Reddit mentions: The best home improvement books

> I moved out a few years ago and I couldn't figure out how everyone else kept their homes so tidy. I'd clear up, mop, throw away rubbish, bleach everything and within a week it was back to tiptoe-ing over bags of things and empty food packets and cat litter.

One of the things I realized when I first moved out on my own was that my parents had taught me how to clean, but not when to clean.

Actually, that's not quite accurate. I was taught that when it all became too much (usually about once every two to three months), to devote an whole weekend (or as much as a week during summer vacation) to an all-out, full court press approach to cleaning. Starting on Friday night there would be hours and hours of non-stop sorting, organizing, throwing away, dusting, sweeping, mopping, etc.. It meant giving up an entire weekend, was utterly exhausting, and was extremely demotivating. When I moved out on my own, I never wanted to clean when things got bad because I learned this was how you clean house.

What I eventually figured out is that the best housekeepers--once they have their house where they want it--spend somewhere between 10 and 30 minutes a day maintaining the state of the house. So rather than spending two to three days on one huge deep-cleaning rampage, good housekeepers break cleaning down into small, manageable tasks that only take a few minutes every day. Essentially, they do a handful of daily cleaning tasks, and one slightly larger cleaning task, per day.

It was like a light bulb turning on in my head. I would much rather spend 15 or 30 minutes a day tidying up than three or more days deep-cleaning every two or three months.

If you ever read the classic children's book Little House on the Prairie, you might recall Ma Ingall's housekeeping schedule:

> "Wash on Monday,
>
> Iron on Tuesday,
>
> Mend on Wednesday,
>
> Churn on Thursday,
>
> Clean on Friday,
>
> Bake on Saturday,
>
> Rest on Sunday."

If you've ever read any books on the history of housekeeping (Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson is a nice introduction to it), you'll know that the above was the traditional housekeeping schedule for much of American history. Some folks have come up with modernized versions (example), and of course I just posted one here yesterday.

The point of schedules like this is three-fold:

1. Houses don't just magically stay clean. The best housekeeper you know works a little bit every single day to keep their house in shape.
   
2. The reason that they only have to clean a little bit every day is because they have a routine to keep ahead of the cleaning and clutter.
   
3. Once you develop a routine that works for you, staying ahead of cleaning and clutter is trivial. Seriously, you'll kick yourself for not having gotten a routine sooner.
   
   And here's a secret that I learned when I adopted a housekeeping schedule: If something happens and you can't do your routine for a day or two, your house doesn't immediately descend into utter chaos. Trust me when I tell you, it's a LOT easier to recover from missing a couple of days of small tasks that from a giant hoard.
   
   "Wash on Monday" is, at it's essence, the same thing as the "Starting Small" approach mentioned in the Hoarding Resource List in the sidebar. It's breaking down housekeeping into manageable tasks, saying "Today I will work on X, and only X."
   
   What ultimately worked for me was this:
   
   
4. Using a housekeeping schedule very similar to the one I posted. (I don't recall where I found the one I use, but there's only very minor differences between it and the one I posted).
   
5. I bought the book Speed Cleaning by Jeff Campbell. You can by the book used for pennies, or order the PDF version from his website.
   
   Campbell has owned/run a professional housekeeping service in California for decades, and their service is known for being able to clean a standard-size 1-story home in 15 minutes or less. This book breaks down their cleaning method for the homeowner--Campbell tells you what cleaning tools and chemicals to use (and why), tells you what rooms to start in (and why), tells you where in that room to start (and why), and literally walks you through how to clean an individual room. It is NOT a book of housekeeping "tips", but actual instructions on how to clean in a certain way, and why that way is both effective and efficient.
   
   Campbell's method is now how I clean my house, and I absolutely recommend this book to any recovering hoarder who's gotten past the retaining-items stage and is now trying to develop housekeeping skills. I will state that the very first time you try his cleaning method, it won't take 15 minutes per room because obviously you're starting out learning it. But as you continue to use it and get used to it, you will speed up considerably.
   
   It sounds like right now you have a lot of clutter to get rid of, but it also sounds like you know how to get rid of it and are able to let go, and that puts you WAY ahead of a lot of hoarders. Once you get your apartment back where you want it, I suggest that you:
   
   

• get a copy of Speed Cleaning,
  
• learn Campbell's cleaning method for each room,
  
• and then use the housekeeping schedule above (maybe combined with this one from Molly Maids) to develop a housekeeping routine that works for you.
  
  Finally, if you get to a point in your recovery where you want to start exploring different housekeeping systems, please visit /r/messyhomes. The mod, /u/Bellainara has hoarding tendencies herself, and welcomes people with similar struggles. You can contact her with any questions. The intro post for /r/messyhomes is here.
  

This is novel, I get to post on this sub as an answerer instead of a questioner lol.

So, I've got 6 VW busses. They are not really for sale so to speak but those are the credentials. I bought my first bus in 1998 for a $300 while still in high school with 0 mechanical knowledge other than changing my oil.

As some have said here the best way to start is to just jump right in! Find one you like and go for it. When I started buying VWs they were still trash vehicles, everybody had an old one in the backyard and they were just looking to get rid of them. Now they are a bit more precious, you will pay much more for a poor condition bus than I would have for a great one back then. But the upside is there are many more aftermarket places for things that were harder to find then. NADA, Edmunds and the like are useless to find out what busses are worth. It's best to get familiar with online VW communities like the Samba they also have an excellent classified section.

I used a book 60% of the time to figure things out on my bus. Two books you REALLY NEED are The Idiot's Guide and the Bentley book. Between these you are pretty much covered. The Idiot's Guide is similar to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, I would recommend reading it cover to cover.

For the other 40% of my VW learning curve I utilized people's advice. Air cooled VW enthusiasts are the best people to get to know. They will always wave and stop to chat when you finally get to drive your bus. Find your closest VW auto club and start joining in activities, make connections and offer to help people fix their cars, it will be a huge help and you will make friends.

Now just a quick final observation and opinion. You said you wanted a "camper van". From that description I can point you to a a '68 to '79 Westphalia. Those are what most people picture with that description. There are three main body styles for busses; Splitty, Bay Window and Vanagon all fall under the general model number Type 2 (beetles are type 1). I don't want to write a novel here so I'll cut it short. If you have any other questions feel free to ask here or PM me, if I don't know I'll know where to look.

I grew up in a house where my dad was extremely "handy" and able to fix just about anything.

I tried to be as "handy" as he was but found that growing up in a different time and economic conditions didn't prepare me very well for that. Up until a few years ago, when something broke, I would just call up my dad and he would come over and "help me" fix it (which mostly meant he did it all himself), but after he passed on, I was determined to acquire at least a semblance of the skills my father possessed.

The straw broke for me a couple of years ago when I had to have our kitchen remodeled after one of the sink fittings failed and leaked water, destroying a bunch of the flooring and necessitating replacing all the cabinets.

After enduring contractors taking 2 months to fix it despite being the highest rated contractor on Angieslist and the BBB and watching their progress and ignoring objections to my concerns, I swore I would never hire a "professional" to do anything I even remotely might be capable of myself.

Recently, I was able to do repairs to my heating ducting, light fixtures, bathroom fan/light and kitchen faucet and I figured I saved about $500 from having a professional do it. I had less luck with replacing my brake pads on my car as one tire would not come off and putting the car up on jacks and trying to kick the tire loose seemed like a really bad idea, so I paid for that one.

Keep on plugging away. Your repairman skills will only improve with time and use. Don't be ashamed if you have to re-re-repair something....usually by the second time around you know what everything does and where it goes so the repair goes easier. I've "fixed" one particular faucet three times now as the materials used in it's construction were shyte (Faucet "lifts up" because the bolt head inside securing it down was broken). I've been trying everything short of welding, but that's my next step. So now I get to teach myself how to weld a faucet together.

Here's some hints I have for the starting handyman....

Take pictures/video before you start. Take video as you remove/disassemble.

Keep all your old parts/bits in a bucket designed just for that.

Read up online on how to fix stuff. Try to find how-to videos. If you can find specific videos for your make/model of applicance/car/etc so much the better. Take online instructions with a grain of salt and don't use specific instructions if they weren't for your specific product.

Do a good job as you possibly can given your skills and tools. But if a repair fails, don't beat yourself up....just apply the lessons learned. When you do a home/car repair, you've got the opportunity to make it better than original. Take pride if you are able to repair something better than it's original condition.

If you learn things or "little tricks", remember to write them down. I have a little "repair book" with hints, tips and urls that I've picked up.

Also buy the Readers Digest Home Repair Manual It's full of good practices and advice as well as general step by step instructions. And a book is a lot better than a phone or tablet when doing this kind of thing.

Good luck and happy fixing! You'll do great on that sink the next time!!!

I'd say to keep remembering that what you're trying to set up is a student run business. Pretend you're Elon Musk trying to tell people how electric is the next best thing in the automotive market, which may be true, but the public (and more importantly, endorsers such as the school) are not going to be swayed easily without proof of concept.

Before I go on, I was the president of the VCU FSAE team in Richmond, VA up until last month (June 2017). The team was in the same predicament as yours 10 years ago, and was getting threatened with the discarding of the half-finished vehicle up every other year until our first competition at Lincoln 2017 (for internal combustion). Richmond is the capital of Virginia, so I'm very familiar with the difficulties of building a vehicle in the city as you've described above. That being said, the information I'm providing is from a team that didn't pass the Noise/Kill-Switch tests at tech inspection, and I'm probably going to be one of the least experienced people to respond to this thread.

Start with looking at the paperwork required for competition, particularly the Business Logic Case. Here, you outline your goals for the vehicle and why you want to build it in the first place and who you will sell it to. Do you want to make the car cheap and market it to a broader, lower income market? Or do you want to make a high cost vehicle which comes with options such as paddle shifting, adjustable front and rear wings, and a carbon fiber monocoque. Every design decision that is made on the car after deciding on your market and budget needs to coincide with the Business Logic Case, which you are allowed to modify if the team decides that they want to market differently for whatever reason. The car should be designed around the Business Logic Case, and we messed up by designing our Business Logic Case around the car, and that's why I want to mention this so strongly.

From there, you'll probably want to assign a few people who have taken their economics/business courses to start on the presentation. There are a lot of things in the presentation that the judges love to see, such as factory layouts, tooling requirements, and labor costs that take a lot of time to prepare and assess accurately.

Design work can start alongside the Presentation, beginning with the chassis. There are a few key points I'd like to throw in first:

1. Have a full 3D model of the entire car before building or ordering anything, unless it's for proof-of-concept or school presentation purposes and can be stored in your student org society room.
   
   
2. Leave yourself a lot of space inside the chassis to work. Leave large tolerances and assure that everything will fit and be able to slot in to its spot. It also helps your team from getting frustrated when you learn that you'll have to drop the engine for the 5th or 6th time this month.
   
   
3. There is a "standard" chassis outlined in each chassis sub-section in the rulebook, and I highly recommend starting with this, as it is guaranteed to pass in the Structural Equivalency Spreadsheet. (Note: The same applies for the Impact Attenuator and Impact Attenuator Data Sheet. A standard one does not require real-world testing results).
   
   
4. Keep as many mechanical items in the car as possible. I would not advise creating paddle-shifters, traction control elements, or any other systems that cannot be fixed with duct-tape, JB Weld, or zip ties at competition. I don't really agree with the decision to go electric for your first car, but even still, there will be more people who can work on mechanical elements in the vehicle instead of electrical elements, simply because electrical vehicles are not the norm in industry yet.
   
   
5. Every system needs a design and cost report!!! Being a first year team, it's going to take forever to get your first car driving. Make sure that every design on the car has a report that outlines why the design team made certain decisions that what the results of their analyses were. A full bill of materials will also need to be done upon the completion of each system. Just make sure that no significant information is lost when people inevitably begin to graduate from your school and your team.
   
