Bullshitting. I was in a communications/humanities magnet program from 7th grade to 12th and the primary skill I learned there was how to bullshit. I could write a 20-page paper on any subject that says absolutely nothing. Telling that a fairly large percentage of my class ended up in either journalism or politics.
I’m a good cook. I’m also good at fixing things. In my working life, I was an excellent boss, personnel manager, problem solver and peacemaker; most people liked to work for me. I have a very good bullshit meter.
- spoonbending
- the theremin
- scrubbing
- agitating for Marrianne Willaimson last year
- angling the showerhead as far as possible away from me as I enter the shower soas to avoid the intial cold blast that takes a while to warm up and in the meantime just lather up hands and face an- ok I think I’ll just stop right there.
- parking in backwards quickly, often one-timing it. (no going forwards again)
- flinging cards across large rooms into waste paper baskets.
- whipping a pen back and forth across the top of my hand so that it starts in pen-holding position and ends up between index and middle finger, and then back again - repeat. Back and forth. Mesmerizing.
- barking at the TV.
- some of my slop dishes are sooooo vacuumable. (stop thinking about the machine!)
- ranked 2nd in BC in under-17 squash. (well, in 1980) (still sort of kept at it until ‘career-ending’ on-court Achilles rupture in '06)
- blastbeating (retired)
- predicting time as I wake up.
- using a razor blade well past the time I should (ok maybe a cheapskate-brag)
I am really good at the Song Quiz game on Alexa, as long as we pick 70s or 80s.
I am a good cook I think, but I love baking. I always want to make way too many Christmas cookies.
At work I was good at coaching people. For example I was able to help some people improve their problem resolution skills by leading them to be more open minded about considering the other person’s motivations and point of view.
I can listen to a record and decipher the lyrics accurately. I do this by replaying any part that’s ambiguous over and over, mindful of context, ready to reject interpretations that make no sense, and willing to admit when I still don’t have any idea what the singer is saying.
It frustrates me how many lazy and incoherent transcriptions get passed around on the internet. Unfortunately, it’s pretty hard to counter this, but I try!
Example: the Sonics’ much-covered garage rock staple “Witch” has a line that goes:
“Well she walks around late at night /
Most other people sleeping tight…”
On far too many lyric sites, this gets garbled as:
“Among startled people sleeping tight”.
Need I point out how stupid this sounds? If the people are startled, they’re unlikely to be sleeping.
I managed to get a couple of sites, such as Genius Lyrics, to post the right words, but it’s at best a steep uphill climb.
Sorry, this is coming off as a rant but you asked.
Brevity.
Sex. First thing that comes to mind.
I mean, it’s always the first thing that comes to mind, but we’re going to need a couple of notarized affidavits before we even begin to consider your skills…
My skill? Doodling.
Not sex (documentation from my wife on demand).
Speech impediment?
Self-taught keyboard and bass guitar player. Regret never given opportunity for lessons, like my siblings.
Pretty good cook and graphic artist. Would much rather have had a career in the arts instead of medicine.
Never too late! Design is a field where no one cares about your diploma, they care what you can do.
That’s how I was able to switch from medicine to graphic design (then later to advertising, then teaching, then retirement).
Actually, I am retired from medicine (thanks to the FBI and an over-zealous AUSA) and now work as a web designer/graphic artist I just wish I made the switch 30 years ago. I’m now broke, but happy-ish.
Good for you! Now I’m singing “God Bless the AUSA” (your story might be worth another post, or an entire thread…).
I, too, made a lot less money but had more time (even got to know my kids!). And had a helluva lot more fun!
So there’s an Assistant U.S. Attorney you particularly like…?
Nice/AUSA is an oxymoron worse than jumbo/shrimp.
Ironically, I sent a nice certified letter to one less than 2 hours ago (an AUSA, not a jumbo shrimp :). I don’t expect a nice reply…but, who knows?
Yes, the one that got Tibby to retire from medicine so he can be happy-ish, doing web/graphic design.
I can tie up a surgical mask behind my head without thinking about it. Used to work in sterile areas, did it for a living, so about as good as the next sterile area worker (or surgeon, for that matter) - but in a different league from Joe Q. Public. So in the early COVID days, when this was the mask I had (long story), me wandering down the High Street and chatting while masking up must have been a quietly impressive sight.
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You need something made, l’m your man.
Give me some bar stock, sheet, plate,or extrusion of aluminum, a36 steel, S7,H13,A2 tool steel, carbon fiber, or titanium, and I will torch cut, plasma cut, saw, mill, fly cut, thread, turn, bend, form, bore, trepan it, and assemble it by soldering, brazing, welding, bolting, press fit , crimping, riveting, or glueing.
That’s hot.
Torch cutting is hot. Open your acetylene valve slightly, light it with your sparkler, then open your oxygen valve. If you open the valve too quickly you will snuff the flame, so it is like learning the friction point on a manual transmission car. Learn the machine.
Adjust your flame to a slightly fuel starved mixture. Place the torch tip to your start point, and heat the workpiece to cherry red. Hit the oxygen feed lever and slowly move down the path of your cut, paying attention to the cutting zone, and if you are feeding to fast. Hopefully you marked out your cut with chalk, or are using a guide to control the torch movement.
Or go play a video game.
I asked my husband what I was good at and he replied “arranging things”. This is true. I organize everything I do for maximum efficiency. I’m the opposite of a hoarder – if I don’t use something it goes out, I repair things that are broken, and my tools are right where I need them. I file things where I can find them.
Also, I make things beautiful wherever I am. My throw pillows are coordinated with my couch and the wall paint. I make seasonal altars, flower gardens, illustrated books. It is the same impulse as hanging my tools up in their dedicated spots.
I also have many and varied talents and skills. I can tell whether a horse is lame and in what limb. I can sing lieder. I can bake bread without a recipe. I can make quilts by hand, train dogs to herd sheep, lead a prayer service, write publishable fiction, make chicken broth from scratch, backpack into the wilderness, edit manuscripts, and really, so many things that I frankly have no intention of ever doing again.
I excel at learning. It took me awhile to realize this is something many people lack. I think of something I want to do or know and go after it.
So, arranging, learning. Those.