I consider myself a DIY'er. Having grown up on a farm, I like to get dirty and do things myself.

The latest example was when my dryer stopped drying. I didn’t want to pay a repair person $200 to replace a $20 part, so I decided it was time to learn a thing or two about dryers. Two hours of Internet research later, I narrowed my problem down to two possible causes — a busted heating element or a bad thermostat.

Charred edges on the thermostat gave me a hint that it might be bad and a quick test using a multimeter confirmed my suspicions.

After a two-hour tour of the city, I found the right part and began the mission of getting it connected. In only 60 minutes of being hunched over my dryer, I got it installed!

I beamed with pride as I pulled out my first load of warm, dryer-fresh clothes. With everything right in the Stacy household once again, I cracked open a cold one and reflected on my experience:

•    Two hours of diagnostic research
•    Two hours spent finding and buying the part
•    One uncomfortable hour of installation

This added up to five hours spent on a beautiful Saturday trying to fix something a professional could have done in 20 minutes. Upon that realization, my celebratory brew didn’t taste quite as good.

Don’t get me wrong, I told everyone and their sister that I fixed our dryer myself. But, when it was all said and done, I lost out on a day I could have spent watching football, hanging out with my wife or doing anything besides fixing an appliance.

I’m always going to do a lot of the work around the house myself, but if it’s going to take me more time to diagnose the problem than it would to have someone come fix it, I’ll probably just refer to the List.