# I've done X so many times, you'd think I'd be better at it than I am **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 15, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967 "2018-07-15T21:21:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967/21 "2018-07-16T17:59:14Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Masturbation. > [@BubbaDog](#): > > I’d suggest a self-help book but you’re already doing that. Maybe you could get someone to lend you a hand? ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967/22 "2018-07-16T18:34:37Z")
Chess. I’ve been playing against my phone for every day for about a year, and I still struggle to beat the advanced beginner level (~1200, I think). I am getting better, but a lot slower than one would think. I can’t beat any of my human opponents, although they tell me I am improving. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967/23 "2018-07-16T19:16:52Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > Playing a guitar. > I’ve been playing on and off for over 30 years. There’s about 4 songs that I can play that will actually entertain another person. Then…I’m done. > > I’ve invested a good amount of time and money into practicing and performing but I’m just not picking up any newer skills. > > Sometimes I’m disappointed by it but for the most part I play for myself and consider it a form of meditation therapy. This is me as well. Bought my first guitar in 88 and had years I played quite a bit and years I didn’t. I’m back to playing quite a bit and am getting better but it is glacially slow improvement. However, I love playing and it is very relaxing for me so I don’t mind the slow progress. I have low goals so I don’t mind if I spend an hour noodling. I do try to get in some actual “practice” most days though. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967/24 "2018-07-16T19:48:18Z")
Typing. I took typing in HS and have been a software developer for 20 some years. Still can’t touch type, still don’t use my pinkies ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967/25 "2018-07-16T20:30:22Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > Going places, literally. I can have GPS, a map, hell, I could be on top of the place. My sense of direction is pitiful. I may have posted this before, but I got lost a couple years ago bringing my daughter home from the orthodontist. A place I’d been hundreds of times. I realized it when I went many miles out of the way and said, “I didn’t realize there was a Walmart here.” That has become a joke in my house, look there’s a Walmart. I admit, I’ve gotten lost in parking lots, too. When someone says “You have a poor sense of direction,” I say “No, I have no sense of direction.” And I mean none. I walk every day, and yet still get lost in my own neighborhood. I have a fantastic memory, and have memorized every building in my neighborhood and place of work. Yet I still get lost. It’s genetic. No female in my family has any sense of direction. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967/26 "2018-07-16T20:52:11Z")
Frames for my art work. I’ve made close to 50 mitered frames, and yet the one I’m currently working on has gone horribly wrong. And I don’t even know how it went wrong. The art work itself is flawless, yet the frame may have to be redone. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967/27 "2018-07-16T22:39:53Z")
Writing sentesnses without typos or messed up word arrangement wrong. I’ve written goddamned _novels_. You’d think I could string words together competently by now! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967/28 "2018-07-17T00:50:51Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Maybe you could get someone to lend you a hand? That is good advice. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967/29 "2018-07-17T01:10:08Z")
Throwing a baseball overhand. I have good distance and accuracy throwing underhand, because we grew up playing softball on a really small lot so we had to throw underhanded. But something blocks me from giving an overhand-ball the right spin or “snap” that it needs. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967/30 "2018-07-17T01:24:04Z")
Talk like Donald Duck. I’m a reasonably good mimic and can mine my way through many celebrity voices as well as various sounds. But I can’t get to the real Donald. Got your Daffy, Bugs, Goofy and Fudd. They’re no challenge. I’m constantly duck-grumbling in the car by myself, and under my breath at home, singing songs and saying anything D. Duck like. I got all the noise, but not the hearable words. Frustrating. Sixty-eight years of frustrating. I’m working overtime right now, cuz I got a grandson to impress. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Zox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Mr\_Zox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Zox)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967/31 "2018-07-17T02:03:55Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Drinking. I don’t mean the specific act of boozing it up. I mean the general act of lifting a glass to my lips and pouring liquid into my mouth. I usually get it about half right but sometimes I miss my mouth completely. I tell myself that it’s because of my lousy eyesight, but I’m sure it’s just because I’m a flake and not really paying attention. But honestly - how much concentration should it require? I’ve been doing this for fifty years! Is your name Ted Striker? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967/32 "2018-07-17T02:54:47Z")
Hammering a nail. I have legendarily poor eye-hand coordination, so any kind of work with hand tools is an adventure. When I hammer, I hit the surrounding drywall so much my walls look like golf balls. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967/33 "2018-07-17T18:00:57Z")
Playing Video games. I have played them most of my life but I will always stink at the twitchy reflex based games. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967/34 "2018-07-17T18:53:25Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Typing. ^This. I can 10-key by touch like a mad man, but cannot touch type. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967/35 "2018-07-17T19:06:53Z")
Married three times… ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967/36 "2018-07-17T20:09:30Z")
Auto repair: I love learning new things and trying them out, but if an expert says a job is an easy one hour repair, I quadruple how long it’s going to take. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967/37 "2018-07-17T23:19:52Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Omelets. The French kind, that you swirl around in the pan, stirring, and eventually you end up with a neat little omelet that looks like an overturned rowboat. Mine just look like scrambled eggs with pretensions, to quote Peter Mayle. But they still taste good. Stop stirring. Use a medium-high heat, keep the eggs moving until they set, then tilt the pan and slide the eggs away from you to the edge of the pan, doing a little flipping motion, causing the omelet to fold onto itself. Takes practice and only about a minute or two. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967/38 "2018-07-29T23:11:56Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Stop stirring. Use a medium-high heat, keep the eggs moving until they set, then tilt the pan and slide the eggs away from you to the edge of the pan, doing a little flipping motion, causing the omelet to fold onto itself. Takes practice and only about a minute or two. Alternative: Once set, tilt the pan toward a plate. As the omelet slides out of the pan, allow it to ‘grab’ the edge of your dish. Keep pulling the pan away until half of the round (flat) omelet is on the plate, then flick the pan, folding the egg circle over on itself. It is harder to explain in words than it is to do. mmm [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-done-x-so-many-times-youd-think-id-be-better-at-it-than-i-am/817967.md?page=1)