Lately I have started taking advantage of the cold and wet winter days to clean and maintain my tools. I started with cleaning and oiling my firearms, then pocket knives and multitools, then the threads on my flashlights. I took my vacuum cleaner apart and cleaned out the filters, removed any caked on dirt and debris, washed the beater bar and floor tools in hot soapy water. I replaced the air filters in my car and around the house. I ordered a knife sharpener and am in the process of getting my knives in shape. I also have a leather care kit coming so I can clean and condition the leather in my vehicle. I cleaned out my gutters and in the spring, I will do it again. I also wash my fence and inspect it to see if it needs another coat of stain.

Checklists with Things (app)

A homeowner has a lot of things to maintain and check on. Water heaters need flushing, filters in the dishwasher, vacuum, vehicles, hvac, and HEPA systems need cleaning or replacement. Dryers and oven hoods need vents cleaned, knives must be sharpened, furniture needs to be vacuumed, nooks and crannies of houses need cobwebs and dust removed. These are just some of the things that must be done around a home and they all must be done at different intervals.

The best way I’ve found is by creating to-do lists with things. Things is an app on the ios store that lets you set to-do lists to repeat. I have some items I do daily like sweep my office, load and unload the dishwasher, wipe down countertops etc. other things need weekly maintenance like cleaning the dishwasher and vacuum filters or mopping the floors. Some things need monthly, quarterly, bi annual, annual or even semi annual maintenance!

Keeping Track of Maintenance, Damage and Repairs with Obsidian

Some things don’t need maintenance on a schedule, it depends on usage. For example, a knife can be checked for serious sharpening every year or six months but it really needs to be honed before and after each use. This doesn’t need to be managed with a list or file but simply by forming a habit. The best time to maintain your equipment is when you’re using it.

Other tasks require a report of some kind so that a person can keep track of relevant information. For example, I try to run my gas generator for 15-20 minutes each week, in reality it works out to maybe 1x per month for 30 minutes. This helps keep the engine and seals lubricated with oil. The oil should be changed regularly, and I can report that this area of maintenance has fallen to the back burner for me. I thought I would do it before winter and yet we have not had a bad enough storm to require the generator to be used and so I have not done it.

However, when I do, I can record the number of hours the counter on the generator displays (the total time it’s run) and the date the oil was changed as well as the quality of the oil during the change.

I think it’s more important to keep these sorts of records for a vehicle. I have a template in Obsidian and a folder where I store these maintenance reports and notes. This makes it easy to see if I’m keeping up with my requirements.

I keep these notes for any major damage, repairs, or maintenance done on an expensive system like my solar panels, vehicles, home and power equipment.

Don’t Put Off Maintenance Tasks

Buying things is fun, taking care of them seems to fall by the wayside. For most everything you own there is a way to maintain it, and Google’s Bard or ChatGPT know the best way to do it. I find myself asking “How can I maintain a couch” or some other item and it will generate a list of steps and how often they should he done.

Maintenance is meditative and rewarding and also protects a person from unnecessary expense and in many cases from unseen danger. Dull knives, shoddy tires, or failing to keep your vehicle, firearm, or appliances in check can lead to cuts, fires, and accidents.

Hopefully this post has inspired you to look around and start taking care of something you’ve neglected, and provided you with some inspiration to try to see taking care of an item as part of the enjoyment of using it.