and finished Tuesday, as it turned out setting aside one day wasn’t enough for me. For most home improvement projects, I count the number of trips to the hardware store as a measure of my success. It is usually at least two trips – one to get the parts I think I’ll need and a second to get the parts I didn’t know about or something else; and sometimes more trips.

Following the YouTube video made it easy. There were times when I had to review a segment more than once, but the repair went smoothly.

The hardest part was getting the belt back on the drive mechanism. After almost a half hour, I decided search for another video to explain it – once I did, the belt was back on and driving the dryer drum. I spent about 45 minutes on the drive belt.

Once the drive belt was back on, I could reassemble the dryer. Fortunately, the video covered that, too!

The repair was successful and the dryer works.

I texted my daughter and I got back,

Yay, you did it!

Yes, I did. I have a few more projects around the house but appliance repair is not among them.

Today is going to be a wonderful Wednesday. It is Wednesday morning and I have laundry to do. Today could be a million and six times better than yesterday. So, I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day and go grab the laundry basket. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, one DIY project under my belt.

How are you with DIY projects?

He’s correct, there was a satisfied sigh after I watched this video.