Too many

[Eyerelief]

You are spot on. The line between MAS and OSH is razor thin. MAS on one hand is a noble affliction. With the price of material acting the way it is, MAS makes sense. I get a great deal of satisfaction out of finding a piece of drop that is the exact size I need. OSH on the other hand is driven by the voices in my head. Thats bad. Those voices are why I have pieces of material too small to fit in a chuck or hold with a clamp.

Those voices say things sometimes that scare me. I laugh, but its a nervous laugh. Like when I was looking for an inch and a half of hardened round bar the other day. Didn't have any. The voices said, "take an axle out of the neighbors truck and use it". "With your cordless impact you could have that axle out in less than 10 minutes". Fortunately I am much lazier than the voices or right now the neighbors truck would be on a paint can and I would be napping in the old stony lonesome. Besides, he already ran me off once for trying to steal the gutter off his house (needed a chip shield for the mill and his gutter was painted the right color and everything). The voices seem to have a very short memory.

Fortunately my bride is not a psychologist or I am sure I would be a case study.

 

[C-Bag]

Fortunately my bride is not a psychologist or I am sure I would be a case study.

In my case my ability to make and repair is one of my most loved attributes to her. Her dad only owned a hammer, and only because somebody gave it to him. If his hammer didn’t knock it back into place or got the tv/radio working again he called the repairman or bought another. But it was funny how he instilled in her that if she found a mechanic she liked, marry him. But not being from a family that fixed or made anything she had no way of knowing if I was good or not. She also is very jealous that it seems to come naturally and is so ingrained with who I am. She watched my dad’s decline and saw firsthand when that drive left so did his drive for life.

I believe we are seeing a true shift where guys could be proud of working with their hands and could make an honest living to I’m not sure what. My dad and my grandfather were my hero’s because they worked hard and took care of their families. That kind of work ethic is a thing of the past because it was not taken care of like in the past where you could work for one company and earn a pension and retire. Now being a hard worker means you’re a sucker while greed is good and screw them before they screw you.

 

[Eyerelief]

I always tell people that my bride says "She doesn't find me handsome, but does find me handy".

You and I are in the same boat. Grandfather was a mechanic, dad, mechanic, me, mechanic. I never take vehicles into a shop for repair, nor have a repairman come to the house save AC or fridge repair at the house. I started doing everything because I didn't have a deep enough wallet to pay someone. Now I'm more comfortable doing it myself. My wife looks at the tools I have accumulated over the years and says "Nobody has this many tools". I tell her that I could justify buying them because they paid for themselves in savings, usually after the first use.

Both her mom and mine are widowed so I now have three homes and 9 vehicles that I watch over. Her side of the family is always thrilled because when I fix or make something, if there are any parts purchases, it is parts only.

I see the world trending the same. So many things we purchase these days are disposable that I understand part of it. Look at TV's. Been a long time since I have seen a sign that said TV repair.

I may be wrong, but dont see my son carrying the torch. Dont blame him, and glad it is an option for him. His job keeps him busy and on the move. Whenever I am working on something, if he is around, he jumps right in with interest to help. All that I could ask. I used to make him help as I did maintenance and repair on vehicles, made him fix up his first ride. When he was 5 years old I asked him if he was interested in learning how to work on cars. His response was classic, and I quote, "NO!, If you learn how to do it, then you have to do it." Pretty good for a 5 year old.

 

[C-Bag]

I may be wrong, but dont see my son carrying the torch. Dont blame him, and glad it is an option for him.

Yup, very true. I never set out to be a mechanic. My first car was a 57’ Karman Ghia that we went in on together on. One day he came in and threw this book “How to keep your VW alive for the complete idiot” on the table. I laughed as it looked like a joke being all hand drawn. He said he would buy whatever parts and tools that were needed but he wasn’t paying for shop repairs anymore. So being cheap I took the manual to heart and through weird turn of events was a car mech for 20yrs until the end of the 80’s drove me off and I went from repair of cars to the building of fruit and veg packing equipment. I’d always known I much rather build something than to repair what always seemed like bad designs. So spent the last 20yrs doing that.

I always admired my dad for being able to foster something in each of us kids that helped us to launch. Being that I never thought of myself as the mechanic type I didn’t expect my son to go that route. I had a love of drawing, mechanical and art when young and when my son started really showing interest I steered him as best I could. Like me he is an autodidact and would give him successive goals through books and he got to where there were no schools that could teach him all on his own. He now makes a living doing what he loves as an online artist. Still working with his hands and working as an independent contractor basically. I am proud of him as at one time I really wanted to be a cartoonist but knew I’d never be able to do what amounts to an office job. He has taken a dream of mine that got derailed by making a living and for exceeded what I could have ever done.

I also love that quote of your 5yrld son’s. So true. My son had a very vivid imagination (crucial for a fantasy artist) and I would catch him while driving in the car looking very deep in thought. I’d ask him what he was thinking about and he learned not to tell me because I couldn’t help but laugh as they were truly amazing. I mentioned that to his mom and she said she noticed it too and would ask him and because she wouldn’t laugh he’d tell her. Just that day she asked him and he replied “ I’m thinking how Jesus and Elvis are a lot alike” his mom asked how’s that? He said “ people say they still see and talk to them, and they call them both the King”. He was 6 and they were on the way to kindergarten.

 

[Eyerelief]

WOW! That is deep thought for a 6 year old. He obviously absorbs a great deal from his surroundings.

 

[rabler]

“How to keep your VW alive for the complete idiot”

That was a good book!!

 

[C-Bag]

Let's just say his view or reality is a lot more "fluid" than most, including me. We could see the same thing and come to a completely different conclusion. His take on Bible study at the school he went to when young was not what everybody else was receiving. My psychologist wife is absolutely fascinated by him because it's based on a form a logic that makes sense but just like the example it's not one most folks would come too.

 

[C-Bag]

That was a good book!!

I believe it was the very first "for the complete idiot" book ever published. It was my total guide and I thought all manuals were like that. No other car or truck manual was that complete I've ever found. Kinda ruined manuals for me.

 

[rabler]

I believe it was the very first "for the complete idiot" book ever published. It was my total guide and I thought all manuals were like that. No other car or truck manual was that complete I've ever found. Kinda ruined manuals for me.

When I turned 15 I was given a barely running VW bug as a project. My father was not mechanically adept, he could get by but it wasn't his specialty. I found that book and it was my key to having transportation for the next 3 years.

 

[C-Bag]

Continuing on with “too many” or in this case out with the old in with much better. My wife came back from a short walk telling me a neighbor was headed down to the “free” corner where neighbors in our little development put out the good stuff for neighbors to pick up. She thought it looked mighty nice and I better go look. As usual she was right. So I took the new one and ended up giving my old/cheap one to my neighbor and his dad. Win win.