   
6. Make sure that every parameter in the Design Spec Sheet is known before a particular system design is "completed". There are a lot of weird values that they want, and it's very likely that only the people who worked on that system of the car will be able to fill in the blanks.
   
   
7. Don't use or buy any parts that aren't free or discounted. This was something I asked a lot of teams about at Nebraska, and pretty much all of them abided by this.
   
   So as a summary, compile all the paperwork that you'll require for competition, and begin working on it as soon as you can. It should go something in the starting order of:
   
   
8. Business Logic Case
   
9. Design Report (from each team, and then compile and shorten to the 6-page FSAE version)
   
10. Design Spec Sheet
    
11. Structural Equivalency Spreadsheet
    
12. Cost Report
    
13. Impact Attenuator Data Sheet
    
    With all of this completed, you should be able to make a very solid case to anybody at the school for building space. I encourage you to keep trying to get work space as you put together the virtual stuff in the vehicle however.
    
    I will leave these resources as well for you to look through:
    
    
14. Emily Anthony's "Key points for a successful Formula SAE team" article
    
15. Carroll Smith's Engineer to Win, Tune to Win, and Prepare to Win books. Everyone on the team should read these as soon as possible before the design of the car starts or gets too far in.
    
    
16. FSAE Forum Book List. Encourage team members to look here to order books before beginning design work on the vehicle. Chassis team members order books on structural components, intake/exhaust get books like Four Stroke Performance Tuning, and etc.
    
    Good luck, and let me know if you have any other questions!

>possibly a basement but I think that might be beyond my expertise in building.. not sure yet.

Can you describe your building experience, please? Are you a builder? This will help us be more focused.

If you are interested in building it yourself, I suggest a book I just re-read called The Well-Built House, which will take you through one expert's process. It is not exactly the latest but it is very practical and useful.

I purchased that and the Graphic Guide to Frame Construction years ago, at Builders Booksource. I highly recommend utilizing all your local resources, too. Bookstores can be great. Designers, builders, planners can be an even bigger help. Try talking to anyone in the local planning departments about the process, pick the brain of your neighbor, the general contractor or your old uncle, the architect. Of course, the more we know about where you are from, the more we can offer advice.

Most importantly, whether you go with a strategy to build on your own or you hire an architect, don't be discouraged. I see this over and over with clients. Architecture is a long process. It can take (and almost always does take) a number of years to complete it. Take this in stride and you will do fine.

Best of luck and please do keep us updated.

Just some tips that I learned over the years...

1. Tools and know how to use them, safely. http://www.reddit.com/r/HomeImprovement/comments/1xeyuf/home_improvement_faq_my_first_toolbox/ - I started out with Harbor Freight tools and purchased better stuff that I used more often.
   
   
2. Probably the most common thing around the house to fix/repair is drywall. This should be pretty easy. Learning how to do the common textures, such as, Knockdown, Orange Peel, etc.. Painting, which should be pretty easy, but there are a ton of articles that have good tips on preventing common mistakes,
   
   
3. Since you're thinking about knocking down walls... learn basic woodworking and home structure. I personally liked this book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1600854923/ - which basically covers just about everything you can do with renovating. If you're building a bar... you may want to make your first project be a workbench or something simple, which will also be useful for building cabinetry and what not. It talks about also different materials/tools for the job at hand, which is useful.
   
   
4. Building Codes... probably a good idea to know different building code standards, if you ever plan on selling the house. You'll want to make sure that it stays up to code for any project you do. You don't want to end up creating a potential fire hazard that may cost you $ in the future. I can't stress it enough, safety first. If you're tearing down walls, be sure you're not cutting into electrical wires and what not.
   
   
5. Electrical, basic electrical knowledge will help. E.g. knowing about circuits, circuit breaker operation, safety, etc.
   
   
6. Planning out your project ahead of time, will help you avoid costly mistakes, prep you for what tools/materials you'll need. Don't be like me and dive head first. Usually when I deviate from this, my projects come out less than desired. So plan ahead of time.
   
   
7. In the end, the best way to learn, is to plan your project and just go out and do it. Take your time. Don't rush it. Start with small projects where you can afford to make mistakes. Having a carpenter in the family also will help for things that you're not sure on, plus you can probably borrow some of the more expensive tools.
   
   

Plenty of good feedback on your design in this thread but I'll throw this out there. If you want to learn more about ICE engines (and you should if you want to design them) here are some good books on it. I'm an engineering student, lead engine designer for my FSAE team and taking a break from a lit review on compression ignition engines for my research project to do some redditing. These are some of the best books that I've found, presented in the order you should read them (from most basic to most advanced). Basically, if you want to revolutionize a technology you need to understand most if not all of what has come before.

• Four Stroke Performance Tuning by Graham Bell:
  
  The value of this book is largely in getting an introduction to how physics and calculations play into engines. It's intuitive but thought provoking.
  
  
• Design and Simulation of Four Stroke Engines by Gordon P Blair
  
  This is one of the most noted ICE books, he also has a 2 stroke edition, and can be read and reread. It delves deeper into discharge coefficients and gas flow through engines, with a focus on pressure waves.
  
  
• Internal Combustion Fundamentals by John Heywood
  
  The name may make this one sound basic but in reality it's the most basic book of the next level of research. Where Blair will help you characterize and optimize an existing engine Heywood will help you design one from scratch. I honestly haven't been through this book entirely but it's tremendously useful.
  
  One thing I notice about your design that I have to point out is sealing the paddle to the combustion chamber. You're looking at something very similar to an apex seal on a Wankel engine, arguably the greatest weak point for that engine. In your design, the direction of drag on that seal would change but on the other hand it would experience slower average speeds.

>I want to learn to repair and maintain as much as I can myself so I don't have to depend on anyone.

So budget a $100 or so for the next year with a plan to get a couple of good illustrated guides like this "Fix-It-Yourself" along with other DIY and books like "How (the stuff in) Your House Works" -- think of it not only as "emergency" information, but that the knowledge you gain from it will (even if you don't end up DIY'ing everything) probably STILL save you money by at least making you not a complete idiot/mark for contractors to screw over -- and it's even sort of "entertaining" to read through/look at (each book costs around the same as buying a round of drinks, or taking a date to a movie -- and if you're at all "geeky/techy" type, you'll probably MORE enjoyment from just flipping through the book & looking at the pictures, LOL -- more than most movies anyway.)

--
EDIT: Note I'm not really recommending those specific linked books -- just using them as examples of the different types of "photo-filled or illustrated-picture" guidebook things that are out there. I always find it ironic that people will often balk at spending $20 to $40 on a solid "basic knowledge/reference book" like that, but will then turn right around and rather thoughtlessly blow the very same $20 or $40 (or more) on some other entirely pointless/trivial crap (like booze at a local bar, or a single viewing of some bullshit blockbuster film crap), from which they learn/gain absolutely nothing of real value.

For probably only a couple of hundred bucks total, you can build a whole "shelf-full" -- a "home DIY reference library" covering everything from basic electrical work to masonry to plumbing, etc -- and across your life that info (assuming you use it) will easily save you multiple times its original cost.

It's definitely because you haven't figured out how to handle it yet. I'm an instructor with Doc Wong Northwest. It's a free riding clinic & covers the finer details of sport riding. We teach the concepts covered by Keith Code's Twist of the Wrist 2. I personally help run the clinics in Albany, but they originally started in PDX. You should check them out. They meet the first Saturday of every month at BMW Motorcycles of Western Oregon in Tigard. Not only is it a great way to learn more advanced riding, but it's a good reason to get out and ride & a great way to meet other riders in the area.

I'd also like to recommend a few books to get you started:

• Twist of the Wrist 2
  
• Sport Riding Techniques
  
• Total Control
  
  Seriously, when you know you'll be in Eugene with your Bandit...PM me. There are a lot of great roads around here.

I second Youtube, but I never really trust any one video, I have to watch a bunch of them and then go for whoever seems most trustworthy. It is nice to have a single expert resource you can turn to frequently.

I really, strongly recommend How Your House Works by Charlie Wing. It's got great cutaway illustrations for common features of the home, and he explains how they work and interact with each other. It's interesting to read, and also a good reference. It's written for beginners, and would be a nice way to start even if you intended to go into greater depth with some other book.

This is going to seem like a weird suggestion but hear me out:

Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook.

If you just see the cover, you'll be like, "um, I don't need a book to tell me how to wash windows, k thx bye."

But a picture of the cover doesn't show the Bible-like thickness of this book. It's like 750 pages and is a comprehensive guide to living in a house. Covers everything you should be doing to maintain a house on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis. Covers how to manage specific rooms. Covers how to deal with pets. Covers everything from how to wash and fold clothes to how to repair the plumbing to the washing machine. Covers everything from how to clean a lampshade to how to add a new lightswitch. Has a "materials library" where it goes over every possible material things could be made out of in your home and how to care for them.

It's absurd how in-depth it is. It's basically everything you'll "find out the hard way" about owning a home over 30 years, the easy way and without the wait.

But, if you're looking to go beyond "how to be a homeowner," the Reader's Digest/Family Handyman "Complete Do-it-Yourself Manual is the single best resource for all your DIY home improvement heavy lifting.

Some things I would do in addition to changing locks and a deep clean...

Test out and explore the circuit breaker. Know what does what outlets/lights/etc.

Replace all of the smoke detectors if you don't know how old they are. Most are only rated for 10 years. Get a CO combo unit as well. Could save your life later. Pick up a fire extinguisher as well and check it whenever you check your fridge filter (or furnace filter if the fridge doesn't have water filter).

Clean your oven. Always good to have a fresh start.

Have stained woodwork? Invest in a wax stick and stain marker that matches the existing trim to repair any nicks and scratches that happen when you move in :)

Most importantly...remember there is no rush on many repairs. Water is something best repaired as soon as discovered...but little things you may find annoy you (like the off-white outlets and switches) are things you can tackle whenever you deem fit. Owning a home is not as difficult as many people make it out to be. You already have found a good resource. Here is another one I would suggest:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1621452018/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile

Most of all...enjoy your home. Remember to relax and share it with others...especially those you care about. Wish you the best!

Check out these books for in-depth stuff

I personally like Carroll Smith's books and Four Stroke Performance Tuning. While FSPT is very good, it is very difficult to read. Carroll Smith's "_____ to win" books are very good places to start, and are easier to read.

Tuning knowledge is definitely something that is improved on over time. After building fundamentals in tuning particular systems, you'll see opportunities for the car to be better, and then you do research on which setting would be better than another. Racing sims are very good for seeing the effects of suspension tuning, which is where I started. For console, obviously Forza and GT6 are worth looking at. With no console, check out iRacing, Live for Speed (demo has free multiplayer), and Assetto Corsa.

You can do that with the Ninja 250. It's all practice. Like V_Glaz_Dam mentioned you should watch the Twist of Wrist 2 series.

Here's something I wrote for one of my friends.

For books, I personally like this one the most. I feel like Nick took a lot information from the Twist of the Wrist books and made it more modern.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1893618072/ref=oh_o02_s01_i00_details



But I also learned a lot from Lee Park's book. Lee Park hosts a rider school where he runs over all the drills in his book and helps with rider technique. You have to google the class schedules but he comes around California at least once or twice a year.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0760314039/ref=oh_o04_s00_i00_details



The there is the Twist of the Wrist series
http://www.amazon.com/Twist-Wrist-Motorcycle-Roadracers-Handbook/dp/0965045013/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330372612&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Twist-Wrist-Basics-High-Performance-Motorcycle/dp/0965045021/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1330372612&sr=8-2

I haven't read those books but the Twist of Wrist II videos are on youtube so you can check them out.



