On a scale of 1 to 10, my handyman skills are about a 4. For carpentry, it’s about a 5, electrical about a 7 and plumbing it’s a -3. If it is more complicated than replacing the flapper valve in the toilet, I am out of my league.
I used to do my own oil changes on my car, but I am getting too old to crawl under it. I also used to do other minor maintenance on my engine, but things have changed since the days of a slant-6 where 2/3 of the under the hood space was air.
One of the disadvantages of going to an “academic” or “college prep” school is that I didn’t take shop. This means that I’ve always had high-paying jobs, but I also spent a lot of money paying other people to do jobs I should know how to do.
Our school had a great ‘industrial arts’ program that took students through all the building trades and a printing shop that included a foot operated printing press on which was printed the school newspaper. In later years, they added an automotive section, and, not surprisingly not only gained the interest of previously indifferent students but also reduced some of the discipline situations among that group. Amazing change in just one year.
MeanBob Premium Member 23 days ago
I have a neighbor whose tool kit is a metal box with a Visa card in the tray and nothing else. I salute him for knowing his limitations.
dflak 23 days ago
On a scale of 1 to 10, my handyman skills are about a 4. For carpentry, it’s about a 5, electrical about a 7 and plumbing it’s a -3. If it is more complicated than replacing the flapper valve in the toilet, I am out of my league.
I used to do my own oil changes on my car, but I am getting too old to crawl under it. I also used to do other minor maintenance on my engine, but things have changed since the days of a slant-6 where 2/3 of the under the hood space was air.
One of the disadvantages of going to an “academic” or “college prep” school is that I didn’t take shop. This means that I’ve always had high-paying jobs, but I also spent a lot of money paying other people to do jobs I should know how to do.
sandpiper 23 days ago
Our school had a great ‘industrial arts’ program that took students through all the building trades and a printing shop that included a foot operated printing press on which was printed the school newspaper. In later years, they added an automotive section, and, not surprisingly not only gained the interest of previously indifferent students but also reduced some of the discipline situations among that group. Amazing change in just one year.