# Abilities You: Have/Want/Need/Admire **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 21, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993 "2005-08-21T16:26:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/1 "2005-08-21T16:26:59Z")
(I chose “abilities” since it implies the skilled, deliberate development of innate talent) **Have:** Drawing, painting, writing with some clarity, driving a stick-shift while removing the pickles and putting ketchup on my burger **Want:** Cooking, singing **Need:** Patience, listening **Admire:** Athletes ---
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/2 "2005-08-21T16:32:12Z")
\*\*Have:\*\*patient, good w/ children, easily amused, never bored \*\*Want:\*\*leadership, follow through, sewing \*\*Need:\*\*cooking (inclu. meal planning, shopping, washing up), job finding (eventually) \*\*Admire:\*\*management, leadership, vision w/ follow through ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/3 "2005-08-21T16:32:48Z")
**Have:** Flying, filmmaking, motorcycling, SCUBA, cooking, keeping people wondering if I’m joking or being serious **Want:** Attracting females (well, just one), singing, playing musican instruments better **Need:** Plan completion **Admire:** Scientists in all disciplines ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/4 "2005-08-21T16:36:53Z")
**Have:** poetry (for all the good it does me), sincerity, compassion **Want:** singing, self-motivation, grace **Need:** organization, tidiness **Admire:** making friends easily, confrontation without insult ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/5 "2005-08-21T16:43:59Z")
Actually, my post should have said ‘Scientists in _any_ discipline’. I can’t think of anyone who studies _everything_. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/6 "2005-08-21T16:45:19Z")
And _musical_ instruments. Maybe my ‘Need:’ should be ‘previewing of posts’. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/7 "2005-08-21T16:46:22Z")
**Have** : Leadership, Teaching, Writing, Desgin/interior/treehomes, Scuba, Life Skills, Imagination, Loving. **Want** : Ability to motivate myself to lose weight, control of desires… **Need** : organization. **Admire** : tight-rope walkers, archaeologists… ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/8 "2005-08-21T17:46:12Z")
**Have** :Cooking skills, great sense of humor, fair singing ability, good financial sense, wonderful group of friends, decent parenting skills, huge volume of untapped sensuality **Want** : Suitable male that appreciates the above, puter skills, ability to play at either the guitar or piano passably well **Need** : Motivation to exercise, to finish 42 house projects, be more disciplined and organized in just about every area **Admire** : Artists, scientists, athletes, success and competency in any field really. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/9 "2005-08-21T17:53:53Z")
> [@Queen Tonya](#): > > **Want** : Suitable male that appreciates the above… Hullo. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/10 "2005-08-21T18:05:15Z")
Have: Excellent memory. Good cook. The ability to move beyond anything. Quick learner. Want: The ability to sing as well as I enjoy it. Need: The ability to finish projects that I begin. Admire: The ability to walk up to a complete stranger and be completely comfortable. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/11 "2005-08-21T18:24:11Z")
**Have:** Problem-solving. Knitting. Cooking. Recognizing (some of) my shortcomings, and implementing plans to combat them. (I’ve become a self-improvement junkie in recent years.) Role-playing. (I hesitate to list this as an _ability_, but it’s something I spend a non-trivial amount of time doing, and I get a great deal of satisfaction from doing it well—according to my own idiosyncratic standards, of course.) **Need:** Focus and concentration. Better programming skills. The ability to organize a large project and see it through. I also need to put more effort into my casual writing, aiming for clear, precise, economical prose, good organization, and fewer typos and editing errors. **Want:** Knitting design. Game design. Drawing. Making small talk with strangers or new aquaintances, especially those who are not very good at small talk themselves. **Admire:** People who can make and build useful things (carpentry, electronics, machining, etc.) People who can see to the heart of an argument and ask a question that completely turns your thinking on its head. Good GMs. People who keep a clean, tidy, pleasant house. Good parents. People who dress well. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/12 "2005-08-21T18:41:06Z")
☹ [ul] **Have:** After 66 years of searching have come up empty handed. [li] **Need:** Ability to answer questions like this one. [/li][li] **Want:** Ability to answer questions like this one.[/li][\*] **Admire:** People with the ability to answer questions like this one.[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/13 "2005-08-21T18:51:11Z")