The last book I would recommend is Proficient Motorcycling. I highly recommended reading that one because it focuses a lot on general riding. Techniques that everyone should learn just to stay alive riding on the road. The book can be found at some libraries so you can save some money by just loaning it.
http://www.amazon.com/Proficient-Motorcycling-Ultimate-Guide-Riding/dp/1933958359/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330372534&sr=1-1-spell

The rest is all practice.
Also youtube "ninja 250 track" and you'll see a bunch of videos of guys racing their 250s on the track.

I wouldn't get on a track until you are at least familiar with your motorcycle. Get some miles under your belt before you decide to do it. After you are comfortable on your bike I would try to hook up with some local riders who are better than you. That way you can talk to them and learn from their experience. But remember to take most advice with a grain of salt. I personally use meetup.com to meet a lot of other guys to ride with.

Personally, as a current(lol EE jokes) EE undergrad I like to use a lot of reference material that have tons of examples that are worked out so I can not only check my answers, but check my logic as well.

I would highly, highly recommend <Fundamentals of Electric Circuits> - <Charles Alexander and Matthew Sadiku>. I use this book even now in my senior year. There are lots of helpful examples that step you through every iteration of the circuit analysis process. I love this book and I think this will definitely ease you back into electrical engineering.

As a side note, it's very easy to find a pdf of this book online. PM if you're interested in the book, but not necessarily the price;)

1. Definitely invest in a good basic home DIY book (you never know when the power/internet will go out and then where will Youtube be as you grapple around in the dark trying to fix your hot water heater?). This is the one my dad has: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Yourself-Manual-Newly-Updated/dp/1621452018/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
   
   
2. Keep all manuals for appliances and read them (especially things like washers/dryers, ovens, etc.). Proper care will extend the life of all appliances and can prevent dangerous incidents like fires or floods due to misuse or wear & tear.
   
   
3. Prevention is always better than cure! For example, a toilet plunger and a sink plunger are two things you want to have on hand before you need them. Invest in some basic tools - a multihead screwdriver, hammer, wrenches and a power drill will definitely come in handy.
   
   
4. On a similar note, learn where everything is (I know this sounds basic, but you'd be amazed at what people don't know about their own homes) e.g. shutoff valves for each toilet/sink, the shutoff for the water to the whole house, breaker box, etc.
   
   
5. When you're buying the house, ask as many questions as possible before the sale: What kind of wiring does it have? Has the roof been redone recently? How about the brick pointing if applicable? How old is the furnace? Are their warranties on any of the structural elements like the roof? Is it transferable to a new owner? Make sure you know all this stuff and write it down in a "house bible" if you will - that way if something goes wrong and you need to hire a professional, you can answer their questions quickly and efficiently.
   
   
6. Finally, when it comes to fixing things know your limits. It's great to learn DIY and try projects yourself, but remember that there are professionals out there for a reason! If you're not sure, put down the hammer and ask - ask an expert, ask at Home Depot, ask your friends/family, ask the internet, but have all the facts before you start.

The biggest thing you need to do for yourself right now is begin to lose the weight. Learn how to eat healthily and begin to workout. Fat head and Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (which streams on Netflix) were excellent starting places learning about food for me. Then hopping on the internet to do my own research.

As for working out, Bodybuilding.com has a plethora of information. When you get on there, DO NOT LOOK AT THE WOMEN AND GET DEPRESSED. That won't get you anywhere and you will change nothing. Look at those women as pure potential in yourself. Start changing the way you think about things like this right now. Changing the way you think is going to be the biggest and best thing for your self and it's going to apply across the board.

Grow out your hair.

Find a girly style that you are comfortable with. Personally, I love Modcloth.

Learn to cook. Get it out of your head right now that it is at all difficult. It's not. The reason people find it difficult is because they think it's difficult. Here's and incredibly easy recipe that takes minutes. What do you want to learn to cook?

House cleaning. This is an excellent book on the matter.

Hobbies. Look for something that you like to do. Knitting, sewing, crocheting are all great. But do they interest you? If they don't, don't force yourself to do them because you think you should. It won't stick and a man will think you strange. What interests you? Don't search for traditionally feminine pursuits if there is nothing there that piques you. Find what you love and try to do it in a feminine way.

Stand up straight. Really. Small but huge.

Smile. Often. At everyone. Even heavy, people will notice a happy and pleasant woman. Your attitude means everything.

Be friendly.

Don't sleep around.

Start with these. As you begin with the big things, you'll begin to delve deeper into the nuances. But you have to work with the big before you can work further. DON"T BEAT YOURSELF UP. You. Will. Fail. It's just part of the process. Even the women doing this for years, we still fail. It's not the set back that makes it awful. Awful would be giving up because you made a mistake.

Read. Read. Read. Here and the sites on the side bar. Once you've done that, come back here and ask questions. We'd love to help.

The only things I'm going to say to add to this in depth post is that not all states require a permit before your MSF class. I didn't need one in Washington State. So look up your state's laws and see what you need to do. Also, my class was $125, I think.

You'll need boots that go above the ankle and gloves and long sleeves before you take the class. If you know you're going to be riding for sure, you can go and get good gear beforehand, but even someone as ATGATT as myself was fine with jeans and my regular jacket rather than full gear. The fastest I went was maybe 25 in a smooth parking lot without anything more dangerous than a cone to hit. Yes, there's the risk of injury, but my four layers (it was cold) would have protected me enough for that, I think. There was zero risk of hitting another car, and a small chance of hitting another bike (in most classes, mine had three people, one failed, and so it was two of us).

I agree with a 250 bike of some sort. I started on a Rebel 250 and loved it, but I'm 5'1" and a size four (I'm female) so it was fine for me. Anybody over about 5'5" would be too tall for the Rebel. But find what kind of bike you want -- sports bike, cruiser, standard, etc. -- and get one with a low curb weight and smaller engine. Just for now. I've actually never completely dropped a bike, but twice I've tipped bikes over. The Rebel was in my MSF class and I got it upright on my own. The second was my brand new Harley, riding it back from the dealership, and I couldn't get the bike up on my own, my husband had to help. Tipping the Rebel, and knowing how to get it upright on my own meant that when I tipped the Harley I didn't panic and I could hold it until my husband got over to me (he had followed me home, so I knew he was there and he could help). Had he not been there I would have figured it out, I'm sure, but knowing I could do it for a smaller bike at least caused me not to panic and not to let go.

Also, get this book. http://www.amazon.com/Motorcycle-Safety-Foundations-Motorcycling-Excellence/dp/1884313477/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332116572&sr=1-1 The "textbook" I got during my MSF class was a light version of this. But I read this before my class, showed up an hour late accidentally (which is normally an immediate dismissal), and breezed through the classroom stuff because I'd read the book. That was the only reason I was allowed to stay. The other book was a joke compared to the amount of information in this one. I read it over the course of two weeks before my class. It was because of this book I knew how to stand the bike up after having tipped it, even on my own (my instructor came over, but didn't touch it). I was seriously the Hermione of the class having read this book beforehand.

Otherwise, I completely agree with the others. Take the class, start on a small bike, don't forget to buy gear enough to keep you as alive as possible, look up the laws of your state, and enjoy it!

You can definitely hit the highway with your CBR300 as long as you allow yourself to gradually get more comfortable with riding at speed. Sure, a bigger bike will have more passing power and a little bit more weight which will make it feel slightly more stable, but that extra weight has its downsides too, and it's not like the upgrade will strip away the problems you're encountering now, it would just tone them down slightly.

I remember my first time riding on a highway and how I felt the wind was pushing me all over the place, but after years of riding the thought of wind doesn't even cross my mind. What changed? Truly the change that made the biggest difference was letting the bike find its own balance instead of trying to constantly use steering inputs to react and counter every new sensation I felt on the highway. In short: I developed more faith in the ability of the bike to keep itself upright.

Motorcycles are remarkably self-stable, even your CBR300. Also, motorcycles are actually way more stable at speed than when they are puttering around town believe it or not, and I fear you might be making the mistake of overbearing the motorcycle with unnecessary steering inputs. It might sound scary right now, but if you took your hands off the handlebars at 60MPH while going straight down the highway the bike will continue heading straight, and even if a gust of wind hits you with your hands off the bars the bike will actually self correct on its own and continue heading mostly straight... I'm not saying I recommend that, I'm just trying to illustrate a point: the bike will do the heavy lifting of keeping the bike upright without any help from you at all, your job is to guide the bike with subtle steering inputs.

How can we achieve this? The big secret is not letting your arms fight eachother. Lee Parks adresses this in his book Total Control (excellent read, highly recommended); he recommends only letting one hand/arm be in charge of any given steering input. Don't push with one arm and pull with the other, instead allow one arm to be in charge of the steering input and the other just supports the action by balancing the handlebars. The goal is to relax your arms and be entirely neutral in your grip when no steering is necessary.

Once you get the hang of this you will feel like a zen master every time you hop on your bike, and you'll feel a deeper connection with your machine too because you'll realize it's not just a one-sided effort of you singlehandedly keeping the bike upright, instead it's a mutual relationship between you and your machine and you both have to hold up to your end of the bargain for it all to work out.

I hope some of this helps!

Get the Books!

The three wisemen as I call it.

In order of usefulness

• The Muir Book
  
• The Bentley Manual
  
• The Haynes Manual
  
  I will argue that the Haynes manual is mostly redundant if you have the other two.
  
  check out ratwell.com and the type2 mailing list.
  as someone else pointed out, the samba is a great resource too.
  
  Also invest in a nice torque wrench.
  
  Replace all the rubber fuel lines in the bus.
  I don't care if the guy you bought it from "just did it", do it anyways.
  convert to electronic ignition. Hotspark is affordable and works well. Others swear by Pertronix. YMMV. Keep the points in the bus with you and a spare set just in case. At less than 10 bucks, its a lot cheaper than a tow.
  Spare coil is also good to have.
  Put it all in a "go box" make sure you have what you need to get going again for most problems.
  
  I have a 75, with a 77 block, and the fi from a 79. These vehicles are almost always frankenstiened together.
  
  Take oil leaks seriously.
  
  Finally, Have fun.
  Owning a bus has been one of the best experiences in my life. Its not all sunshine and rainbows. I have had my fair share of strandings. But now my bus is a champ. I know her inside and out and when I drive her it puts a huge smile on my face.
  
  Welcome to the club!

Good choice for a first bike. But its important to understand that you need to respect the machine and what its capable of.

There are plenty of resources here that can help you. First thing first, take the MSF course. This will give you the best start on riding a motorcycle. They will teach you a lot of the very basic fundamental principles that you need to know to ride safely. Dont skimp on this detail. It will definitely help you in the long run.

Second, start reading. I recommend "Proficient Motorcycling: The Ultimate Guide to Riding Wello" by David Hough. This is a good book to start with.

After that, - and once you've read through the first book at least twice - look into "Total Control: High Performance Street Riding Techniques". This is a good second book to pick up and commit to memory.


As for gear, I wouldnt trust a $50 helmet. It may work perfectly for you. It may even be comfortable. But in a crash, when you need it to perform at its absolute best, you get what you pay for. Im not saying you should go out and buy an $800 Shoei or something, but the helmet is not somewhere you should be skimping on protection.

The jacket and gloves look fine. As for the boots, I've been using cheap Chinese knock-offs of American combat boots. They are all leather, go up mid calf and with tall socks, I fold the top of the sock over the top of the boot to keep the laces tied. Definitely not something you want to get caught in the gears.

And read this forum (and all motorcycle forums) with a grain of salt. In other words. There are plenty of opinions out there. Some of them good, some of them bad.

And then, practice, practice practice!

