Handy Andy? How about Handy Gidge??

I try to see everything as an opportunity to learn. These opportunities don't always have the best timing, but I'll take what I can get. Take tonight, for instance. I'm home from the Iowa vs. Michigan State game, took a look at my "To-Do" list for my currently project - the bedroom - and decided to tackle opening up the vent between the bedroom and the living room. I own a 1890's Mansard house, so there are several things former owners have done that make me wonder WHY? In the bedroom I have an old vent grate covering a deep hole. I removed the cover, cleaned out the hole, and discovered it formerly opened into the living room. Now, considering the upstairs gets really cold in winter and when they updated the house to include ducts for forced air heat they only installed one in each room (hardly adequate), I knew I would need to open up that vent hole if I wanted better air circulation. (Heat rises in winter and maybe it will be warmer up there with the vent open.) So, I tackled cutting an opening in the living room ceiling tiles first. MESSY! Next, I jigsawed my way through the board slats covering the hole and cleaning up the cuts made in the tile. More mess! When I had finished making a ton of mess to vacuum up, I started cleaning. In vacuuming up the sawdust and etc, I inadvertantly sucked up one of my cat's toys...which then got caught in the motor and froze all moving pieces resulting in a "burning" odor. *sigh* Just my luck...and only half the mess was vacuumed at that point. What to do? Grab some tools and take the vacuum apart. Did I fix it? You bet I did! It only took about an hour and then I was back to vacuuming before quitting for the evening! I didn't know if fiddling with the motor was going to break the vacuum worse or fix it, but I knew that I had to at least try. Thou should not fear tools! But, I knew that if ended up worse, that's when I call Dad. LOL