**Have:** Singing, playing the piano, writing, organizing, leading, listening, problem-solving, being at ease with most people and in most situations **Want:** Flying, dancing, race driving **Need:** Patience, better focus for leadership skills, self-discipline **Admire:** Everything I don’t have ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/14 "2005-08-21T18:54:00Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > **Want:** Flying… [Training & Safety: Your tools to being a safer pilot - AOPA](http://www.beapilot.com/indexfl.html) First lesson $49. [http://www.gaservingamerica.org](http://www.gaservingamerica.org) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/15 "2005-08-21T19:03:05Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Hullo. Hiya! ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/16 "2005-08-21T19:13:31Z")
**Have:** I can reheat leftovers perfectly; I make a kick-ass margarita; I can think and logic and write; I can imitate anyone’s accent; I am a superb navigator; I can bluff my way through anything. **Need:** More time to read, because the books just keep piling up. A hobby – something adventurous that won’t kill me, either outright or through fright. Oh, and patience for idiocy. **Want:** A life plan; an answer to the question, “where will you be in ten years?” **Admire:** People who are handy, who can fix things, who understand how things work. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/17 "2005-08-21T19:19:11Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > [Training & Safety: Your tools to being a safer pilot - AOPA](http://www.beapilot.com/indexfl.html) First lesson $49. > [http://www.gaservingamerica.org](http://www.gaservingamerica.org) > > 😃 Yeah, the trouble comes when that $49 lesson turns into thousands of dollars for the aircraft rental, ground school, fuel, etc. (and I want to fly helicopters, which I believe can cost more to rent than small planes). And the exact cost can never be known in advance, because there’s no guarantee that I’ll pass the FAA test with only the minimum number of required flight hours. And you know all of this full well. 😛 (And yes, I know that I can take ground school separately … but why would I?? ;)) When the time comes, however, I have [this](http://www.americanheli.com/index.htm) place all picked out. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/18 "2005-08-21T19:31:57Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Yeah, the trouble comes when that $49 lesson turns into thousands of dollars for the aircraft rental, ground school, fuel, etc. _YOU WILL NOT THINK OF THAT!!!_ Forty-nine dollars. That’s not bad at all! Excellent deal, really. Joiiiin ussssssss… 😃 > [@Misnomer](#): > > (and I want to fly helicopters, which I believe can cost more to rent than small planes). Good choice. I haven’t flown a fixed-wing since I took up helicopters (except for once when my instructor and a student crashed the helicopter I was waiting for, so I rented a Cessna that day instead). But yeah, the last time I checked you could rent a Cessna 172 for $75/hour and a Robinson R-22 cost $180/hour. I need to lose at least ten pounds before I can fly a Robinson again. (No Schweizer 300CBs up here.) ☹ > [@Misnomer](#): > > And the exact cost can never be known in advance, because there’s no guarantee that I’ll pass the FAA test with only the minimum number of required flight hours. It’s true that most students take more than the required 40 hours to earn a license; but I think most students pass their flight exam the first time. (I did both times.) > [@Misnomer](#): > > And you know all of this full well. 😛 Wow! A lesson for only $49! Such a deal! 😃 > [@Misnomer](#): > > (And yes, I know that I can take ground school separately … but why would I?? ;)) I took my fixed-wing ground school at a community college before I started flying lessons. > [@Misnomer](#): > > When the time comes, however, I have [this](http://www.americanheli.com/index.htm) place all picked out. 🙂 Flying a helicopter is the most fun you can have and still have your clothes on! So what I do is rent a helicopter, take off all of my clothes, and it’s the most fun I have! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sensibility](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@Sensibility](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sensibility)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/19 "2005-08-21T21:05:58Z")
Have - the biggest heart in the world Need - to toughen up? Want - not to HAVE to Admire - those who havent, and remained whole! ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993/20 "2005-08-21T21:16:44Z")
**Have:** Wickedly dark sense of humor, ability to play tunes by ear and to sometimes transcribe them, to stay awake for extended periods of time, to draw and write fiction, to imitate accents/dialects well. **Want:** Ability to play guitar and bass exceptionally well, ability to run for long distances, to have enough patience to teach, to fly an aeroplane. **Need:** To not procrastinate, to recognize when _not_ to use black humor, to remember that vacillating is pretty annoying, to weasel my way out of potentially harmful and deadly situations, to avoid being so goddamned **tactful** when holding back will hurt me as well as the other person later on. **Admire:** People who play instruments well, people who are confident but not jerkish, people who can actually accept a compliment instead of saying, “No, it’s not really too great…”, people who bang out a masterpiece picture in under ten minutes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abilities-you-have-want-need-admire/317993.md?page=2)