YouTube is good. Google is good. This book is good. Friends and family are good. This sub is good.

A lot of home improvement projects are actually surprisingly simple. Swapping out a light fixture, for example, is usually pretty much just disconnecting a couple wires from the old one and reconnecting them to the new one exactly the same way. Whatever it is, just start small, take your time, triple check everything before you do something irreversible, and remember that it's your house so you want to do it right.

If altering walls/floorplans is important to you, definitely make sure to bone up on framing and carpentry - there are some great books on Amazon that are geared towards apprentices. They're very easy to understand and will help you figure out how to make changes to your home. At the very least, you'll be familiar enough with basic concepts to ask smart questions of any contractors you hire in the future.

Also, you'll want to learn about the difference between load-bearing and non-load-bearing walls.

If you're looking to find a professional for his/her opinion, assistance or labor, asking elderly neighbors for recommendations is a good place to start. Don't overlook asking around at your local mom & pop hardware, plumbing store or sawmill as well. The "gruff curmudgeon" working the counter for the last 20 years has seen & heard a lot and can be an invaluable resource.

If you find yourself buying supplies locally, it's almost always preferable to buy them on a 'cash and carry' basis at a source that sells to pro-contractors. Sherwin-Williams vs Home Depot, for example. These guys sell products that are meant to last (no pro worth his or her salt wants to come back and redo a job they just finished because something has failed or broken) and that aren't available in big-box stores. The more you buy, the more of a relationship you will build, and this is always a good thing when it comes to DIY. There are a lot of fantastic roofing/plumbing/tile shops in nondescript pole-barns out in the middle of 'nowhere'. You can usually find these shops by reading pro-forums online, searching for products that are mentioned, and then looking for distributors on those product manufacturer's websites.

Last but not least, if you ever find yourself looking for granite or marble counters, pay a visit to your local tombstone/monument company. You can often pick up amazing deals, and if your project is small enough, you can buy their "scrap" trimmings for far, far less than you would pay at Lowe's or a custom kitchen company. (We scored beautiful marble thresholds and window sills for our bathroom remodel for $20 each; the tombstone maker custom-cut them out of a piece of overage he had leaned up against the back of the building.)

I bought this book off Amazon earlier in the week and it should be here today or tomorrow. I'll let you know if it's the Bible that I think it's going to be.

I've grown to really like taking care of my bike, almost as much I like riding it. :) To know how something works really intricately is like knowing a good friend. I maintain planes for work, so it's kinda the same thing. I just like knowing how things work and that I made it work better!

I'm not sure if you've seen this website, but it's pretty comprehensive and helpful. It's really old and a bit difficult to navigate, but worth it.

Ride on brother!

Some activities that make me feel better when I'm feeling "off" are: shower, wash your face, floss/brush your teeth, do a face mask, write in a journal, call a loved one, go for a walk, take a fitness class, have a drink, tidy your living space, read a peaceful book ("Home Comforts" is a personal fav), go on a little adventure (public gardens/greenhouses are great), take yourself on a date(woo the shit out of yourself), put on fancy headphones and listen to a melancholy/blue playlist, take a depression nap, rub one out, give yourself something fun to look forward to (sign up for a class or something), practice a new skill, make something for a loved one, DANCE

Here's a list, off the top of my head - I know all these are on my bookshelf, but I'm probably missing a few more:

Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club by Sonny Barger

Freedom: Credos from the Road by Sonny Barger

Ridin' High, Livin' Free: Hell-Raising Motorcycle Stories by Ralph Sonny Barger

Dead in 5 Heartbeats by Sonny Barger

Under and Alone by William Queen

No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels by Jay Dobyns

Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga (Modern Library) by Hunter S. Thompson

Street Justice by Chuck Zito

The Original Wild Ones: Tales of the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club by Bill Hayes

Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road by Neil Peart

The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa by Neil Peart

Against the Wind: A Rider's Account of the Incredible Iron Butt Rally by Ron Ayres

Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work by Matthew B. Crawford

Honda CB750: The Complete Story by Mark Haycoc

Shovelhead Red The Drifter's Way by Roy Yelverton

Shovelhead Red-Ridin' Out by Roy Yelverton

A Twist of the Wrist 2: The Basics of High-Performan​ce Motorcycle Riding by Keith Code

Total Control: High Performance Street Riding Techniques by Lee Parks


Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert M. Pirsig - Still my favorite. A high school english teacher bought it for me when he found out I had just passed my motorcycle road test. I've read it at least 15 times, and get something new from it each time.


But the best recommendation - Buy the FACTORY SERVICE MANUAL for your bike and read it. Read it often, until you can almost turn to the exact page for each procedure.

I grew up in a household where the chores were always done by somebody else. When I started living on my own, I had plenty of motivation, but lacked knowledge. Home Comforts, by Cheryl Mendelson fixed that; the first few chapters talk inspiringly about why and how to clean and tidy. If your housemate / partner isn't evil, merely chaotic, and is open to new input and is capable of self-re-programming, then that book just might do the trick.

I would worry about condensation and mold on your cool ceiling. If your summers are humid, that would be a bigger problem than if they're dry...

We just put in radiant heating in our home last year and had a very pleasant winter. It was a DIY job and the Siegenthaler book was extremely helpful. Definitely worth the money. Another excellent resource: heatinghelp.com

Good luck!

I love recommending this book(bicycling magazine's complete guide to bicycle maintenance) every time someone has a beginner maintenance issue. It explains everything in a very logical and easy to understand manner. I went from using wd40 on my chain to building up my first bike from the frame up with this thing. It will answer pretty much any question you'll have and will give you a greater appreciation of your fantastic whirly machine.

You should try only doing your steering input with the arm on the inside of the turn. Trying to steer with both arms means you're going to be needlessly flexing a lot of muscles as your arms try to fight each other. By steering with one arm the bars will feel a whole lighter and your outside arm will stay relaxed and free to work the controls with more dexterity. It also lets the wheel move slightly as is it responds to the road through the turn. Nothing on the road is going to try and rip the bars from your hands mid turn so just let them wiggle as they like (dirt is a different story).

The first time you try this, do it somewhere nice and open because you might find the bike turning in more quickly than you're used to. I was actually quite surprised at how much easier it made turning the bike. It feels like you shaved 100 pounds off your machine. It reduces fatigue substantially as well.

For attribution, I learned this technique from the book Total Control by Lee Parks. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Edit: the second review on that amazon link mentions this exact technique and reviewer's amazement with it's effectiveness.

Check out this book:

Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House

https://www.amazon.com/Home-Comforts-Science-Keeping-House/dp/0743272862

It has the answer to how to properly clean everything--dishes, bedsheets, litterbox, shower--with instructions for how to make homemade cleaning solutions, how often you should clean items/spaces, et al. It's made a huge difference in my life and saved me money on store bought cleaning aids.

There's a glossary in the back (obv) so you can easily search for what it is you want to clean.

definitely. I replaced a reverse light switch (screws into the transmission under the car) felt pretty awesome about myself. I would recommend getting the bentley manual. I understand that is the one to go with. Good luck!

I am a current EE student right now and saw you ask in another comment about book recommendations so I thought I would throw a few in:

• a frequently recommended electronics book is :Art of Electronics
  
• A frequently used (us included) electronics book is Microelectronic Circuits
  
  
• For introductory circuits we use (and i enjoy) : Fundamentals of electric circuits
  
  
• I am hoping to get through : Signal Processing and Linear Systems
  
  
• instead of the above the smartest professor I know recommends anything by : Oppenheim
  
  
• a couple good books for brushing up/learning engineering mathematics: Engineering Mathmatics and Advanced Engineering Mathmatics
  
  
  You should probably throw in some electromagnetic and semiconductor physics for good measure as well.

For aerodynamics competition car aerodynamics by Simon McBeath is good starting point for aero.
Amazon link
Competition Car Aerodynamics 3rd Edition https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1787111024/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_LyUezbWXPXNS1

For engine design, I've found the tuning books to be good for a base point. The Books by A Graham Bell are good starting points
Amazon link.
Four-stroke Performance Tuning (4th edition) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0857331256/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_1BUezb9J526WQ

I'd also recommend some of the books from the speed pro series. Should be noted there are books by bell for 2 stroke engines should that take your fancy

Transmission wise I'm not to sure. I got all my knowledge of those through practical experience and engineering maths.

Hope this helps

Capt. Crash Idaho has some good tips and techniques with his free videos.

Here are some basic parking lot exercises. A tip for laying out parking lot cones--get a bunch of bright yellow tennis balls and cut them in half. You'll get two "cones" for the price of one tennis ball.

There's a lot of good articles on Bike Safer.

There are some good books and DVDs if he's willing to spend a few bucks, get the Total Control or Ride Like a Pro DVDs. RLAP is mostly focused on slow-speed tight turning techniques (like the police bike "rodeos" do). More Proficient Motorcycling book is great for street survival tips. If he's willing and able to spend more money, then he could take a course, such as Total Control, MSF Experienced Rider course, etc. Speaking of MSF, you can get their book here.

When I took the MSF Beginning Rider Course, several of the other students already had experience riding and owned their own bikes. They, like me, were there to refresh the basic skills and maybe learn something new because we were all self-taught. BRC isn't cheap, but I think it's worthwhile, and being on a bike in a structured environment like that might be just the confidence-builder that he needs.

Edit: I found a link to PDF files from the MSF, including their textbook for the BRC.

I've only worked with one a handful of times. But each time I've had few issues. Just make sure you really research what you're doing, grab a bentley manual and follow its directions. Make sure you have a good set of jack and jack stands, the E30 is a relatively low car, so if you're doing work to it you'll need to lift it up sometimes.

Always do valve adjustments every 15,000 miles and the timing belt every 50,000, the M20B25 is an interference engine, if that belt goes it'll blow the entire thing. Make sure you change the oil and fluids, etc. etc. The engines in these things will go forever if you take care of them.

The cool thing about E30s is they're an enthusiasts car, so there's quite a few videos on YouTube on how to properly do a lot of this stuff, and there's at least 2 active forums; E30tech and r3vlimited so If you need to know how to do something chances are someone has already done it and can tell you how.

Family Handyman magazine is a good one for the stage you’re at. Sign up for their email list of tips; I have and often find something useful in their newsletter emails.

Familiarizing yourself with the basic tools you need — various simple manual hand tools and their use, simple power hand tools and their use — that is a good first step.

Learning to use tools in the proper way will prevent you from inadvertently making some ill-advised-but-common mistakes, and will help keep you safe in the meantime. (For example— Could one use a flathead screwdriver as a rock chisel? Perhaps. Should you? No, and there are reasons for that and better tools for the job.)

Books like this one:
The Complete Do-it-Yourself Manual Newly Updated

Should be a good starting point. They’ll cover the basic ways houses are plumbed, wired, and some of the basic building techniques.

If you’re planning to do electrical work around your house, I’m going to highly recommend a non-contact voltage tester because it can tell you when a switch still has electricity live to it. I have a couple of weird wiring configurations (multiple breakers used in the same junction box, from three-way light switches) in our 2015 house, and my tester has saved me from risking getting shocked a couple of times. Being careful is also key, but that sort of tester is a good thing to have.

Unfair Advantage by Mark Donohue. A fascinating look into what it takes to really and truly excel in the world of racing. Awesome stories.

