I’m a computer geek for a living. We were talking at lunch today of the number of us white-collar workers who seem to be helpless with DIY stuff.
There seems to be two types, for sure, but I pride myself on trying things myself.
I’ve rewired an entire house, done basic plumbing (including copper soldering), framed and wallboarded, tiled floors, hung doors, and completely remodeled a bathroom. I can handle basic car repair and have done repairs to both my and my friend’s washing machines.
I can bring home the bacon and I can fry it up in a pan (I’m a decent cook) and I’m crocheting an afghan for my bed right now.
(yeah, I know those last two aren’t mechanical - I’m just on a roll).
So, are your home-repair manual’s pages dog-eared?Are the manual’s pages on plumbing wrinkled from the water you forgot to turn off before pulling your taps off? Do you know what a Chilton’s (or Hayne’s) is?
You betcha. I’m a handy gal. My preference is for doing things outside, but my hands are rarely idle (I work as an accounting clerk, currently transitioning into landscape design).
I do all the things Belrix mentioned, except the sewing. I suture every day at work, though, and my kids will bring sewing to me instead of their mom. But I don’t like it, not one bit!
Not in the least, and I always feel vastly inferior because of it. I mean, I can put together IKEA furniture, but that’s about the extent of it.
The mechanical highlight of my life was earlier this year when I changed the oil on my motorcycle without too much help. I have zero confidence when it comes to using most tools more complex than a screwdriver. I am not proud of this fact at all. I’ve actually given thought to taking an auto maintenance class at the local community college to help me get over that a bit.
I think I just lost all my street cred with this post.
Nope. My father could build an addition on the house, assemble a TV from spare parts, install a furnace and the ductwork, fix the car, refinish a hardwood floor, put up panelling, a dropped tile ceiling, retrofit insulation, you name it. But I could not touch the tools, and he never taught me any of that stuff.
Chilton’s is a car repair manual, isn’t it? I’ve never owned a car, and it’s just as well - I have no idea how they work, or what anything under the hood is called. I tried to take electronics and shop in high school, but apparently, entry-level courses in these subjects require extensive knowledge beforehand, and plenty of practical experience, none of which they were willing to provide.
Longer answer: I could be if I wanted to be. But I hate hate *hate *DIY stuff.
My Dad fixed everything himself. He would never buy a tool or part if he could make one. Everything would eventually get done, but it took 10 times as long and I learned to dread doing it.
He saved my parents a lot of money over the years, and they needed it, so I respect him for that.
Yep, I am. My earliest memory is taking the wind-up music box out of the back of a teddy bear. Started taking apart alarm clocks when I was about kindergarten age, lawn mower engines at maybe 2nd grade. I was building go-carts and welding during grade school. Have overhauled automatic transmissions, car engines, motorcycle engines, lathes, lots of machinery. D 379, 3408 Cats, duplex and triplex pumps and draw works on rigs. Electric motors, hydraulic motors and rams, air motors. Abu Garcia 4600 C3/4 (and lots of others, but the 4600 is what I like to use) reels, Johnson, Evinrude, and Scott Atwater outboard motors (had to make parts to fix the SA), trolling motors. I’ve fixed a lot of mechanical stuff, too much to really even list.
I’m a computer geek for a living. I consider myself very mechanically inclined. I will also concede that this is is not so common.
I was just having a conversion with a good friend about how full my schedule is. I’ll list a few things I’ve done recently and leave up to the reader to decide:
I remodelled (paint and new floor) the dining room two weeks ago.
I currently repainting and reflooring the living room during the evenings.
I replaced the fuel line on the John Deere and re-primed the injector pump.
I mounted and balanced new tires on the motorcycle.
I changed the oil, rotated the tires, and repaired a hole in a tire on my wife’s Altima.
I installed eave vents on the house.
I helped a friend build a deck using beams I sawed from bug-killed pines trees that I’d salvaged.
I cut and hauled some prime white oak logs that I will later saw into lumber from some land that was about to be bulldozed.
