goluscombe Don't make a 75 year old curmudgeon shame you.
Repost from another thread, but pertinent here. Now go fix me a sandwich.
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Not that I have to share, but at one time or another, I could do all of the below. I’m also smart enough to pay for better results than I could achieve when it was important. As you pointed out, when hundreds of thousands of dollars are on the line, it might be important. And at 75, I don’t do as much as I used to. I drink, and I know things.
I can:
Change a flat tire and put the new one on the rim and seat it properly. Balance it too.
Change my oil and filter.
Pull a transmission and rebuild it.
Pull a dent.
Mix and pour concrete.
Frame a wall. Own the framing nailer and commercial sized compressor to run it.
Swing up and seat a truss—with help.
Shingle a barn roof or a house with asphalt shingles. Own the roofing nailer too.
Run a Ditchwitch and Plumb all of the exterior faucets and a good deal of the interior. Soldering copper too. Not just glueing PVC.
Replace a light fixture or ceiling fan.
Run a new outlet from another outlet. That’s it on electrical. Too much risk to get wrong.
Can beans and taters, salsa, and whatever extra happened in the garden that year.
Make my own jelly and preserves.
Sun dry tomatoes.
Make my own jerky. Got the Excalibur.
Butcher a deer. Not prettily, but it can happen.
Grill a steak. Bic lighter and I’m done.
Graft a rose. Used to grow my own Fortuniana for it too until a bit too cold winter happened.
Give a halfass haircut in a pinch. Not on me though.
Design and sew my own clothes.
Piece and quilt a decent bedspread.
Crochet an Afghan.
Knit a sweater.
Embroider a pair of jeans or a jacket.
Bedazzle. Yes, I’m that old.
Hand draw a scale diagram.
Use various software to do the same.
Lay a brick wall with a string level, and know how to make and use the water level for the long runs.
Bale lespedeza and get it in the barn the smart way.
Run a bobcat without too much damage of person and property.
Make muscadine wine. Drink plenty of it too.
Solder silver jewelry. Can’t wear it though, so I quit that.
Refinish furniture. That’s why I hate the chalk paint crowd.
Faux finish a ceiling or wall. As in faux bois or malachite, or shagreen, or marble. Not popcorn. Although I can run a popcorn hopper too.
And run a cellulose hopper for the guy in the attic placing it.
Flash a window properly. No mean skill, because about half the contractors out there can’t seem to do it.
Sew up a gash in a cow or sheep.
Give shots and sew up a wound. On an animal only. People have too much drama.
Thers about a zillion other things that I can do less well too. But, things I can do well and get paid for is a smaller list. As it is with anyone. No one is ever gonna hire me to work in a tire shop. And these days, I don’t DIY that any more.
I know my limitations on what I can halfass if I have enough time, and don’t care so much about the end result. You don’t. Halfassing the design for a couple of hundred thousand dollar build is just not the way to go when you just don’t have a good sense of scale and spatial relations.
Q