The http://www.amazon.com/The-Unfair-Advantage-Mark-Donohue/dp/0837600693/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1395869155&sr=8-2&keywords=unfair+advantage

Forced induction performance tuning. A fairly math heavy book as to how to make boosted engines really work. Unfortunately, it's been discontinued, so it's quite expensive to find a copy. It's really worth paying the money for a used copy if you are going to be doing a big forced induction build.

http://www.amazon.com/Induction-Performance-Practical-Supercharging-Turbocharging/dp/1859606911/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395869313&sr=8-1&keywords=forced+induction+performance+tuning

Four Stroke Performance Tuning. Same author as above. Still in print. Good info about NA engine building.

http://www.amazon.com/Four-Stroke-Performance-Tuning-Graham-Bell/dp/0857331256/ref=pd_sim_b_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=06E3Z1TE8P27JV7JVWKN

Street Rotary. A really good intro to rotaries with very solid technical info.

http://www.amazon.com/Street-Rotary-HP1549-Horsepower-Reliability/dp/1557885494/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395869534&sr=1-1&keywords=street+rotary

Youtube is great, it's helping me remodel my bathroom. As far as books go, (hey the power might go out), the Reader's Digest book is a great thing to have around.

Good luck!

When I took it a year ago, the examples were sparse and it felt like the course didn't keep up with the labs. In the first week and a half, we were covering physics fundamentals, the syllabus, and the professor's standards in class and in the lab we jumped straight into voltage and current dividers. We had three or four homework assignments and IIRC there was a single circuit in each homework.

My advice is to get a really good fundamentals of electrical engineering book and work as much of that book as possible. I used this book and I found it very helpful. It would be a good idea to watch EE videos on YouTube as well. EEVblog, GreatScott, ElectroBOOM, and bigclive are all good resources.

Some poking around on Amazon, starting from the page for the Cunningham text recommended by redditor EbilSmurfs which was thoroughly panned by Amazon customer reviews, I found this book. It is Alexander's Fundamentals of Electric Circuits and received almost uniformly 5-star reviews. Most reviewers noted its clarity of exposition, which made it appropriate and useful for self-study. Also noted was the high correlation between material covered in a section and the concepts needed for the section exercises that followed at the end of the chapter. It is a McGraw-Hill textbook, and one reviewer noted that the book format is chapters divided into sections, worked examples after every section, review questions with answers at the end of the chapter, exercises grouped by section also at the end of the chapter, and then more end-of-chapter exercises that combined all the concepts covered in the chapter.

Almost bought it on impulse; added it to my wishlist, instead. While typing this, I noticed that redditor lordloss also recommended this text, which his school uses.

The current 4th edition is $155 at Amazon; the second edition can be had for $12 through Amazon Marketplace; the second edition was also found on Google Books.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of The Art of Electronics.

HTH.

Dont know the background/skill level/target audience you are looking for, but I found this pretty invaluable over the years:
Complete Do It Yourself Manual
It’s a pretty good walk through on all home systems in general. May be more basic than what you are looking for. I’ve got some pretty ancient books on carpentry and framing as well, the general concepts have changed little.

Just a lot of books... Here a re some of the ones I've bought over the past year:

Welding:Principles and Applications (this is a bit overkill but I found it at a used book store)

Advanced Custom Painting Techniques

Four Stroke Performance Tuning

Engine Builders Handbook This is more focused on V8s but has a lot of great advice/best practices.

Sheet Metal Fabrication I have only used the skills in this book to make my electronics box so far, I was originally going to make a cafe style seat but decided on room for a passenger. Someday I would like to make my own gas tank.

Other than that it's a lot of online research!

In addition to tools, may I recommend a book such as the Park Big Blue Book or Complete Bicycle Maintenance and Repair. Between a book, sheldonbrown.com, and YouTube, you're pretty well covered for references. Also a good companion for tear-downs: A digital camera. A picture, and a good system for organizing parts that have a specific order will save you some heartburn.

I've been doing my own home maintenance and repair for about forty years, and I think these Readers Digest books -- here and here -- are very good. I've used them through multiple editions, and I bought them for my son-in-law when they bought their first house.

Some specialized topics (like gas fireplaces) receive only the most superficial treatment, but that's inevitable in books like these. One thing you'll learn is when to try something yourself and when to call someone. For instance, I've hooked up gas stoves and dryers, but when it comes to working with the gas lines themselves, I'd rather pay someone who knows what he's doing. And so far I haven't asphyxiated anyone or blown anything up.

Anyway, those are the books I've recommended to quite a few people. Good luck.

Your insurance company didn't come to inspect either after you bought the house? Maybe my insurance company is weird that it did come and inspect.

Anyways, it's going to be quite expensive. I haven't paid someone to do it, but I have gotten rid of old knob and tube (not being use) and replaced it with proper modern stuff.

What is the power coming into your house like? You have a breaker panel, fuse panel, or what?

If you are the DIY'er type, I would hire someone to install a breaker panel and move all your current circuits to that (I'm assuming you've got fuses). Make sure he installs a breaker panel with enough spaces you can fit all your proposed circuits in. Form there, just pick a room/circuit and re-wire it and then add that to the panel. It's not all that hard, just time consuming. Also, as long as you have half a brain about how electricity works, test wires to make sure they aren't hot (you flipped the breaker already, right?) it's kinda hard to hurt yourself.

Here is a great book.
http://smile.amazon.com/Wiring-House-5th-Pros/dp/162710674X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1463502073&sr=1-1&keywords=wiring+a+house+rex+cauldwell

Also...buy this book

You need to properly set up your bicycle so it will be an extension of your own body while you're riding it. Sounds a little corny to the uninitiated, I know.....but trust me. A properly adjusted bicycle is like the difference between driving a '74 Ford Pinto and a Bentley.

Riding position is key...if the saddle is too far forward or backward...you'll be out of position. If the saddle is too high or too low, you'll be out of position. If the brakes are too sluggish or too tight....you'll be less safe.

You almost certainly should get new brake & shifting cables.

BTW...all of this advice is contingent upon whether or not you want to love your bike. If you have a short commute...and just want a cheap ride back & forth...the time & effort will most likely not be worth it. But...if you want to start a new love affair with cycling....you'll remember me for pointing this stuff out to you.

Not quite as technical as the others, but the Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair from bicycling magazine is a great, easy to use reference. Everything is illustrated with photos and there is a ton of good information for both the novice and the experienced.

If you are interested in learning to work on bikes, I would reccomend this book: http://www.amazon.com/Bicycling-Complete-Bicycle-Maintenance-Repair/dp/160529487X . I learned by an earlier edition of this book, and now I do all of my own maintenance (except for truing wheels, and suspension parts)

I hope you enjoy the biking lifestyle! Owning , maintaining, and riding for utility and fun is one of the most rewarding hobbies/lifestyles you can get into! I have recently started to ride my bike EVERYWHERE, and just leave my car at home (have refuled once in the past several months). With learning the bike lanes, and my new waterproof messenger bag, I feel UNSTOPPABLE !!!

Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping house and Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Housebook are my favorites. The Martha Stewart one is more broad than the other which makes it a better reference, however, Home Comforts has a very extensive section on fabrics and laundry that is so helpful and much better than Martha's.

When I was in my twenties, I bought an '87 BMW 3 series from a friend of a friend for $800, it had 146K miles and needed a lot of work, which included: the muffler had a 5 inch hole (the car was loud enough to set off car alarms when driving by); the center support bearing was broken which resulted in the drive shaft causing an unnerving thump-thump-thump between the front seats when accelerating from a stop; the front brake pads were so far gone, the squealing of the brakes was slowly turning into just a metal-on-metal grating sound; the hood release cable was broken, the hood could only be opened by knowing the right spot in the front grill to insert a long screwdriver and twist to release the hood.

I'd been driving stick-shift cars since I was 16, but I had never tried to work on a car until this one. I bought the Bentley manual, watched videos, and talked to my friends that had e30 BMWS. I bought some tools, I found some sites that sold parts for reasonable prices, and was able to teach myself enough to repair most of the issues myself over an 8 month period. Despite all the the problems the car had when I bought it, the engine was still strong and in good condition. Once I had most issues fixed, I was constantly telling myself that a car this old had no right being this much fun to drive.

So, while I'm not really giving a direct suggestion on which way you should go, I just wanted to relate my experience of how much fun it was to learn how to work on a car using an e30 BMW (without it getting too overwhelming). And if you're not looking for a pristine e30, they can definitely be found for under $5K.

I'd recommend [e30 zone] (http://www.e30zone.net/) for learning about the models.

As far as fixing them, a crowd favorite is the [Bentley Service Manual] (http://www.amazon.com/BMW-3-Service-Manual-1984-1990/dp/0837616476)
As fair warning, you need to understand that your e30 will break down and there will be periods of time where it's out of commission. You should have a secondary form of transportation. Even though some e30s can be obtained for cheap, the amount of work you might have to put into them can easily be worth double the vehicle. If you don't know how to work on cars, and don't know anyone who will help you work on it, then an e30 or other classic probably isn't the right genre of vehicle for you. However, if you have the willpower, it is a wonderful car to own and maintain.

https://www.amazon.com/New-Complete-Do-Yourself-Manual/dp/0895773783

The good thing, is that most used book stores have copies of these for pretty reasonable prices.

5.0 out of 5 starsNew Complete DYI Manual by Reader’s Digest: An Excellent Resource
February 22, 2018
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
This 1991 hard-cover, heavy book has 528 pages, almost all of which have hand-drawn color graphics and a few black and white photos on them. This book has 17 chapters.




This is a review from Amazon:

I also have the original 1973 edition (without the word ‘New’ at the title beginning), which has 600 pages and many more photographs – color – than this book, so we use both of them as a reference. One of the other differences besides page numbers is in chapter 17. In the 1973 edition, for example, the chapter has 50 projects that the buyer might want to build, so for this chapter alone, the 1973 edition is worth keeping and consulting.

Another difference between the 2 editions is that the 1991 edition has more current tools and accessories that are demonstrated to fix things.

I am not a contractor and have never fixed things in a house before we bought our first home. I am an educator, so I have lots of different books on different topics to consult in my library when something needs fixing in the house. I also do online searches, print them out, and use them in conjunction with these 2 Reader’s Digest DIY Manuals.

I'm reading Maximum Control and Motorcycling Excellence. I've been riding for 10 years and for the $13 dollars spent on Motorcycling Excellence, I've gotten a great refresher. Plus, the chapter on wheel geometry has given me more confidence in the WNC twistys. Totally worth $13 IMHO. Not Started Maximum Control yet.

I'd recommend:

1. buying a bentley e30 manual
   https://www.amazon.com/BMW-E30-Service-Manual-1984/dp/0837616476/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519082032&sr=8-1&keywords=bentley+e30+manual
   
   
   
2. Buying a decent mechanic tool set, I just bought a 450 piece one off sears for $250 but any good rated amazon one for $70-$120 should do for basic stuff
   
   
   
3. Register on a good e30 forum like r3vlimited.com and look at the diy guides and info there

http://epb.lbl.gov/thermal/hydronic.html

http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Hydronic-Heating-Residential-Commercial/dp/1428335153

Hydronics is a well tested and used technology, just that its expensive in the initial installation. Similar as with solar panels, you have to pay up front, but then it pays for itself.

Sinking an insulated tank containing a couple of tonnes of water in your basement is quite easy, easy also to heat up the water with water panels on your roof, then extract the heat later.

People use this to maintain 65F temps in their modern ultra efficient houses.

Google and read up on it.

• https://www.amazon.com/Sink-Reflections-Overwhelmed-Disorganized-Discover/dp/0553382179/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1498398044&sr=1-1&keywords=sink+reflections
  
  She also has a web site, flylady.net
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Home-Comforts-Science-Keeping-House/dp/0743272862
  
  How you organize the house can help with the chores. Organizing efficiently means less work and easier chores. For instance, daily use stuff should be stored where you can reach it easily, stuff used rarely can be stored on a top shelf, in another room or the attic or basement.
  
