Book Excerpt: Dare to Repair

Sept. 5 -- When things around the house started breaking, Stephanie Glakas-Tenet, who is married to CIA director George Tenet, and Julie Sussman, who is married to a CIA employee, often found themselves left in the lurch.

While their husbands were busy plugging leaks, sweeping government offices for bugs, and nailing down international spies, the two women were left to do the plugging, sweeping and nailing at home.They got so good at it, they wrote a do-it-yourself book to help other women, Dare to Repair.

Here is an excerpt:

Chapter One

Plumbing

Plumbing problems, whether they involve sinks, toilets, or pipes, don't have to drain your wallet, energy, or time. The real difficulty often lies with getting over any fears (unfounded, of course) and motivating yourself to do the repair.

We've made this section simple so you'll want to take the plunge — we offer easy-to-follow instructions on only the most common plumbing problems. Heck, we even tell you when to throw in the towel and call a plumber.

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For all you women who have never seen the inside of your toilet's tank and shudder at the thought of putting your hand into the water, relax. The tank's water is clean and the Tidy Bowl man doesn't bite.

Plumbing problems should never be fixed with a BandAid approach, nor should the repairs be put off, because they'll only get worse. Hell is not going to freeze over girl, so get going and fix whatever needs fixing!

Water Supply

The Main Water Supply Valve: How to Find it and Shut it Off

As the wife of a military officer, Kathy knew that home is where the military sends you, so she was careful never to get too attached to a house. She also knew from experience that as soon as her husband boarded his ship, something in their base housing would break. Not wanting to join the ranks of a long waiting list for repairs, Kathy decided to start learning how to fix things herself. Her first order was locating the house's main water supply valve after the kitchen faucet broke off in her hand. It was rough seas at first, but now it's smooth sailing ahead.