Our answering machine is on the fritz. It�s about three years old now and has seen a lot of action. I�d replace it except that it still works. The outgoing message plays and the digital recording system records. It�s just that the speaker has fallen silent. The light blinks and the number indicates how many messages are in, but to access the messages we have to listen through the receiver.

The main problem is that this is a telephone/ answering machine combination. Because of the broken speaker, we can�t tell when the phone rings, so we bring the portable phone from upstairs and turn the ringer on. This leaves us with no phone upstairs.

Actually, the real problem is my tendency to hang on to broken or failing machines and other things in need of repair.

When I got my car speedometer fixed last month, it had been getting slowly worse for at least a year. At first, the dial only went haywire when it was very cold. Even when the spasms became more frequent and at different temperatures, they only happened when I nosed above 65. I usually set my cruise control to that point, so I wasn�t too concerned. I adapted. I put up with it.

During the fall, the problem worsened. By December I couldn�t go above 55 without the needle ricocheting between 55 and 85 every few minutes.

The refrigerator we recently replaced was working fine, it was just succumbing to machine leprosy. Parts began falling off. First came the shelf railings in the doors�lower, then upper. Then the lower door seal cracked at a corner and the rigid plastic tubing began snaking out occasionally. Somewhere along the way, the left side support to the grill at the base of the unit broke. I eventually left it off altogether, which wasn�t very attractive. It also allowed little items like balls and toy cars to roll under, and allowed the dustbunnies to escape.

Speaking of mechanical leprosy, every once in awhile a screw or nut or other small metal item falls from the bottom of our recliner. The chair probably feels fine if you don�t know about these missing pieces. There�s a little bit of rocking from side to side, but it certainly seems safe.

Whenever I sit in it, I get visions of collapsing backwards with hundreds of springs sproinging away and bouncing off the walls.

Sometimes I hold on to things that aren�t working now, but just might work if the right screw is tightened or that loose connection is found. I�m no Ms. Fixit, but I am one of those women more proficient with a screwdriver and hammer than with needle and thread. So, I tinker.

A few years ago I took apart a small cassette player and figured out what needed to be fixed. Next, it was a personal CD player that was slightly off-kilter. These successes gave me confidence to tackle the cassette tape deck, which had broken a year or more earlier. I opened it up, which meant buying a small Phillips-head screwdriver made especially for electronics. It was fascinating to see what was inside, what made everything go.

It�s back on the stereo rack now, as broken as before. I have hopes of someday opening it up, pushing and prodding a bit, then�presto�it�ll work.

Another patient that couldn�t be resuscitated was the four-slice toaster that only toasted in the right two slots. No amount of jiggling or bending could get the left side to cooperate. On the plus side, I did learn how a toaster works.

I�m notorious for trying to revive computers. My first PC was a Tandy purchased in 1988. By the time it blew in 1993 we�d already had a bigger, better, faster one for nearly two years. I asked the local Radio Shack for a replacement cable that I thought was the source of the trouble, but that didn�t improve things. I hung on to that PC for years. Part of me hoped it would be a valuable bit of computer history. Part of me kept it for sentimental reasons. Mostly I thought that given enough time and a lucky break I�d figure it out.

Whether it�s putting up with something that needs fixing or trying to fix what doesn�t want to be fixed, I don�t do these things because I�m frugal. Rather, I look at them as puzzles in need of solving. Mysteries in the battle of man versus machinery.

OK. Maybe I�m just stubborn.

Either way, it�s time to buy a new answering machine.