  Also you can't clean clutter. Declutter and you will be happier.
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UNJX4S/ref=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o02_?ie=UTF8&psc=1

YouTube videos are great. I find I do better with a book though and use YouTube as a backup once I've given something a go but can tell there is something I'm missing. Just depends on how you take in information best.

Edit to add the book I use. There are lots of them on Amazon with good reviews.

The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance & Repair: For Road & Mountain Bikes https://www.amazon.com/dp/160529487X

I too am going to be taking my safety course, next month. I got this book to help me before I take the course. They'll go over all of this stuff in the class, but I figured it can't hurt to study before! I've only read about half of the book, but I've already learned a ton. Definitely recommend you read it if you get the chance.

I don't think you can get by on one book, and I definitely don't think you'll get the "hands on" and theory in one book either. Then there's digital and analog.

You could start with allaboutcircuits.com, a kind of online book. They were alright for me when i started off, but that was a couple years ago. If you want an academic intro to circuits, you could try to look up your nearby university's intro to electronics course and see what book they use (mine used [this]
(http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Electric-Circuits-Charles-Alexander/dp/0073380571/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1457401391&sr=8-2&keywords=Fundamentals+of+Electric+Circuits+4th)).

I'd recommend the academic approach if you want to go to advanced territory, you'll need to learn trigonometry, how to differentiate and integrate. As well as some differential equations and linear algebra.

If you're trying to do this on a budget, you could always buy an older addition of an academic book. The fundamentals usually doesn't change much between editions. You could try the schaums outline books on Circuit Analysis as well, they are cheap. I can't vouch for their accuracy though.

Most silks are washable too. The hand of the fabric may change and dome dyes might bleed so testing a sample cut is important. Silk is especially delicate when wet so machine washing it is difficult.

That said, dry cleaning is harsher than hand washing.

For anyone interested in learning more about the science of fibers and fiber care I strongly recommend the cloth section of Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House by Cheryl Mendelson.

I'd go for something more like this...

The Essential Guide to Motorcycle Maintenance

I thumbed through it the other day, and it looks like a good overview of motorcycle maintence. I'd use it, and also get the repair manual specific to the bike you purchase to restore.

The books recommended here are not as much motorcycle repair and maintenance as philosophy and how enjoyable it is to wrench on a bike.

Yep - sounds like you're probably past a lot of the on-bike portions of the BRC. But there is some valuable class room stuff for someone who's not ridden on the streets.

Lucky for you the BRC course book is online - bam:
http://msf-usa.org/downloads/BRCHandbook.pdf

Another couple books that are worth looking at
David Houghs - Proficient Motorcycling
http://www.amazon.com/Proficient-Motorcycling-Ultimate-Guide-Riding/dp/1620081199

And Lee Parks - Total Control
http://www.amazon.com/Total-Control-Performance-Street-Techniques/dp/0760314039/

I like Parks descriptions of the more technique oriented content. But Houghs book covers a lot of road/traffic survival techniques that are touched on lightly or not at all in the Parks book

A good book, that's also free is Foundations of Signal Processing available for free here.

Though what it sounds like you need is a basic Electric Circuits textbook, such as Fundamentals of Electric Circuits by Alexander & Sadiku is my favourite or even the one by Dorf & Svoboda, in both these textbooks the Fourier Transform is covered in the context of Passive Filter Design, and the chapter on this topic is much later on in the book.

I'm late but i just started reading : http://www.amazon.com/The-Essential-Guide-Motorcycle-Maintenance/dp/1884313418
Click on Take a look inside and goto page 7, 8, and 9 they have a pretty good list of tools to start with to help you with all basic maintenance.

I really liked this text when I was taking circuits:
http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Electric-Circuits-Charles-Alexander/dp/0077263197/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319959923&sr=1-1

(older versions of the text are good; I used the 3rd edition). Everything is pretty clear & straight forward in that text.

Graphic Guide to Frame Construction.

I love this book. It has great tips, structures, methods, and detailed pictures to show how to accomplish what you're looking for. Also mentions code requirements. In the link above, it goes to the third edition, which is what I own.

I haven't actually used it that much on jobs because I've gone union and work mostly commercial jobs, but I've used it on some other projects for straight framing and it was great.

Here is a link for the fourth edition.

I trust Fine Homebuilding. For about $40/year, you can get access to their entire archives online. Although they don't always have something specific to what I want to do. And the books from their parent company, The Taunton Press are really good.

Also, the Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual which is a collaboration between Readers' Digest and Family Handyman is actually a very good comprehensive general resource.

+1, and don't forget the Bentley Manual!! It is by far the best thing you can buy for DIY projects on these cars. I have one fore my E30 and my E28, and it has never failed me.

I would also add a variety of different sized flatheads and phillips screwdrivers. And I would recommend an actual caliper spreader for brake changes vs a C-Clamp, as it is much easier in my experience and they can be had for ~$10.

Congrats! I learned how to work on a car with a few E30s. Great fun to drive. Now go out and buy your new bible: http://www.amazon.com/BMW-Series-Service-Manual-1984-1990/dp/0837616476

Well I'm guessing you are probably going to learn about residential systems first. Easy to learn. I learned out of this book.http://www.amazon.com/Refrigeration-Conditioning-Technology-Bill-Whitman/dp/1111644470/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418598491&sr=8-1&keywords=air+conditioning+textbook
The instructor will have his own choice of book though....First things you learn are principles of pressure and temperature, and then the basic refrigeration cycle, and then basic electricity...I would say getting a head start is great but the on hands with the teacher is really going to be what sticks with you....Some of the guys in this sub might agree that after you have read or been taught a little bit about it, it will stick better when you do it yourself

This book seems to have the best reviews on Amazon (of similar books).

Also, I couldn't let it pass...check out Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, a great work of fiction.

Some books previously recommended on this sub:

https://www.amazon.com/Renovation-4th-Edition-Completely-Revised/dp/1600854923

https://www.amazon.com/Carpentry-Remodeling-Installing-Removing-improvement/dp/0865737207/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1494249697&sr=8-3&keywords=black+and+decker+books+Framing

“A Practical Illustrated Trade Assistant on Modern Construction For Carpenters-Joiners, Builders-Mechanics, and all Wood Workers.”

Do-It-Yourself Housebuilding: The Complete Handbook. by George Nash.

Also, Old This Old House and/or Ask This Old House episodes that cover framing may be valuable to you. JLC and FineHomeBuilding.com are likely to have some beneficial tid-bits of wisdom when you start formulating you're own queries.

There is a book called Home Comforts that is pretty much the bible of home care. I highly recommend it as a really solid starting point; I read through it when I was young and on my own for the first time and really found it invaluable.

The Fanny Farmer Cookbook is an excellent source not just for recipes, but for instruction on basic techniques that recipes will assume you know--like what it means to fold in egg whites, for example.

Home Comforts goes in depth on hows, whys, and different schools of thought about housekeeping. It's a bit on the intellectual side, which will appeal to some people more than others.


If you need help in creating housekeeping routines, staying on task, or digging yourself out of a mess, the Flylady website or her books might work for you, but not everyone responds to her writing style which in on the bossy, "keeping it real, y'all" side.

The Reader's Digest "Complete Do It Yourself" book is pretty handy to have. link to amazon.

Good illustrations and covers a huge amount of material for your home.

EDIT: This is the one I have and not only is it really helpful but also very informative when making new purchases. I buy this as a gift for whenever my friends get a house.

Large text book, covers everything you could ever want to know.

https://www.amazon.com/Refrigeration-Conditioning-Technology-Bill-Whitman/dp/1111644470/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500075961&sr=8-1&keywords=modern+refrigeration+and+air+condition



This book is amazing, it will talk about everything refrigeration based, has a chapter on everything, lots of great pictures, dumbs down every peice of equipment. you will look like a pro if you read this book a few times.

its always in my van, most questions i can answer with it.

https://www.amazon.com/Commercial-Refrigeration-Air-Conditioning-Technicians/dp/1428335269/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500075993&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=refrigeration+for+airconditing+technicians

This book has really great reviews: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Yourself-Manual-Newly-Updated/dp/1621452018/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481734426&sr=1-1&keywords=home+improvement+book

Also I second the Youtube suggestion! My 70 year old step dad who isn't great at home improvement and is even worse with computers successfully repaired our washer with the help from Youtube.

I'm in electronics too, but after 3 or so classes in circuit analysis I think I'm good. If you want a really useful learning and reference book for circuits check this out. Do note that's the 4th edition and they're onto the 5th now, but I've inspected both and they're practically mirror images of one another. Most of the stuff in there has been known for the past 100 years and isn't likely to change anyways.

Something like THIS is a good start, but really YouTube is probably your best resource.

I can highly recommend this book (The Essential Guide to Motorcycle Maintenance by Mark Zimmerman - I've bought six motorcycle repair books since I got my bike and this is by far the best one for an uber-beginner like me.

Hey, I'm assuming he's just starting so, do not get him a combo set. That's foolish, he doesn't need an impact driver at all. Search for .home repair' and you'll find a ton. Some stuff to get you started:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-94-248-65-Piece-Homeowners-Tool/dp/B000UHMITE/ref=sr_1_4?m=A2L77EE7U53NWQ&s=warehouse-deals&ie=UTF8&qid=1480266147&sr=1-4

 

https://www.amazon.com/BLACK-DECKER-LDX120PK-20-Volt-Lithium-Ion/dp/B00C625KVE/ref=sr_1_15?m=A2L77EE7U53NWQ&s=warehouse-deals&ie=UTF8&qid=1480266147&sr=1-15

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1621452018/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1118099400/ref=tmm_pap_new_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=new&qid=&sr=

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EUH4TG/ref=s9_acsd_al_bw_c_multiimp_4?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-5&pf_rd_r=SN6M6HFB4M7DNW76GTG1&pf_rd_r=SN6M6HFB4M7DNW76GTG1&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=de121dcf-3645-4f43-a816-cf12556f7ae3&pf_rd_p=de121dcf-3645-4f43-a816-cf12556f7ae3&pf_rd_i=15469024011

 

sorry i don't have time to format but, good luck!

Looks like there's a newer one from 2014, which is what I bookmarked to buy. The other poster linked the one from 1991 and then from 2005. There's also an edition from 2009. I searched it on Amazon to make sure I had the most recent version. Thanks for the heads up, though!

Good luck! Here's some crucial literature as well!

http://www.amazon.com/Volkswagen-Station-Official-Service-Manual/dp/0837616352/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1416243503&sr=8-3&keywords=vw+bentley+manual

http://www.amazon.com/Keep-Volkswagen-Alive-Step---Step/dp/1566913101/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416243535&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+keep+your+volkswagen+alive

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0743272862?pc_redir=1406839541&robot_redir=1

Has tons of good schedules and techniques

Has a good follow up book on laundry :)

You bet.

If you want to learn more, this is a great resource: https://www.amazon.com/Wiring-House-Completely-Revised-Updated/dp/162710674X

I got it after buying this 1940 house and learned so much. I hired a pro to install a new panel on day 1, but I've done all subsequent electrical myself, using what's in that book. It's very well written. Cheers.

First, I think it's admirable what you want to do and I'm sorry for the loss of your brother.

Now, if you're serious about this, you first need go consider whether there is any point to it. If you update a room, are your parents just going to let it go to hell again?

If you decide it's worth it, you can learn to be handy. Be confident to try things, but watch videos so you understand how it's supposed to go and know your limitations. Get help with anything structural and with utilities if you're changing anything (i.e., maybe you can handle replacing an old light switch or receptacle with the same type of switch or receptacle, but don't try to rewire a whole room unless you get an electrician to inspect the work before you reenergize). In the end, it's not the end of the world if you don't make it look quite as nice as a professional might, but you don't want to burn the house down or damage the structure.

