C4.63 Learning from Others' Experiences
How to turn others' experience into your own?
I’ve had a lot of things to handle recently, so I humbly asked for advice and took the opportunity to learn some practical experience from others.
Basically, I don’t bother others with problems I can solve myself. For issues I really can’t fix, I first pay professionals to handle them. For more daily problems, I usually learn while paying for the service.
For example:
Changing light bulbs.
Well, "changing light bulbs" sounds easy, but the actual operation is quite troublesome. Because this type of bulb replacement is different from the usual ones.
First, the light bulbs in my house are quite high—3 to 5 meters off the ground. They’re called "recessed downlights" on the box, but we generally refer to them as "spotlights" collectively. The original old models allowed you to take the bulb out and replace it directly, which was very simple. Later, the old models were discontinued and replaced with new integrated recessed ones, so I didn’t know how to change them anymore.
A little side note: To change the lights, I bought a ladder first, but it was too short and couldn’t be returned. I had to buy a taller one, which was just the right height. So when buying a ladder, it’s better to choose a relatively taller one based on the height of your house.
Since I didn’t know how to change the latest integrated recessed downlights, I waited for more bulbs to burn out so I could hire a technician to replace them all at once. In the meantime, I bought a floor lamp to use. Finally, when about 15 bulbs had burned out, I called a technician.
After hiring the technician, I accompanied them throughout the process and started learning. The technician was very bold—he changed the bulbs directly without turning off the power or wearing gloves. Actually, changing recessed downlights is relatively simple; the hard part is removing the old ones, which requires prying them open forcefully with tools.
So after watching the technician change more than a dozen bulbs, I learned how to do it by watching, asking questions, and even tried changing one myself. Now, if one or two downlights burn out, I can replace them on my own. Technicians may not come to your door for a small number of bulbs, but they will if you’re willing to pay an additional installation fee per bulb
Silicone sealant/adhesive sealant
Over time, the sealant around kitchen sinks, basins, glass, etc., turns black and impossible to clean thoroughly—it may also yellow, crack, or peel off when wiped.
So I hired a technician, who worked very quickly. He first cleaned off the old sealant, then used a tool called a "caulk gun" to apply the new sealant in no time. After application, he smoothed it out with a scraper, touching up the edges to finish the job.
I watched, asked questions, and learned as he worked. I tried practicing on less important areas first, applying it messily at first, then summing up experience. Later, I managed to apply it decently and was quite satisfied with the result.
Door locks
Sometimes it’s hard to insert the key into the lock cylinder—it feels stiff. The first technician I hired taught me to rub pencil lead on the key, lock cylinder, and lock itself, which makes it much smoother.
Later, another technician introduced me to a specialized door lock lubricant spray. A single spray on the lock lasts for years.
Plunger
A plunger is simply a magic tool. For years, I’d only heard of plungers and seen funny jokes about people suctioning them to their faces, but never thought I’d buy one—or even knew what it was used for.
Finally, one day, the toilet got clogged. I thought flushing it a few more times would fix it, but each flush made the water level rise higher and higher, almost overflowing. It was a total mess.
I immediately called a technician, who unclogged the toilet in no time. His method was incredibly simple: he took a plunger, pressed it down into the toilet, pulled it out, and it was unclogged—just like that. I rushed to the vegetable market and bought a plunger right away
Installing window locks
After visiting countless hardware stores, no technician was willing to help me install glass locks for my balcony. These include bolt locks, chain locks, limit locks, crescent locks, and sliding locks.
I bought 5 types of locks, but the quantity was too small, so no technician wanted to make a house call for payment. I had to install them myself.
Since the windows are made of uPVC, I just needed to drill holes to fit the locks—it’s actually quite simple. So I bought a household Bosch electric drill, which works great and can drill through almost anything
However, when I drilled the holes for the first time, I forgot to mark the distance between them with a pencil. As a result, the lock couldn’t be installed, and I had to drill new holes—ending up with many unnecessary holes.
After drilling and installing the locks the second time, the sliding lock closed perfectly, but I found the door wouldn’t open. The issue was that there was no gap for the lock, so the protruding part got stuck, leaving the door only able to close but not open. I had to remove all the locks and reinstall them again.
When drilling the first few holes, I also realized I had used the wrong drill bit. It turned out I needed a smaller size—using a larger one made the screws loose. So I had to start over once more.
With these initial mistakes behind me, the subsequent installations went much smoother, and I finished installing all the locks very quickly
Belt holes
If the belt you bought is too big or too small, or if there aren’t enough holes, you’ll need to punch new ones. In fact, many physical stores that sell belts are willing to punch holes for their own brand belts for free. However, if you’ve used the belt for a while and gained or lost weight, or if the belt was purchased online, this isn’t an option—and the belt is often still in good condition. So I bought a belt hole puncher.
Belt hole punchers come with different punch heads, offering various shapes and sizes of holes. You can choose one based on your preferences.
Clogged balcony drainpipe
After several days of heavy rain, the balcony was flooded with water that wouldn’t drain. I hired a technician who unclogged it with an electric tool. Later, the technician said that for minor clogs, you can use a steel wire to clear the pipe. Cleaning it regularly and tidying the surrounding area can keep it unclogged for a long time. Only call a technician if the clog is severe.
All program icons on the computer desktop turned into Notepad format and won’t open
I accidentally opened something, and suddenly all icons on my desktop—including QQ, WeChat, browsers, Word documents, and Excel files—turned into Notepad format and couldn’t be opened. In the end, I followed others’ experience step by step to restore everything.
What should you do if all desktop icons and programs turn into Notepad format after opening an LNK file?
Methods to restore LNK file opening settings in Windows (for Windows Vista and Windows 7):
Press WIN + R on the keyboard.
The Run program will open.
Type: regedit
Navigate to: Computer > HKEY_CURRENT_USER > SOFTWARE > MICROSOFT > WINDOWS > CurrentVersion > Explorer > FileExts > .lnk
You will see two entries: openwithlist and openwithprogids. Delete any other entries if present.
Delete all key values under openwithlist except the "Default" one.
Delete all key values under openwithprogids except "Default" and "lnkfile".
Save and exit the Registry Editor.
If some icons still haven’t been restored: Go to Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Personalization > Click "Change desktop icons" > In the pop-up panel, click "Restore default". If the icons still don’t revert, restart your computer—this requires restarting Windows Explorer. Alternatively, use optimization software to restart Windows Explorer.
Okay, Shishengmiao will stop here for now. The main point is that in daily life, many problems can be solved on your own. You can learn from others’ experiences and skills, summarize them, and turn them into your own—meaning applying what you’ve learned. Hope everyone becomes a quick learner