The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

A case in point is the January ‘94 issue of Consumer Reports. If it is too late to pick one up at your newsstand have a lot at it at your local library. I read a lot of books and magazines aimed at the doâ€"itâ€"yourself market and every now and then something turns up that deserves wide exposure; so I do my bit to inform. Taking the doâ€"itâ€"yourself route ‘ $549,000. DREAMED OF LIVING IN THE COUNTRY? 66 Acres + 7 Acre Pond, 2 Rivers, Large Stone Home, 5 bedrooms, 60 ft. Florida room. Countrywide 338â€"6550 VIEW FROM THE TOP $104,500 Spacious 2 storey, 4 bdrm home in Oabkville. Balcony view nicer in Summer lt seE Call Ken. 3 Finished Levels, 4 Baths, Backs on Park, Gorgeous!! Call Gail. Outstanding 1500 sq. ft. Link Ensuite more! $166,900 Backs on Greenbelt, Prof. fin. Basement Elegant Decor! Call Gail. The eightâ€"page article is titled "Getting Beautiful original builders model 3000 sq. ft. 3 bdrm w/main floor family rm. finished bsmnt. will be sold. Call Ken now. $269,900 $159,000 280 North Service Road West Oakville Ontario LGM 255 + Office Hours: Mon.â€"Fri. 9â€"9, Sat. 9â€"5 Vacant land for investment purposes, good turn around after 10 years, up to $500,000. Rental needed, Bronte or North East, up to $1400/mth. Olde Oakville or Bronte, 2 + barms, with loft or studio for painting rm., up to $260,000. Priced to sell at $29,000. Call Paul for more information 3 bdrm. bung. updated decor, remodâ€" eled kit., Forida rm. add. Private garden Call Doug. Modern materials and methods have provided us with some amazingly inexpenâ€" sive machines and appliances. Coffee makers and hair dryers are two items that have dropped dramatically in price over the years. Things Fixed: What do do; Where to go; When to bother." Here‘s a brief review to whet your appetite. One of Oakvilles longest established restaurants is for sale to the right purchaser. Sales gross approx. 1,000 wk. East Oabkville 3,200 sq. ft $169,500 In fact, according to information in a bulletin by the National Association of Retail Dealers of America which was sent to its members, service contracts offer the most profit potential of anything they sell. It can reach 75 per cent. Caveat emptor! Consumer Reports is unequivocal about such contracts. Avoid them because most products are made so well that defects are going to show up under the manufacturer‘s warranty. Statistics have shown that fewer than 25 per cent of purchases are ever brought back under service agreements with dealers. Whatever you choose, check out the reputation by talking to friends and neighâ€" bors. Be home when the repairman arrives and stay with him to retain any parts that he wants to replace. There are recomâ€" mended procedures also for taking a small appliance into a shop, e.g. get a time and a price estimate and a warranty commitâ€" ment. Finally, there is a whole page on the subject of warranty and service contracts that have become so much a part of every purchase that you make. There are also some manufacturers who have a help line for people doing simple repairs and it is certainly worth a cursory look into an appliance that malfunctions because often a loose wire or a broken belt is all that needs attention. Parts took about a week to arrive and installing them was simple and even reassembling the dryer was quick and easy compared to the time it took to take it apart. Parts cost me about $30 and while I cannot put a price on my time because I was doing something that was enjoyable, I cannot equate it with the $450 cost of a new machine. I used one recently to eliminate the anguished screams of my 25 year old gas dryer. It took about three hours to dismanâ€" tle it to the point where I could get at the two wheels that supported the drum. You will feel a lot more at ease calling in a repairman after reading the Consumer Reports article because it describes the three main categories of service; Factory, Authorized and Independent and the pros and cons of dealing with each. Taking the doâ€"itâ€"yourself route is not out of the question when it comes to mechanical things like dryers and lawn mowers. Most manufacturers provide good manuals for the amateur repairman and there are excellent books by Time/Life, Readers Digest and Consumers Reports and make it easy for the doâ€"itâ€"yourselfer. Generally speaking repairs take time, sometimes weeks, because of the difficulty of obtaining parts. There is a whole secâ€" tion on how to go about choosing and dealing with repair services. Not all makes are equal, of course, and the article identifies those that have conâ€" sistently enjoyed long and trouble free lives. This is useful information when you are confronted with the need to repair or replace an appliance. If it is near the end of its life expectancy you might be wise to look at the modern replacements with their added features. Before having a fit about this fact, keep things in perspective and focus on the low cost and also the fact that you will be buyâ€" ing something with more features than the one you discarded. On the other hand, big ticket items like washing machines and TVs are still repairable and Consumer Reports shows us the results of a 1992 questionnaire that identifies the average age as well as the range of ages that various appliances can be expected to last. The use of moulded plastics and small circuitry that has made the production of these items so easy has reduced costs but has also meant that repair is impossible or very expensive, usually exceeding the cost of a new item.