If you want to get started on the basics, keep subbed go this site for ideas and questions. If you're a total newbie, I'll recommend this book. It'll give you a solid visual representation plus a description of how the systems in a house work.

Lee Parks also has a very good book, geared more to the street. All of them have the same basic info, only thing different I recall Parks talking about is he like to pull the outside bar to countersteer, rather than push in the inside. Easier leverage, less unintended input from your body mass. It is worht trying both ways to see which is preferred

It's not all encompassing, but this book is about as close as it gets to in all in one reference. I like it a lot, nice color illustrations and a wide array of topics.

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Yourself-Manual-Newly-Updated/dp/1621452018/ref=pd_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=6MRJKRA7GB72XKHXGX00)de: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Yourself-Manual-Newly-Updated/dp/1621452018/ref=pd_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=6MRJKRA7GB72XKHXGX00

I just bought this book after reading a lot of good reviews, and I would agree that it's got a lot of good info:

Renovation

"Wiring a House" by Caldwell is incredibly useful for any electrical work at all. He goes over everything you need to know from 'This is how electricity works' to 'here is how to rewire your entire house to be above code and pass inspection'. Massive amounts of pictures, circuit diagrams with explanations etc. Just a great book and the standard for electrical DIY.


I rewired my entire 4 bedroom house with this as a reference and that included adding 8 or so circuits and rerouting all electrical for our major kitchen remodel.

I've heard great things about the book, Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House.

My friend that got me into riding races an R6 with more low end torque than an R1 (only tops out at 120 because of that though :/ ). Another is a bmw s1000rr. I myself ride a old 90 FZR600 supersport and a honda shadow.

It doesn't matter what type of bike it is, steering physics work the same. Cruisers just steer slow and with less lean. It doesn't mean your input on the turn should be any different.

This is also backed up by some well known pro's. Example:

Twist of the Wrist: Keith code

http://www.amazon.com/Twist-Wrist-Basics-High-Performance-Motorcycle/dp/0965045021/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1344012435&sr=8-2&keywords=twist+of+the+wrist

Total Control: Lee Parks

http://www.amazon.com/Total-Control-Performance-Street-Techniques/dp/0760314039/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344012569&sr=1-3&keywords=total+control

Lee Parks spend a good amount of the book explaining the techniques for both sportbike and cruisers, which end up being the same thing.

Just a couple of days ago I received my copy of "Wiring a House" by Rex Cauldwell (http://www.amazon.com/Wiring-House-5th-Pros/dp/162710674X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412972971&sr=1-1&keywords=wiring+a+house). Though I haven't read it in-depth, I already feel like I can highly recommend it, especially for your situation. He has an approach he calls "Above Code" where he makes recommendations that go a step beyond the code requirements and he points out areas which might vary from location to location. He also specifically addresses many situations that arise when you are doing retrofitting and renovation. The 5th edition was just released and is up-to-date for 2014 code and should be good until 2017.

Others have made some great suggestions. I would add to those lists--

a big can of some high quality lubricant, I like Ballistol for all kinds of cleaning/protecting/lubricating things, but there plenty of other kinds on the market.

Duct tape

Electrical tape

A caulk gun, and a few tubes--plain old "painter's caulk" and a waterproof caulk for windows, doors, and bathroom water infiltration areas. --- and a lesson on how and where to use them.

AND, maybe a nice book, with lots of pictures, for how to do lots of varied home repairs and upgrades, perhaps something like this: Reader's Digest New Complete DIY Manual

I am a contractor. I have only seen one book from tumbleweed and was not impressed. This was years ago, so perhaps later editions improved, but the one I saw had almost no detail and certainly not anywhere near what a novice needed.

If you have no experience building, I'd suggest The Visual Handbook of Building and Remodeling. It has detailed photos and drawing.

If you're still interested in some construction books, Renovation is written for remodeling, but it has some really interesting work-arounds.

+1 “for pros.”

I am taking on a diy rewriting project and found this book to be quite helpful.

https://www.amazon.com/Wiring-House-5th-Pros/dp/162710674X/

That said, I have a degree in electrical engineering, have taken a hands on electrical wiring class at the local community college, and I am still nervous about rewriting our house. It’s not the principles, but a knowledge of electrical codes and “how to do it right” that you might miss as a diy-er.

Right now I’m thinking of hiring someone to check over my work and to rely on the inspector as well. If others have any tips on how to do this safely, it would be much appreciated!

Four stroke performance tuning



Reasons why:




1)Starts from the basics and continues to the complex




2)Easy to understand




3)Hundreds of illustrations




4)Entertaining

This is definitely in my top 3, the others being Reher-Morrison racing engines championship engine building and Forced induction performance tuning

How is leaving your foot on the lever relevant to proper shifting technique? That's like me saying you shouldn't use your clutch because someone had their hand on it for X miles with it partially engaged on the highway and they burned it out.

Of course it's going to cause wear on the transmission, everything causes wear. As I mentioned, properly preloading will make it smoother and cause less wear on the transmission.

>"Press your foot down with just slightly less force than that needed to engage the next gear. Next, quickly roll off the throttle approximately 25 percent of its twisting range. When this happens, the torque force on the transmisssion will temporarily unload, and the preloaded shift lever will now snick into the next gear. For regular shifts at less than full throttle, a simultaneous, light stab of the clutch will help ease this process. For full-throttle 'speed shifting,' no clutch is necessary. In fact, it's actually harder on the transmission to use the clutch in this type of situation than to just let the loading forces do the job." - Total Control: High Performance Street Riding Techniques by Lee Parks

Likewise I'm not trying to convince you to do otherwise. I just want to prevent the spread of misinformation to whoever else may be reading this thread.

VWs are a great place to start. Four-stroke performance tuning by A. Graham Bell is an interesting read.

https://www.amazon.com/Four-Stroke-Performance-Tuning-Graham-Bell/dp/0857331256

Edit: added link

https://www.amazon.com/Renovation-4th-Completely-Revised-Updated/dp/1600854923/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=Renovation+4&qid=1563679474&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Has really in depth things but also relatively basic things. I love this book.

my uncle gave me an old copy of his from the 80s when i moved into my house a couple years ago. some of the things like electrical are outdated but a lot of it is still relevant. it makes all of these big projects sound doable, even for someone like me who can’t drill a screw in straight.

i believe the most current edition on sale for only $24 on amazon right now.

I would recommend that you purchase some DIY books to help you with jobs like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Yourself-Manual-Newly-Updated/dp/1621452018

https://www.amazon.com/Renovation-5th-Completely-Revised-Updated/dp/1631869590

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Guide-Repair-Improvement-Updated/dp/158011783X

I found Renovation 4th Edition to be very informative. It's not necessarilly a step-by-step DIY guide, but it's gives a great overview of the steps and tools necessary to complete a job.

Came here to to say this as well! Use the amazon smile link and donate to charity!

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1621452018/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I think this is a newer version than the one I have but the Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maitenance and Repair is pretty thorough. Has a lot of pictures and tips in it and for each part/compnent has a guide on both instalation and servicing/cleaning. I've used it mostly for playing with the derailers and shift levers, but it covers just about everything you'd need to keep yourself rolling.

Its an actual textbook by Todd Downs, and very easy to follow. https://www.amazon.com/Bicycling-Complete-Bicycle-Maintenance-Repair/dp/160529487X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1474757161&sr=1-3 Found mine on a thrift store shelf for 5.00. A very good book.

Modern Hydronics is a great start.
http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Hydronic-Heating-Residential-Commercial/dp/1428335153

Look into the trade groups as well.

http://www.igshpa.okstate.edu
https://www.ashrae.org

Invest 25 bucks in a hardcover copy of The Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual it's a TREASURE HOUSE of info. It's also a good barometer for "Should I hire a contractor?" If it's not in there, you should.

I just purchased the following book, and it's great. Highly recommended.

The Complete Do-it-Yourself Manual Newly Updated https://www.amazon.com/dp/1621452018/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_3-sHzbRJE9KW2

You'd want a manual, but you'd figure it out!

Short of that, do some work on your current bike with a manual in hand. If I remember, this book has some basics of how a bike works, so maybe that's a place to start?

This is what I used for Electric Circuits I. I'd say it was pretty good (and obviously covers all that).

Bike repair and maintenance is pretty easy.

https://www.amazon.com/Bicycling-Complete-Bicycle-Maintenance-Repair/dp/160529487X

That book will tell you all you need to know.

Bike repair shops charge that much, because people quit learning how to do it, so they can get away with it.

+1 Kevin Cameron's Sportsbike Performance Handbook is a really good read. A. Graham Bell has written two books on engine tuning (Two-Stroke /Four-Stroke Performance Tuning) which are good companions.

This link is for an older edition, but it's an excellent book to get started with. Reader's Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual

1. Learn where all your shut-offs are. Make sure your shut-offs work. You don't want to learn the hard way that your main water shutoff doesn't work.
   
2. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1600854923/ is a book I've seen recommended often.
   
3. Learn to Google/Youtube.
   
   Things are going to break, and you're going to learn how to fix them. Each time you fix something, you're going to gain new knowledge.

Space does not permit all the tips I've learned by reading this, this, this, this, and this.

But, briefly:

• watch out for "edge traps"--where road work or a 2x4 in the street or anything similar can catch your tire and turn it to the side.
  
  
• go somewhere safe, not on the road, and practice. Learn how hard you can apply your brakes, and how to ease off the back as you apply the front. Set up cones and practice various kinds of turns.
  
  
• look far ahead, look all around, predict what other vehicles are going to do in one second, two seconds, five, ten.
  
  
• Three words: Shots and wheelies.

Even better than that one is this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Volkswagen-Station-Official-Service-Manual/dp/0837616352/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1413919702&sr=8-11&keywords=volkswagen+repair+manual

I have both. This one gives step by step details specific to your bus and the correct details pertaining to your engine.

Don't get me wrong, the keep your volkswagen alive book is good for encouragement and common sense, but the service manual is where it's at. On the Samba, it's referred to as the Bentley manual. It really is the gold standard.

If you're trying to figure out how to do a bunch of DIY repairs, you could do a lot worse than dropping 7 bucks on this book -- I got this after we bought our first house and it was a huge help in figuring out how to do stuff that I had no experience with. Good luck to you!

if you want to earn yourself an A while doing whatever you want. check out this book. will be the best 20 bucks you spend all year
https://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Guide-Frame-Construction-Designers/dp/1600850235

Huh cool! Is it OK that it's 25 years old? I'm new to DIY so I'm not sure how old that is.


EDIT: found a newer version from 2014!

http://www.amazon.com/Complete--Yourself-Manual-Newly-Updated/dp/1621452018/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1464908260&sr=1-1&keywords=Do-It-Yourself+Manual

I did that test (ua787?) right out of college, it's not an easy one. The science is based around refrigeration theory and the math gets quite challenging without a calculator. The mechanical aptitude is easy enough if you're familiar with the questions. I recommend picking up "Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technology" and study at least the first few chapters. Here's a link: https://www.amazon.ca/Refrigeration-Conditioning-Technology-Bill-Whitman/dp/1111644470

Rex Cauldwell's book is quite thorough:

https://www.amazon.com/Wiring-House-5th-Pros/dp/162710674X

There are cheaper and simpler ones out there, but if you want an all inclusive, this one is very good.

Yeah look for idronics, you can request copies but they are all probably online. They also have monthly webinars that get put on YouTube eventually.

Another good read would be https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1428335153

Also anything by Dan Holohan

Depends how deep you want to go, in my opinion. Personally I've got two of those Black and Decker books and I've used them for project ideas, but I always find them lacking when I actually dig into a project. I usually end up buying something very specific to what I'm doing. Here are a few of my favorites:

For Old Home Owners: Renovating Old Houses

Painting: Painting Houses: Inside & Out

Framing: Frame Construction: For Pros by Pros

The Essential Guide to Motorcycle Maintenance.