Here’s some of the not-so-mechanical accomplishments:
I fixed a delicous seafood pasta dish and a favorite salad for my sister’s birthday party for 10 people (after mowing pastures all day).
I learned to cook a seared tuna steak that was better than any I’ve had in a restaurant.
I guess I’m kinda hijacking, but I’ve had a rough week and this little inventory has made me feel a little better.
I’m on the mechanically-inclined end of the scale.
I started my new career with my hands, and that’s still my favorite part even if I am forced to use my brain most of the time lately. Just today I fixed the mix-valve faucet in our office.
I own a tool belt and know how to use everything in it. (And a growing collection of non-tool-belt tools.)
I owned the Chilton’s for my first car, which my Dad tought me to take apart and put back together, although I am not a fan of auto mechanicing, and take mine to a shop now.
I can build things and fix things. I am not afraid to dive in and take something apart - I can almost always get it back together.
But then, I’m not a computer geek. I pay people for that part (or ask nicely.)
Pop taught me plenty–a little electrical, a little plumbing, a little framing, some painting, a little automotive . . . of course, then again it helps that my grandfather was a machinist back in the 20s and 30s.
I have more tools than I know what to do with. It also helps that I was in a heavy construction squadron which ‘retrained’ and honed all of my skills. Hell, a few weekends ago, I went to help with a Habitat for Humanity house, and was laying out studs and such faster than the “construction director” could keep up. I got bored, but ended up showing some of the n00bs what to do so they could productively swing a hammer and help out.
So yes, I am mechanically inclined. I can weld, too.
Give me a roll of duct tape and a Swiss army knife, and I can jerry-rig anything I need. And I can generally manage to take the screws out of something pre-made and put them back where they came from. But if it’s a job that calls for precision or fine detail, I’m probably not the man you’re looking for.
My Dad has been a mechanic his entire working life, so I kinda picked up the mechanically inclined gene from him. I’m a girl and while my sister wanted dolls and such, I wanted Lincoln Logs and an Erector Set. Both of which I would play with for hours on end. I built her a dollhouse for her Barbies - 2 stories with an attic, and a working garage door for the Barvie 'Vette - when I was 12. I took my bicycle apart and put it back together more times than I can count. I used to be a machine technician in a textile mill. I’m a Schlofhorst certified Spin Frame Technician, a Truetzschler certified Carding Technician, and a Rieter certified Draw Frame Technician. (Never thought I would get to brag that.) I haven’t worked on any of that type of stuff for close to 9 years now, so I finally sold my toolbox to my step-father who became a Card Tech, when I moved and had nowhere to store it. Currently I have a small portable box that has a hammer, battery-operated screwdriver, laser lever, and a couple of sets of pliers and assorted wrenches. I love taking things apart and putting things together. I can even weld.
I can fix most things, it comes with the job. I work in theatre and I am responsible for the upkeep of the sets, props, costumes, and the creation of special effects. Because of this I have had crash courses in anything from pneumatics to plumbing to zipper repair to cooking up some fake blood and everything in between.
Surprisingly since I bought a house this past spring my work knowledge is translating itself nicely to my home repair.
The only thing I am not that great at is electronics. I’m learning, but I have no background knowledge in it so it’s a bit slow going. The good thing is that my fiancé is an (theatre) electrician so I ask him questions constantly.
Am I mechanically inclined? I think the answer is yes.
In addition to all phases of auto repair, I have done body work (Don’t like it, but I can do it) including paint.
Around the house, paint, drywall (I suck at mudding though), everything electrical up to and including a new breaker panel, Hang doors, Plumbing both fresh water and DWV, rough and some finish carpentry.
What I don’t do: Welding, stucco, refinish floors.
I will hire out some things I know how to do, just because a pro can do some things a lot faster than me.
I can build a computer from parts, and I’ve done some soldiering as well. I can do basic home repairs, up to replacing tile, light switches, and plumbing fixtures. I could probably learn to work on cars, but it’s easier to pay someone else. I have changed tires and batteries though. I also build models and wargaming miniatures.