It was definitely a godsend, as I had no clue about nearly all of the bike's systems.

I got the book before purchasing my motorcycle and read it front to back. I still open it up for reference.

https://www.amazon.com/Volkswagen-Station-Wagon-Service-Manual/dp/0837616352

It has been a great tool in working on my bus.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Do-It-Yourself-Manual-Editors-Readers/dp/0895773783/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381952190&sr=8-1&keywords=diy+readers+digest

This one is great.

This is a great book: How Your House Works: A Visual Guide to Understanding and Maintaining Your Home, Updated and Expanded https://www.amazon.com/dp/1118099400

In this electronic age, there are still some classic books worth having in the toolbox. I think if you want it to be useful and thorough it can't be small.

• Time Life's Home Repair
  
• Family Handyman's similar
  
• Black and Decker's

This one is a great start: https://www.amazon.com/Renovation-5th-Completely-Revised-Updated/dp/1631869590/

This is the newest version. I have it and it's awesome

The Essential Guide to Motorcycle Maintenance has lots of info on engine design and engineering considerations in motorcycle design. Aside from that its a great book to have as a reference.

That's a clean E30. Definitely google some "e30 buyers guide" and go through that list.

It's a northern car, so prepare to have to fight rust (hopefully not though).

Absolutely change the timing belt (unless the previous owner shows you with proof that it was done less than 30k miles ago). Even so, it's not a hard job, just takes a while. I did mine the first time in 10 degree weather (no heat in the garage) and it sucked.

If you do buy it, a Bentley's manual is an absolute must. You can download it online in places, but the book is best so you can wrench on it and look at the diagrams too.


Bentley PDF link from r3vlimited I take no responsibility if you download a virus.

Bentley book on Amazon

I recommend the For Pros by Pros book series for each trade. https://www.tauntonstore.com/for-pros-by-pros-series

I’d also recommend:

• Housebuilding: A Do-It-Yourself Guide, Revised & Expanded https://www.amazon.com/dp/1402743165/
  
• Renovation 5th Edition: Completely Revised and Updated https://www.amazon.com/dp/1631869590/

>2. If it's not too difficult and something that could be learned over a few months (minus full time work), what sort of subjects, books, pdfs, wikis or other resources would I need to be looking at to get started? I'm a web designer so this isn't really my field... but if there's a specific area of electronics that covers this sort of project, it'd really help to find out.

It is too difficult to do in a few months, but if you are really interested in learning, follow the curriculum of an Electrical Engineering BS. First you need to know calculus, this would be a good place to start, get the used version of course. Alternatively, watch the Khan Academy videos for calculus and find some problems to practice, though this will be less thorough.

Once you have gotten to integrals, start your calculus-based physics education. There is no point in really starting before, as algebra based physics isn't terribly useful for actually understanding things, and you will have to relearn it all with calculus anyways. Halliday and Resnick is a fairly good intro text that includes calculus. The one I linked is just the E&M sections, you can learn the mechanics stuff from Khan -- you just need a cursory understanding of the mechanics. Unfortunately the Khan videos aren't very good for E&M, they are generally too algebra-based. Last I checked he doesn't even cover Gauss's law.

After that you will need some Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Digital Logic, Circuits, and programming just to round out your fundamentals. Now you are roughly 2 years into a basic ECE curriculum, ignoring a lot of filler courses as necessary.

After this it gets a bit more flexible.

Textbooks on Signals and Systems, Microcontrollers/Microcomputers, Antenna Design, Embedded Devices, Electric Networks, and Digital System Design should round out your education. However that doesn't mean you know what you need to design what you are thinking of -- you also need to get a bunch of real world knowledge and practice. Make a few basic devices, get them manufactured, just to get a feel for the process. Delve into the various IEEE standards and UL standards to learn what you need to do to produce a device that can be sold and will be compatible. You have a lot of research ahead of you, so good luck!

this one should work. But considering that it's well below your price limit, you might consider getting something else as well.

If the engine is in need of a rebuild, this might be helpful as well.

As far as tools go, I assume he has a full socket set but does he have a torque wrench, breaker bar, and jack stands? If he's worked on his car before he probably already has that stuff but if not, those will be necessary from day one of working on the van.

Well, if you want to become an engineer, you'll need to go to college. After you get your prereqs out of the way, the first courses you'll take will be something like Circuits 1 and 2, covering RLC circuits and basic transistors, opamps, etc., and a digital course covering logic gates, flip-flops, etc. Later on, you'll get into Fourier and Laplace transforms, more analog and digital, and elective subjects based on your specialization.

Typical books:

Circuits: http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Electric-Circuits-Charles-Alexander/dp/0077263197

Digital Design: http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Logic-Design-Companion-CD-ROM/dp/0495471690

Buy this book:

How Your House Works: A Visual Guide to Understanding and Maintaining Your Home, Updated and Expanded

You won't learn everything, but it will give you a good grasp of the fundamentals of the systems that make up your home. You'll know what questions to ask when a thing breaks, and that's the key to learning more.

A Twist of the Wrist and A Twist of the Wrist 2 oh and Total Control. These books are amazing.

Renovation is the gold standard of books on improvement and repair, the editor is the guy who runs the Fine Homebuilding site, out of all the books I have none come close to the amount of subjects and details this book offers.

I read these based on Amazon reviews and they were both very helpful in addition to Twist of the Wrist.

Total Control

Sport Riding Techniques

The absolute best, and most thorough, guide to the "domestic arts" that I've ever seen is a book called Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson. It came out in the 90s, but it's still relevant: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0743272862/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1450785722&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=home+comforts&dpPl=1&dpID=51B1YJR9Y8L&ref=plSrch

I like Reader's Digest. Well written and designed for people without a lot of experience:

https://www.amazon.com/New-Fix-Yourself-Manual-Everything/dp/0895778718

http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Hydronic-Heating-Residential-Commercial/dp/1428335153

this is a good one for hydronics. also can't go wrong with keeping a copy of pumping away and primary secondary pumping made easy

http://www.amazon.com/Primary-Secondary-Pumping-Made-Easy-Holohan/dp/0974396079

Here's some fuel to the fire: think aobut how many fucking years and how many fucking dollars are going to go into his therapy, that could have gone to lovely vacations, prettier clothes for you, nicer furniture, college funds for your kids, ... but they can't. Because she was a shit mother. And he needs to undo years of abuse. Multiply out all those co-pays, and think of what returns could be gotten if that was invested and the interest compounded over all the years of your marriage into your nest egg for retirement. Yeah.

Now also get over the idea that "fair" is the same as "equal". If I make less than 40K per year and my ex makes over 250K per year, is it FAIR if we split child-rearing expenses 50-50? Of course not - fair is an equitable breakdown of the bills according to ability.

Well, it's the same with ALL of yoru resources when it comes to this woman. If, thanks to her abuse, he's spending hours of his life going to therapy plus more hours processing the abuse and recovering from it, if you have to be extra patient, and understanding and a helpmate to him in dealing with his abuse, this creates an emotional debt in yrou marriage bank account. One that she fucking caused. Ditto for actual money, ditto for the time sink of all of this... so already, this bitch is TAKING from you - in real, quantifiable tangible ways. Your parents, on the other hand, are NOT. They are nice, they didn't abuse you, they create value and fill up your reserves as you support and caregive to him.

And sweetie, if she ever asks for his fucking clothes again, there aren't any to give away to her. You're about to be his wife, and the family home is YOUR HOME. Grown ass women do not come in and clean out each other closets.... learn to weed shit out on a regular basis and get rid of things by consignment, yard sales, or thrift shops. If she offers to "help" tell her "The way I learn is by hands-on doing it myself, and that's how I prefer to work."

Also, since you're just setting up housekeeping and she's able to play the "old pro" card.... go get yourself the ultimate guide to running a household: Home Comforts. That way you learn how to do everything, exactly right, from the get-go and never need her advice.

Get a book on basic home maintenance and repair, like this one: New Fix-It-Yourself Manual: How to Repair, Clean, and Maintain Anything and Everything In and Around Your Home https://www.amazon.com/dp/0895778718/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_mEEnzbVHQQD74

And get a fire extinguisher for your kitchen!!

Go get yourself this book. Read.

You can find a free PDF file if you know where to look.

https://www.amazon.com/Refrigeration-Conditioning-Technology-Bill-Whitman/dp/1111644470

All you'll ever need to fix an e30.


The e30 is an easy car to work on. There's plenty of space under the hood to work with. Its also very mechanical, so there's not a lot of computery things that can break. As somebody who owns a moneypit e30 I say go for it!

Speed Cleaning https://www.amazon.com/dp/0440503744/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Qa9rDbFRSX42F

Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House https://www.amazon.com/dp/0743272862/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Jb9rDbN7BXFQZ

https://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/cleaning/cleaning-calendar

Someone gave me this book when I bought my first house. It was very helpful.

Lee Parks' Total Control book has good drills.

If you're doing residential, Wiring a House by Rex Cauldwell is a good non technical supplement to your textbooks

This is a good general book:

http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Guide-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Techniques/dp/1884313418/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Another one, this one is a little more technical:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1566374790/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1PE3H171UOWG2&me=&seller=&colid=1A5JGJNLDX273


Look around on amazon.com and you'll find more.

The Essential Guide to Motorcycle Maintenance by Mark Zimmerman is a good place to start, although he tends to focus on older British bikes, if I recall.

Here is what my school uses, I liked it:

http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Electric-Circuits-Charles-Alexander/dp/0077263197/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320377969&sr=1-3

I highly recommend How Your House Works: A Visual Guide to Understanding and Maintaining Your Home.

It explains all the basic home ownership maintenance stuff in very simple terms, with pictures and easy-to-follow explanations.

1. Buy a plunger for each bathroom, and if you have an old garbage disposal in your kitchen, grab one for the kitchen too.
   
   
2. Track down a copy of this, this, or something really similar. They're step-by-step instructions for most basic home repair projects, with lots of pictures, cutaways, and diagrams. You can search for YouTube vids for additional help, but having a physical reference book tends to make life a little easier.
   
   My folks always called repair people when things went wrong, so I didn't learn a lot of the basics. I inherited a weird collection of these old Reader's Digest how-to manuals from my grandparents, and they got me out of a lot of jams. Highly recommend.

Don't think there is a video for this one, but "Total Control" is the other book I've heard highly recommended:

http://www.amazon.com/Total-Control-Performance-Street-Techniques/dp/0760314039/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2HWO5QG40KDXN&colid=3LRDY2AKFPCOR

Here is what it looks like at least.

Not worked on an Eta. If they're similar to my engine then the head bolts are TTY, ie, single use. A Genuine replacement set can be had for $26.

https://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E30-325i-M20_2.5L/Engine/Mechanical/ES18275/

As for places to buy parts:

Pelican Parts

BMA Parts

ECS Tuning

Turner Motorsport

FCP Euro

Autohaus AZ

Edit: just a note on the head bolts, don't by Victor Reinz. I did and found 2-3 were bent. Reading another website yesterday where someone found the same. ARP head studs are going to cost you about $220 for a set and (imo), aren't necessary unless you're going to strap a hair dryer to your engine (or intending to race your car). Also recommend Goetz brand for the head gasket (or Elring, or Genuine if you can afford it). +1 for buying the Bentley Service Manual

http://www.amazon.com/BMW-3-Service-Manual-1984-1990/dp/0837616476/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450656768&sr=8-1&keywords=bentley+e30+service+manual

I always recommend Renovation by Michael Litchfield.

The User's Manual for your home.

This Old House on Youtube.
Also, if you like books check out the "For Pros by Pros" book series. I'm learning basic electrical wiring and this book has been indispensable.